# Brian Vahaly

Brian Vahaly (born July 19, 1979) is an American former professional tennis player and a graduate of University of Virginia. He reached the quarterfinals of the 2003 Indian Wells Masters (defeating world no. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero en route) and achieved a career-high of world no. 57 in March 2003. He is currently the Chairman of the Board and President of the USTA.

## Early career

He began playing tennis at the age of two with his parents Barry and Karen. As a junior, Brian Vahaly captured the Easter Bowl 18s title and reached the final of the Coffee Bowl in Costa Rica in 1997. His best junior Grand Slam result was reaching the quarterfinal at Wimbledon that same year, where he finished 17th in the world junior rankings.
Vahaly proceeded to play four years of collegiate tennis at the University of Virginia from 1998 to 2001, where he was a three-time All-American and finished as the school's most successful player. In 2000, he won the United States Amateur Championships (Men's Tennis). In 2001, Vahaly reached the singles final at the NCAA Championships, and lost in the doubles semifinal with Huntley Montgomery, but finished as the no. 1 player in doubles and no. 5 in singles (40-6).
Vahaly became UVA's first tennis All-American in 1999 and during the previous season was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of Year. In his last two seasons, he was a two-time ACC Player of Year, and as a senior, he was named the University of Virginia Male Athlete of Year. He graduated with two majors in Finance and Business Management, and finished his career at Virginia as an Academic All-American. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame of University of Virginia Men's Tennis.

## Professional career

In 2002, Vahaly enjoyed a breakthrough season on the ATP circuit, advancing to the semifinals of Memphis (falling to Andy Roddick) and the quarterfinals of Indian Wells. He defeated three top 10 ranked players Fernando González, (2003 French Open Champion and former world no. 1) Juan Carlos Ferrero, and Tommy Robredo at Indian Wells and later teamed with Andy Roddick in Washington, D.C., to defeat the no. 1 ranked doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan. During the year he also posted wins over Michael Chang and Vince Spadea. Vahaly was the only college graduate in the top 100 in the world and was recognized by People magazine in its issue of the 25 Hottest Bachelors. In March 2003, he reached his career high singles ranking of world no. 57.
In 2004-2007, Vahaly spent most of the year on the ATP circuit playing events in Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Newport, Houston, Indian Wells, San Jose, Adelaide, and the Australian Open (losing to finalist Marat Safin).
Vahaly played his last tournament at the U.S. Open losing to Juan Martín del Potro. After the tournament, Vahaly revealed that the shoulder injury had plagued him for some time. On September 7, 2007, Brian underwent surgery to repair several tears to his right rotator cuff. He had two additional surgeries later that year.

## Retirement

In November 2007, Vahaly announced his retirement from professional tennis on his website. He had three shoulder surgeries from 2006 to 2007. He moved to Washington, D.C., to work for a private equity fund. In 2013, Vahaly began serving on the USTA board of directors and then became the chief operating officer at two different venture capital firms, Venturehouse Group and NextGen Venture Partners. Vahaly has distinguished himself as a respected chief executive with a track record of success in operational turnarounds, driving growth and improving profitability for private equity-backed, early-stage companies in the health and wellness sector. Vahaly has recently elected to serve as the Chairman of the Board and President of the USTA and US Open for the 2025-2026 term.

## Personal life

Vahaly came out as gay in 2017 in a podcast. He is married to Bill Jones, with whom he is raising two twin boys. He is one of very few out male professional tennis players, and the first gay man to publicly come out after playing on the ATP Tour.

## ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
### Singles: 15 (10–5)

* Legend
* ATP Challenger (5–4)
* ITF Futures (5–1)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (9–4)
* Clay (1–1)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Jul 2001 | USA F17-A, Quogue | Futures | Clay | Bjorn Jacob | 5–7, 6–3, 6–2 |
| Loss | 1–1 | Jul 2001 | USA F17-B, Pittsburgh | Futures | Clay | Jaymon Crabb | 3–6, 6–1, 4–6 |
| Win | 2–1 | Oct 2001 | Jamaica F1-A, Montego Bay | Futures | Hard | Julien Cassaigne | 3–6, 6–1, 6–0 |
| Win | 3–1 | Oct 2001 | Jamaica F1, Negril | Futures | Hard | Daniel Willman | 7–6$^{(7–4)}$, 6–3 |
| Win | 4–1 | Dec 2001 | USA F28, Laguna Niguel | Futures | Hard | John Doran | 7–6$^{(7–3)}$, 6–2 |
| Win | 5–1 | Feb 2002 | USA F4, Brownsville | Futures | Hard | Nicolas Todero | 6–3, 7–6$^{(7–5)}$ |
| Win | 6–1 | Mar 2002 | Hamilton, New Zealand | Challenger | Hard | Louis Vosloo | 6–2, 5–7, 6–4 |
| Loss | 6–2 | Apr 2002 | Tarzana, United States | Challenger | Hard | Eric Taino | 2–6, 6–7$^{(6–8)}$ |
| Win | 7–2 | Jun 2002 | Tallahassee, United States | Challenger | Hard | Justin Gimelstob | 7–6$^{(7–5)}$, 6–4 |
| Win | 8–2 | Jul 2002 | Aptos, United States | Challenger | Hard | Noam Behr | 2–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
| Loss | 8–3 | Nov 2003 | Champaign-Urbana, United States | Challenger | Hard | Paul Goldstein | 3–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 8–4 | Oct 2004 | College Station, United States | Challenger | Hard | Andre Sa | 3–6, 0–6 |
| Win | 9–4 | Apr 2005 | Tallahassee, United States | Challenger | Hard | Justin Gimelstob | 6–4, 6–0 |
| Loss | 9–5 | Aug 2005 | Bronx, United States | Challenger | Hard | Thierry Ascione | 2–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 10–5 | Oct 2005 | Calabasas, United States | Challenger | Hard | Denis Gremelmayr | 3–6, 6–2, 6–2 |

### Doubles: 7 (3–4)

* Legend
* ATP Challenger (3–4)
* ITF Futures (0–0)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (3–3)
* Clay (0–1)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Feb 2002 | Dallas, United States | Challenger | Hard | Huntley Montgomery | Giorgio Galimberti Frederic Niemeyer | 6–7$^{(1–7)}$, 4–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | May 2002 | Rocky Mount, United States | Challenger | Clay | Huntley Montgomery | Mark Merklein Eric Taino | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 0–3 | Jun 2002 | Tallahassee, United States | Challenger | Hard | Huntley Montgomery | Levar Harper-Griffith Jeff Williams | 3–6, 6–4, 4–6 |
| Win | 1–3 | Feb 2004 | Waikoloa, United States | Challenger | Hard | Scott Humphries | Brandon Coupe Travis Parrott | 6–3, 7–6$^{(7–3)}$ |
| Win | 2–3 | Oct 2004 | College Station, United States | Challenger | Hard | Paul Goldstein | Andre Sa Bruno Soares | 7–5, 2–6, 6–4 |
| Loss | 2–4 | Oct 2004 | Austin, United States | Challenger | Hard | Robert Kendrick | Andre Sa Bruno Soares | 3–6, 1–6 |
| Win | 3–5 | Aug 2005 | Bronx, United States | Challenger | Hard | Cecil Mamiit | Julien Benneteau Nicolas Mahut | 6–4, 6–4 |