# Jeff Tarango

Jeffrey Gail Tarango (born November 20, 1968) is a retired American tennis player. He was a top-ten doubles player and a runner-up at the 1999 French Open men's doubles tournament. He is now the Director of Tennis at the Jack Kramer Club, which is just south of Los Angeles. In 2018, he was the tournament director of a $30,000 men's California championships. At that championships, ATP world-ranked No. 11, Sam Querrey, beat Davis Cup captain Mardy Fish to win this event.
Tarango now resides in Manhattan Beach, California with his wife and children. He is married to Jessica Balgrosky, and they have five children (Nina Rose, Katherine, Jackson, Ace, and Jesse).

## Career
### Pro tour

Tarango turned professional in 1989 after completing his junior year at Stanford University, where he won two NCAA team titles. During his career, he won two top-level singles titles and 14 doubles titles. Tarango reached two Super 9 quarterfinals, Rome in 1995 and Miami in 1998. His career-high world rankings were No. 42 in singles and No. 10 in doubles. He was runner-up in the men's doubles at the 1999 French Open, partnering with Goran Ivanišević.

### Wimbledon 1995 default

In the third round of the 1995 Wimbledon Championships, trailing 6–7, 1–3 to Alexander Mronz, Tarango became infuriated with French umpire Bruno Rebeuh, who had ruled against Tarango several times. During the match, when preparing to serve, the crowd heckled Tarango and he responded "Oh, shut up!" Rebeuh immediately issued a code violation to Tarango on the grounds of audible obscenity. Tarango protested this violation, called for the tournament referee, and asked for Rebeuh to be removed. Tarango was instructed to continue to play. He then accused Rebeuh of being "one of the most corrupt officials in the game" – to this Rebeuh gave Tarango another code violation, this time for verbal abuse. Tarango took umbrage, packed his rackets and stormed off the court. To add to the controversy, Tarango's wife at the time then slapped Rebeuh in the face.
Tarango was fined US$65,500, suspended for three weeks, and banned from two Grand Slam tournaments by the ATP and ITF, though the fine was later reduced to US$28,256 after he apologized to Rebeuh.
Tarango was also the beneficiary of a default in the men's doubles tournament earlier at the same championship. He and partner Henrik Holm were at two sets to one down against the team of Jeremy Bates and Tim Henman when Henman angrily smashed a ball that inadvertently hit ball girl Caroline Hall, resulting in their disqualification. Coincidentally, Hall was also a ball girl in Tarango's match against Mronz.

### After retirement

Tarango retired from the main tour in 2003 and now devotes his time to coaching as well as broadcasting for BBC, ESPN, Tennis Channel, Fox Sports and DirecTV. He has been a member of the Davis Cup Committee for six years within the USTA. He still makes occasional appearances at professional events, including the 2008 USA F21 Futures event in Milwaukee.
In his 2009 autobiography Open, Andre Agassi claimed that Tarango cheated in a juniors tournament in 1977 to hand the ten-year-old Agassi his first competitive loss. During the final set tiebreaker, Tarango purposely mis-called a ball that had landed several feet in: "Players act as their own linesman… Tarango has decided he'd rather do this than lose and he knows there's nothing anyone can do about it. He raises his hand in victory. Now I start to cry." In an earlier interview, Tarango instead claimed that Agassi had been overruled by an umpire on match point.
Tarango coached several players after retirement, including Younes El Aynaoui, Andrei Medvedev, Maria Sharapova, and Vince Spadea.

## ATP career finals
### Singles: 6 (2 titles, 4 runner-ups)

* Legend
* Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
* ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
* ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
* ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
* ATP World Tour 250 Series (2–4)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (2–3)
* Clay (0–1)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
* Finals by setting
* Outdoors (2–3)
* Indoors (0–1)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Aug 1988 | Livingston, United States | Grand Prix | Hard | Andre Agassi | 2–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Apr 1991 | Seoul, South Korea | World Series | Hard | Patrick Baur | 4–6, 6–1, 6–7 |
| Win | 1–2 | Jan 1992 | Wellington, New Zealand | World Series | Hard | Alexander Volkov | 6–1, 6–0, 6–3 |
| Win | 2–2 | Oct 1992 | Tel Aviv, Israel | World Series | Hard | Stéphane Simian | 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
| Loss | 2–3 | Sep 1994 | Bordeaux, France | World Series | Hard | Wayne Ferreira | 0–6, 5–7 |
| Loss | 2–4 | Aug 1999 | Umag, Croatia | World Series | Clay | Magnus Norman | 2–6, 4–6 |

