Devin Britton

Devin Britton during the 2009 NCAA Men's Singles tennis championship match.
Full name	Devin Britton
Country	United States
Residence	Brandon, Mississippi, U.S.
Date of birth	March 17, 1991 (1991-03-17) (age 18)
Place of birth	Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	85 kg (190 lb; 13.4 st)
Plays	Right-handed; two-handed backhand
Last updated on: 2009 July 04.

Devin Britton (born March 17, 1991, in Jackson, Mississippi) is an American professional tennis player who was formerly an American tennis player for the University of Mississippi's Ole Miss Rebels men's tennis team. He is a native of Brandon, Mississippi.

Contents 1 Tennis career 1.1 Juniors 1.2 College 1.2.1 Won NCAA men's singles championship as a freshman 1.2.2 Leaving college 1.2.3 Awards 2 Personal life 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Tennis career

[edit] Juniors

In the 2008 International Tennis Federation World 18-under, Britton made his way through the rankings reaching a peak of number 16.^[1] His most notable ITF win was in June 2008, at the International Grass Courts Championships in June 2008^[1] Also, in the summer of 2008 at the U.S. Open Junior Championships, he advanced to the finals match - making him the first ever qualifying wildcard to make a final^[2][1] where he lost to Grigor Dimitrov.

[edit] College

[edit] Won NCAA men's singles championship as a freshman

Britton, at the age of 18, won the 2009 NCAA Men's Tennis singles championship as a freshman. He is the first Ole Miss men's tennis player to ever win a NCAA men's singles championship^[3].

Britton defeated Moritz Baumann of Wisconsin in the first round then beat Dominic Inglot of Virginia in the second round. In the third round, Britton sent Rice senior Bruno Rosa out of the tournament in straight sets, and then he beat Stanford’s Alex Clayton in the quarterfinals. To advance to the NCAA championship match, he defeated Blake Strode of Arkansas with a straight set win. To win the championship, Britton defeated Ohio State senior Steven Moneke^[3], making him the first American-born player to win the NCAA singles title since Alex Kim of Stanford in 2000^[4]. The championship win also makes him the first freshman since 19-year-old Cecil Mamiit of USC in 1996 and the first non-seeded player since Luke Smith of UNLV in 1997. He is the youngest of the three freshmen to win the singles title, including John McEnroe, who was 19 when he won it for Stanford in 1978 - making him the youngest player ever to win the national championship^[4].

[edit] Leaving college

After only one year in college, Britton announced on July 1, 2009 that he would not return to Mississippi but would instead turn professional and had already signed a contract with a sports agency, Octagon Worldwide.^[5] He received a wildcard into the 2009 U.S. Open where he played #1 seeded and ranked Roger Federer in the opening round. Federer won in straight sets as expected, but Britton did manage to break Federer twice. Britton has received praise by many big tennis stars in his short career and expected to become a world class player as he gets older.

[edit] Awards

• Britton was named the Southeast Region Rookie of the Year by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
• Britton is a two-time SEC Player of the Week for the 2008-2009 season.
• Britton earned All-SEC second team honors and made the SEC All-Freshman Team for the 2008-2009 season.

[edit] Personal life

Britton began playing tennis when he was 5 years old^[6]. Britton was home-schooled starting in the seventh grade^[6][1]. Because he was traveling extensively for tennis, he completed his high school education through the Alpha Omega Online Academy^[1].

Devin’s parents are Scott and Cindy Britton^[6]. He is the youngest of three children^[6]. He has two older sisters, Tara Chez (24) and Katie (22)^[6].

Devin trains at the IMG/Bollettieri Tennis Academy^[6] in Bradenton, Florida where he is coached by Nick Bollettieri, David "Red" Amye and Gabe Jaramillo^[6]. At Ole Miss, he is coached by Billy Chadwick. His serve and volley style is unique among the modern players.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Devin Britton official web site
• 2008 U.S. Open interview
• Devin Britton at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Devin Britton at the International Tennis Federation Junior Profile
• Devin Britton at TennisRecruiting.net as a Junior player