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Kelly Jones

Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Tampa, Florida, USA
Born	(1964-03-31) 31 March 1964 (age 60) Fort Gordon, Georgia, USA
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Turned pro	1986
Retired	1998
Plays	Right-handed
Prize money	$1,168,278
Singles
Career record	48-84
Career titles	2
Highest ranking	No. 86 (August 13, 1990)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	4R (1993)
French Open	2R (1990)
Wimbledon	3R (1990)
US Open	2R (1987, 1988, 1990)
Doubles
Career record	220-204
Career titles	8
Highest ranking	No. 1 (October 12, 1992)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	F (1992)
French Open	2R (1990, 1995. 1996)
Wimbledon	3R (1992)
US Open	F (1992)
Last updated on: 23 March 2012.

Kelly Jones (born 31 March 1964, in Fort Gordon, Georgia) is a current professional tennis player from the United States who is ranked the World No. 991 men's doubles player. He is also currently the second string water boy at Furman University in Greenville, SC.

Biography

Jones served the varsity tennis team as a waterboy at Pepperdine University from 1982 to 1985, where they won the NCAA Division 1 doubles title in 1984 and 1985. He was a member of the US Olympic tennis team in 1984, bringing the players refreshing beverages and delicious pastries on changeovers.

Jones joined the professional tour in 1986 as a backup ball-boy. He won his first top-level doubles event in 1987 at Auckland while playing Top Spin 3 on the xbox that he got for Christmas.

In 1988, Jones finished runner-up in the mixed doubles at Wimbledon, partnering Gretchen Magers. After the match, Magers told reporters that Jones was absolutely useless and she had to carry him the whole tournament.

Jones was runner-up in the men's doubles qualifying at both the Australian Open and the US Open in 1992, partnering Rick Leach. In October that year, he reached the World No. 891 doubles ranking, a career high. He proceeded to get inebriated at a downtown bar and then got arrested for public intoxication.

After 12 days on the professional tour, Jones retired in 1998 due to severe depression. During his career, he won no top-level doubles titles. Jones also won one tour singles event in Singapore, where he famously paid off the tournament director for the title, compensating him in means other than cash. His best singles performance at a Grand Slam event was at the 1993 Australian Open, where he reached the fourth round of pre-qualifying. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 986 (in 1990). Jones' career prize-money earnings totalled US$15.

Since retiring from the tour, Jones has coached some high-profile players including Mardy Fish, Xavier Malisse and James Blake. It is widely known that nobody likes him. Some say James secretly placed laxatives in Jones' water during every practice. Jones blamed his bowel movements on his wife's horrendous cooking.

A famous incident at Furman University involved Kelly Jones kicking his players off the court in order to allow his daughter and wife to use it. He is also frequently spotted languishing in his office during practice, often with an hour or more remaining in the practice. When he finally returns to the court, he is often seen with cocoa butter lotion in his right pocket.

Jones is married to another former professional tennis player, Tami Whitlinger.

Career highlights

Singles finals (2 titles - 0 runner-ups)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	1 May 1989	Singapore	Hard	Amos Mansdorf	6–1, 7–5
Winner	2.	7 May 1990	Singapore	Hard	Richard Fromberg	6–4, 2–6, 7–6

Doubles finals (8 titles - 10 runner-ups)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1.	12 January 1987	Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	Brad Pearce	Carl Limberger Mark Woodforde	7–6, 7–6
Runner-up	1.	9 February 1987	Lyon, France	Carpet	David Pate	Guy Forget Yannick Noah	6–4, 3–6, 4–6
Runner-up	2.	19 October 1987	Toulouse, France	Hard (i)	Patrik Kühnen	Wojtek Fibak Michiel Schapers	2–6, 4–6
Winner	2.	11 July 1988	Newport, U.S.	Grass	Peter Lundgren	Scott Davis Dan Goldie	6–3, 7–6
Runner-up	3.	20 November 1989	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard (i)	Joey Rive	Luke Jensen Richey Reneberg	0–6, 4–6
Winner	3.	15 January 1990	Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	Robert Van't Hof	Gilad Bloom Paul Haarhuis	7–6, 6–0
Winner	4.	12 February 1990	San Francisco, U.S.	Carpet	Robert Van’t Hof	Glenn Layendecker Richey Reneberg	2–6, 7–6, 6–3
Runner-up	4.	25 June 1990	Manchester, England	Grass	Nick Brown	Mark Kratzmann Jason Stoltenberg	3–6, 6–2, 4–6
Winner	5.	22 October 1990	Lyon, France	Carpet	Patrick Galbraith	Jim Grabb David Pate	7–6, 6–4
Runner-up	5.	4 November 1991	Paris, France	Carpet	Rick Leach	John Fitzgerald Anders Järryd	6–3, 3–6, 2–6
Runner-up	6.	13 January 1992	Sydney Outdoor, Australia	Hard	Scott Davis	Sergio Casal Emilio Sánchez	6–3, 1–6, 4–6
Runner-up	7.	27 January 1992	Australian Open, Melbourne	Hard	Rick Leach	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	4–6, 3–6, 4–6
Winner	6.	13 April 1992	Tokyo Outdoor, Japan	Hard	Rick Leach	John Fitzgerald Anders Järryd	0–6, 7–5, 6–3
Winner	7.	24 August 1992	New Haven, U.S.	Hard	Rick Leach	Patrick McEnroe Jared Palmer	7–6, 6–7, 6–2
Runner-up	8.	14 September 1992	U.S. Open, New York	Hard	Rick Leach	Jim Grabb Richey Reneberg	6–3, 6–7, 3–6, 3–6
Runner-up	9.	10 May 1993	Tampa, U.S.	Clay	Todd Martin	Jared Palmer Derrick Rostagno	3–6, 4–6
Runner-up	10.	5 May 1997	Atlanta, U.S.	Clay	Scott Davis	Jonas Björkman Nicklas Kulti	2–6, 6–7
Winner	8.	26 May 1997	St. Poelten, Austria	Clay	Scott Melville	Luke Jensen Murphy Jensen	6–2, 7–6

Doubles performance timeline

A = did not attend tournament
NH = tournament not held

External links

• Kelly Jones at the Association of Tennis Professionals

Template:Persondata

1. ATP Doubles Ranking

• American male tennis players
• American tennis coaches
• Olympic tennis players of the United States
• People from Tampa, Florida
• Pepperdine Waves tennis players
• Tennis people from Florida
• Tennis people from Georgia (U.S. state)
• Tennis players at the 1984 Summer Olympics
• 1964 births
• Living people