### Doubles: 25 (14 titles, 11 runners-up)

* Legend
* Grand Slam tournaments (0–1)
* ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
* ATP Masters Series (0–1)
* ATP Championship Series (2–2)
* ATP World Series (12–7)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (6–6)
* Clay (6–4)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (2–1)
* Finals by setting
* Outdoor (10–9)
* Indoor (4–2)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Jun 1994 | St. Polten, Austria | World Series | Clay | Adam Malik | Vojtěch Flégl Andrew Florent | 6–3, 1–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | Apr 1995 | Seoul, South Korea | World Series | Hard | Sébastien Lareau | Andrew Florent Joshua Eagle | 6–3, 6–2 |
| Win | 2–1 | Jul 1995 | Washington, United States | Championship Series | Hard | Olivier Delaître | Petr Korda Cyril Suk | 4–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
| Win | 3–1 | Sep 1995 | Bucharest, Romania | World Series | Clay | Mark Keil | Daniel Vacek Cyril Suk | 6–4, 7–6 |
| Win | 4–1 | Jul 1996 | Båstad, Sweden | World Series | Clay | David Ekerot | Joshua Eagle Peter Nyborg | 6–4, 3–6, 6–4 |
| Win | 5–1 | Sep 1996 | Bucharest, Romania | World Series | Clay | David Ekerot | David Adams Menno Oosting | 7–6, 7–6 |
| Loss | 5–2 | Jan 1998 | Auckland, New Zealand | World Series | Hard | Tom Nijssen | Patrick Galbraith Brett Steven | 4–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 5–3 | Aug 1998 | Los Angeles, United States | World Series | Hard | Daniel Vacek | Patrick Rafter Sandon Stolle | 4–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 6–3 | Nov 1998 | Moscow, Russia | World Series | Carpet | Jared Palmer | Daniel Vacek Yevgeny Kafelnikov | 6–4, 6–7, 6–3 |
| Win | 7–3 | Jan 1999 | Auckland, New Zealand | World Series | Hard | Daniel Vacek | Jiří Novák David Rikl | 7–5, 7–5 |
| Win | 8–3 | Feb 1999 | St. Petersburg, Russia | World Series | Carpet | Daniel Vacek | Andrei Pavel Menno Oosting | 3–6, 6–3, 7–5 |
| Win | 9–3 | Apr 1999 | Tokyo, Japan | Championship Series | Hard | Daniel Vacek | Brian Macphie Wayne Black | 4–3 ret. |
| Loss | 9–4 | Jun 1999 | French Open, France | Grand Slam | Clay | Goran Ivanišević | Mahesh Bhupathi Leander Paes | 2–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 10–4 | Jul 1999 | Båstad, Sweden | World Series | Clay | David Adams | Mikael Tillström Nicklas Kulti | 7–6, 6–4 |
| Win | 11–4 | Sep 1999 | Bournemouth, United Kingdom | World Series | Clay | David Adams | Michael Kohlmann Nicklas Kulti | 6–3, 6–7, 7–6 |
| Win | 12–4 | Oct 1999 | Toulouse, France | World Series | Hard | Olivier Delaître | David Adams John-Laffnie de Jager | 3–6, 7–6, 6–4 |
| Loss | 12–5 | Jan 2000 | Auckland, New Zealand | World Series | Hard | Olivier Delaître | Ellis Ferreira Rick Leach | 5–7, 4–6 |
| Loss | 12–6 | Oct 2000 | Tokyo, Japan | Championship Series | Hard | Michael Hill | Mahesh Bhupathi Leander Paes | 4–6, 7–6$^{(7–1)}$, 3–6 |
| Win | 13–6 | Nov 2000 | Brighton, United Kingdom | World Series | Hard | Michael Hill | Paul Goldstein Jim Thomas | 6–3, 7–5 |
| Loss | 13–7 | Feb 2001 | Marseilles, France | World Series | Hard | Michael Hill | Julien Boutter Fabrice Santoro | 6–7$^{(7–9)}$, 5–7 |
| Win | 14–7 | Apr 2001 | Casablanca, Morocco | World Series | Clay | Michael Hill | Pablo Albano David Macpherson | 7–6$^{(7–2)}$, 6–3 |
| Loss | 14–8 | Jul 2001 | Gstaad, Switzerland | World Series | Clay | Michael Hill | Roger Federer Marat Safin | 1–0 ret. |
| Loss | 14–9 | Jul 2001 | Stuttgart, Germany | Championship Series | Clay | Michael Hill | Guillermo Cañas Rainer Schüttler | 6–4, 6–7$^{(1–7)}$, 4–6 |
| Loss | 14–10 | Oct 2001 | Moscow, Russia | International Series | Carpet | Mahesh Bhupathi | Max Mirnyi Sandon Stolle | 3–6, 0–6 |
| Loss | 14–11 | Oct 2001 | Stuttgart, Germany | Masters Series | Hard | Ellis Ferreira | Max Mirnyi Sandon Stolle | 6–7$^{(1–7)}$, 6–7$^{(4–7)}$ |

## ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
### Singles: 6 (3–3)

* Legend
* ATP Challenger (3–3)
* ITF Futures (0–0)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (0–3)
* Clay (3–0)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Jun 1990 | Furth, Germany | Challenger | Clay | Felipe Rivera | 6–0, 6–0 |
| Loss | 1–1 | Sep 1993 | Azores, Portugal | Challenger | Hard | Rodolphe Gilbert | 1–6, 7–5, 4–6 |
| Loss | 1–2 | Oct 1993 | Reunion, Reunion Island | Challenger | Hard | Ronald Agénor | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 1–3 | Nov 1995 | Nantes, France | Challenger | Hard | Guillaume Raoux | 2–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 2–3 | Aug 1997 | Poznań, Poland | Challenger | Clay | David Rikl | 7–5, 6–3 |
| Win | 3–3 | Jul 1999 | Newcastle, United Kingdom | Challenger | Clay | Ronald Agénor | 3–6, 6–0, 7–6 |

### Doubles: 7 (4–3)

* Legend
* ATP Challenger (3–3)
* ITF Futures (1–0)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (2–2)
* Clay (2–1)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Sep 1993 | Azores, Portugal | Challenger | Hard | Chris Bailey | Bryan Shelton Roger Smith | 4–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | Oct 1993 | Réunion, Réunion Island | Challenger | Hard | Jonathan Canter | Mark Kaplan Lan Bale | 6–4, 3–6, 7–5 |
| Loss | 1–2 | Jun 1995 | Košice, Slovakia | Challenger | Clay | Adrian Voinea | Jiří Novák David Rikl | 6–7, 2–6 |
| Win | 2–2 | Jun 1996 | Košice, Slovakia | Challenger | Clay | Olivier Delaître | Jan Kodeš Jr. Petr Pála | 7–6, 6–3 |
| Win | 3–2 | Jun 2000 | Braunschweig, Germany | Challenger | Clay | Jens Knippschild | Álex López Morón Albert Portas | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Loss | 3–3 | Feb 2003 | Andrezieux, France | Challenger | Hard | Stephen Huss | David Škoch Lovro Zovko | 6–7$^{(4–7)}$, 6–0, 3–6 |
| Win | 4–3 | Aug 2008 | USA F21, Milwaukee | Futures | Hard | Edward Kelly | Raven Klaasen Ryan Young | 6–3, 3–6. [11–9] |

