Grant Connell - Tennis Canada

Getting to Know Grant Connell

A familiar face to Canadian tennis, Grant Connell, former No. 1 ATP doubles player, was named tournament director of the Rogers Cup presented by American Express on October 15, 2005. In this capacity, Connell will provide leadership for all tour, player and media relations activities for both the men's and women's Rogers Cup tournaments held in Toronto. Connell will liaise with the ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA tours on behalf of Tennis Canada. Tournament ticket sales, marketing, sponsorships and operations will be managed by existing Tennis Canada staff.

From 1986-97, Connell won 22 career doubles titles on the ATP tour. He won his first four events with fellow Canadian Glenn Michibata. Upon Michibata's retirement, Connell joined Patrick Galbraith. The Connell-Galbraith tandem won 12 titles together including the 1995 season-ending doubles championship tournament. Connell's next main partner became Byron Black with whom he won four more titles. He also won a title each with Todd Martin and Scott Davis. He was a three-time Wimbledon doubles finalist, twice Galbraith and one with Black.

On November 15, 1993, just two days shy of his 28th birthday, Connell reached the pinnacle of his tennis career by reaching the No. 1 ranking in the world.

A lefthander, Connell’s best singles ranking was No. 67, which he reached in June 1991. His best tour singles results were reaching the semifinals of the 1991 Chicago, 1991 Singapore, and 1992 Auckland Grand Prix events. A solid grass-court player, Connell in 1991 at Wimbledon played a five-set first round match on centre court against Andre Agassi, where Connell went up two sets to one on a second serve ace in a third set tie-breaker. Agassi however won the final two sets to win the match. The following year at Wimbledon saw Agassi win his first Grand Slam event and Connell reach the third round to equal his best ever Grand Slam event showing. He also reached the third round of Wimbledon 1994 and the 1991 Australian Open.

Connell played Davis Cup for Canada on numerous occasions posting a career 15-6 record in doubles and an equally impressive 8-3 record in singles. He was a member of Canada's 1991 and 1992 teams, its first ever to qualify for the World Group. A proud Canadian, Connell competed in the 1988 Seoul Olympics in both the singles and doubles categories and again at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in doubles.

Growing up in British Columbia, Connell was an All-American in doubles in 1984 and in singles in 1985 at Texas A&M University.

One of the most successful tennis players in Canadian history, Connell retired in 1997 and was soon inducted in the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame. He became high performance director with Tennis B.C. and from 2001-04, he also captained Canada's Davis Cup team that won promotion to the World Group for only the second. Currently, Connell is a real estate agent with Prudential West Vancouver.

As new tournament director for Rogers Cup presented by American Express, Connell, 40, replaced long-time Tennis Canada staff member, Stacey Allaster, who was appointed president of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour on January 1, 2006.

Connell was born November 17, 1965 in Regina, Saskatchewan. He and his wife, Sarah, have three children: Madison, Cooper and Charlotte.

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