Kenny Thorne

Kenny Thorne
Kenny Thorne, coaching The Yellow Jackets in the 2014 season
Country (sports) United States
Born (1966-01-24) January 24, 1966 (age 58)
Honolulu, Hawaii
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro1988
Retired1997
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money$1,587,294
Singles
Career record14–38
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 121 (July 19, 1993)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenR128 (1994, 1995)
WimbledonR64 (1994)
US OpenR128 (1993)
Doubles
Career record54–83
Career titles2
Highest rankingNo. 67 (April 17, 1995)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenR16 (1995)
French OpenR16 (1995)
WimbledonQF (1994)
US OpenR32 (1994, 1995)

Kenny Thorne (born January 24, 1966) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. Thorne played collegiately for Georgia Tech from 1985 to 1988, and then played professionally from 1989 to 1997. He is currently the head coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's tennis team.[1]

College career

Thorne played four seasons for Georgia Tech and saw success both as a singles and doubles player. In doubles, he competed in the 1988 NCAA doubles tournament with partner, Bryan Shelton, after a 24-win doubles season. Thorne finished with 75 career doubles wins (all matches).[2]

As a singles player, he finished with a .717 career win percentage (all matches)– 10th highest in school history. He won an ACC singles championship in 1986. Thorne qualified for the NCAA singles tournament twice, in 1986 and 1988. He finished as the Georgia Tech career leader in singles victories (all matches) with 112 wins (a record later broken by one of his players, Guillermo Gomez).[2]

Thorne was named an ITA All-American in 1988. In the same year, he was awarded the ITA John Van Nostrand Memorial Award. He finished his Georgia Tech playing career as a four-time All-ACC honoree. He was also twice named captain of the team and was an Academic All-ACC honoree. Kenny Thorne was later inducted into the Georgia Tech Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995.[2]

College singles records

  • Season wins (dual matches): 22, 1987–88
  • Season wins (all matches): 43, 1987–88

Professional career

Thorne enjoyed most of his tennis success while playing doubles. During his career, he won two doubles titles, and achieved a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 67 in 1995.

Coaching

Thorne was named the head coach of the Yellow Jackets men's tennis team in 1998. His team has reached the NCAA Championship Tournament 12 times in his 18 years as head coach. He has twice been named ACC Coach of the Year– 1999 and 2017.[3] In 2011, he was awarded ITA National Coach of the Year.[1]

Personal life

Kenny Thorne is married to former Georgia Tech cross country standout and inductee to the school's Hall of Fame, Bridget Koster. They have four children, two daughters, Rachel and Kenedy, and two sons, Zachary and Daniel. Rachel is currently a distance runner on the Yellow Jacket track team. Kenny Thorne earned an Industrial Engineering degree from Georgia Tech in 1989.[1]

Career finals

Doubles: 2 (2 titles)

Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Apr 1994 Seoul, South Korea Hard France Stéphane Simian United States Kent Kinnear
Canada Sébastien Lareau 		6–4, 3–6, 7–5
Win 2–0 Jun 1994 Florence, Italy Clay Australia Jon Ireland United Kingdom Neil Broad
United States Greg Van Emburgh 		7–6, 6–3

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Kenny Thorne Bio". ramblinwreck.com. Georgia Tech Athletic Association. Archived from the original on December 23, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "Georgia Tech Men's Tennis 2015–2016 Media Guide" (PDF). ramblinwreck.com. Georgia Tech Athletic Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 8, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  3. ^ "2017 Men's Tennis All-Conference Team Announced". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2017.