## Performance timelines

Key :
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |

### Singles

| Tournament | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | SR | W–L | Win % |
| Grand Slam tournaments |||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | 2R | Q3 | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 3R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 1R | 0 / 12 | 7–12 | 37% |
| French Open | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | 3R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | Q1 | 0 / 10 | 8–10 | 44% |
| Wimbledon | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 3R | A | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | A | 0 / 11 | 5–11 | 31% |
| US Open | 1R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 3R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | 0 / 14 | 9–14 | 39% |
| Win–loss | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–3 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 3–4 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 5–3 | 5–4 | 2–4 | 3–4 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 0 / 47 | 29–47 | 38% |
| Olympic Games |||||||||||||||||||
| Summer Olympics | NH | A | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | A | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | A | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | 2R | NH | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50% |
| ATP Tour Masters 1000 |||||||||||||||||||
| Indian Wells Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | Q3 | A | A | 2R | A | A | A | 1R | 0 / 3 | 1–3 | 25% |
| Miami Open | A | A | A | 3R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 2R | 1R | A | 2R | QF | 1R | 1R | Q2 | 0 / 10 | 11–10 | 52% |
| Stuttgart | NH | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | Q1 | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Monte Carlo | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Rome | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | QF | A | 1R | 1R | Q1 | 1R | Q1 | 0 / 5 | 3–5 | 38% |
| Hamburg | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | A | 1R | A | 0 / 2 | 1–2 | 33% |
| Canada Masters | A | A | 2R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 2R | A | A | 1R | A | 1R | A | 0 / 9 | 5–9 | 36% |
| Cincinnati Masters | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | 1R | Q2 | 0 / 4 | 2–4 | 33% |
| Paris Masters | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | Q3 | Q3 | Q2 | Q1 | 1R | Q1 | Q1 | A | A | 0 / 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–5 | 4–4 | 1–2 | 4–3 | 0–0 | 3–6 | 5–5 | 0–1 | 0–5 | 0–1 | 0 / 37 | 23–37 | 38% |

### Doubles

| Tournament | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | SR | W–L | Win % |
| Grand Slam tournaments |||||||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 3R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 3R | 1R | 0 / 9 | 7–9 | 44% |
| French Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | 2R | 1R | 2R | F | 1R | SF | 1R | 1R | 0 / 9 | 11–9 | 55% |
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | 3R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 0 / 8 | 10–8 | 56% |
| US Open | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | 1R | 3R | 3R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 0 / 11 | 8–11 | 42% |
| Win–loss | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 5–3 | 4–4 | 2–4 | 7–4 | 3–4 | 7–4 | 4–4 | 1–4 | 0 / 37 | 36–37 | 49% |
| ATP Tour Masters 1000 |||||||||||||||||||||
| Indian Wells Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | A | 1R | QF | 1R | A | 0 / 5 | 2–5 | 29% |
| Miami Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 3R | 2R | 3R | 2R | A | 0 / 6 | 3–6 | 33% |
| Stuttgart | NH | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | Q1 | A | 1R | A | F | A | A | 0 / 2 | 4–2 | 67% |
| Monte Carlo | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | QF | 1R | 2R | 1R | A | 0 / 5 | 2–5 | 29% |
| Rome | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | QF | A | QF | 1R | QF | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | 0 / 7 | 6–7 | 46% |
| Hamburg | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | 0 / 4 | 0–4 | 0% |
| Canada Masters | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | QF | QF | A | A | 1R | A | 1R | QF | QF | A | 0 / 7 | 8–7 | 53% |
| Cincinnati Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | 2R | SF | 1R | A | 0 / 4 | 4–4 | 50% |
| Paris Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | Q2 | Q1 | 1R | QF | 2R | A | A | 0 / 4 | 4–4 | 50% |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 5–3 | 0–0 | 2–4 | 0–6 | 5–5 | 3–8 | 14–9 | 2–7 | 0–0 | 0 / 44 | 33–44 | 43% |

### Mixed doubles

| Tournament | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | SR | W–L | Win % |
| Grand Slam tournaments |||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | 1R | A | A | 2R | QF | 1R | QF | A | 0 / 5 | 5–5 | 50% |
| French Open | A | A | 2R | A | A | QF | 1R | 2R | A | 0 / 4 | 3–4 | 43% |
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | QF | A | A | 3R | 1R | 2R | 0 / 4 | 6–4 | 60% |
| US Open | 2R | A | QF | A | A | A | 2R | 2R | 1R | 0 / 5 | 5–5 | 50% |
| Win–loss | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 4–4 | 1–2 | 0 / 18 | 19–18 | 51% |

## Junior Grand Slam finals
### Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

| Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 1986 | US Open | Hard | David Wheaton | Tomás Carbonell Javier Sánchez | 4–6, 6–1, 1–6 |