Diego Ayala (tennis)

Diego Ayala (born April 29, 1979) is a former professional tennis player from the United States.

Diego Ayala
Full nameDiego Ayala
Country (sports) United States
Born (1979-04-29) April 29, 1979
Córdoba, Argentina
Prize money$72,482
Singles
Career record0–1
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 431 (August 28, 2000)
Doubles
Career record4–6
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 100 (July 28, 2003)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Wimbledon1R (2004)

Biography

Early life

Born in Argentina, Ayala grew up in southern Florida and competed for the University of Miami in college tennis.

As a young player on the junior circuit he had a win over Roger Federer, at the 1997 Coffee Bowl competition.[1]

Professional career

Ayala turned professional in 1998 and played most of his top level tennis in the doubles format, in which he reached as high as 100 in the world.

At the 2003 RCA Championships in Indianapolis he made the only final of his ATP Tour career. He and Robby Ginepri defeated the second and third seeded pairings en route to the final, where they faced Mario Ančić and Andy Ram. Ayala and Ginepri took the first set, then lost the second in a tiebreak, before losing a close final 5-7 in the third set.[2] He also made it into the singles main draw, as a qualifier.

In 2004 he featured in the men's doubles at the Wimbledon Championships with Brian Vahaly, as lucky losers. The pair were beaten in the first round by David Škoch and Álex López Morón.[3]

He won a total of three Challenger titles, all in doubles.

Coaching

Ayala has coached Robby Ginepri and Jelena Janković.[4] He worked with Eugenie Bouchard at the 2005 Australian Open where she reached the quarter-finals. His association with Bouchard had begun when she was a junior and Ayala coached her at the Saviano Academy.[5]

ATP Tour career finals

Doubles: 1 (0–1)
Result    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponent Score
Runner-up July 27, 2003 Indianapolis, US International Series Hard Robby Ginepri Mario Ančić
Andy Ram		 6–2, 6–7(3), 5–7

Challenger titles

Doubles: (3)
No. Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
1. 2002 San Antonio, U.S.A. Hard Robert Kendrick Hugo Armando
Dušan Vemić		 6–2, 6–4
2. 2003 Waikoloa, U.S.A. Hard Robert Kendrick Levar Harper-Griffith
Alex Kim		 4–6, 7–6(2), 6–2
3. 2003 Fresno, U.S.A. Hard Travis Parrott Paul Goldstein
Jeff Morrison		 7–5, 4–6, 6–3

References
  1. "Beat Federer? a) Be Serious. b) You Cannot Be Serious". The New York Times. August 27, 2007. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  2. "Ancic and Ram rally to win doubles title". The Indianapolis Star. July 28, 2003. p. 26. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  3. "Players Archive - Diego Ayala". Official website of the Wimbledon Championships. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  4. Cronin, Matt (July 10, 2012). "Coaching changes for Jankovic, Cibulkova". Tennis. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  5. Myles, Stephanie (August 7, 2015). "Another coaching split for tennis star Eugenie Bouchard, as the Rogers Cup draws near". Yahoo!. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
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