# Michael Hill (tennis)

Michael Robert Hill (born 30 June 1974) is a former tennis player from Australia who turned professional in 1997 and retired in 2005. He was primarily a doubles specialist, achieving a career-high doubles ranking of World Number 18, reached on 30 July 2001.

## Career
### College

Hill played three years at University of California Berkeley from 1994 to 1996 and earned All-American honors in singles in 1995–96; he studied business and economics.

### Professional career

In 1995, Hill played in his first pro match at Aptos Challenger where he lost in the first round. In 1997 he reached his first quarter final, at the Guadalajara Challenger.
In 1998 he achieved some singles success in Futures and Challenger play. He won the Ireland #1 Futures title, where he defeated Noam Okun, and was also a finalist at USTA #1 Futures, where he lost to Ronald Agénor. He also made a Semi-final at USTA #2 Futures. In August, Hill won his first Challenger title in Tijuana (d. Hernandez) without dropping a set. He also reached quarter finals in San Antonio and Las Vegas Challengers. In doubles, won Challenger titles in Denver with Weiner, and Tijuana with Humphries. He also reached three consecutive finals in October in Dallas, San Antonio and San Diego, all with Humphries.
In 1999, Hill captured his second Challenger singles title in Aptos (d. Levy) and reached the quarterfinals of the Surbiton Challenger. Most of his success was in doubles; he won four Challenger titles, with back-to-back titles in Cherbourg and Magdeburg (with Painter) and in the second half of year, won in Aptos (with Humphries) and Hong Kong (with Godwin). In his second career ATP outing in Tokyo, advanced to semi finals with Humphries. In July, he reached the semi-finals in Newport (with Godwin) and made quarterfinals in four other ATP tournaments.
In 2000 he captured his first ATP doubles title in Brighton and also reached final in Tokyo with American Jeff Tarango, whom he'd have more success with the following year. He played in eight singles tournaments with his best result coming at Kyoto Challenger in March when he advanced to semi finals, along with a quarter final's appearance at the Hamilton Challenger. He made his Grand Slam singles debut at Australian Open, where he defeated Bernd Karbacher in straight sets in the first round. In the second round, he lost to Sébastien Grosjean 4–6, 6–1, 7–6(3), 6–0.
2001
He played eight other partners during the year, but mostly played with Tarango. The duo finished No. 9 in ATP Doubles Race with a 30–17 match record, winning their second title together in Casablanca in March as well as reaching finals in Marseille, Gstaad and Stuttgart. Their best Grand Slam together was reaching the semi-finals at Roland Garros after defeating top seeds Jonas Björkman and Todd Woodbridge in the quarter-finals. Finished the year with a career-high $190,217 in yearly earnings and finished the season at a year-end best No. 25 in doubles.

## Personal

His father, Robert was the CFO of Abacus Property a publicly listed property development company. He has two siblings: younger brother Patrick and one older sister Carmel.

## ATP Career Finals
### Doubles: 9 (3 titles, 6 runner-ups)

* Legend (doubles)
* Grand Slam (0–0)
* ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
* ATP Masters Series (0–0)
* ATP Championship Series (1–2)
* ATP International Series (2–4)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (1–2)
* Clay (2–4)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
* Finals by setting
* Outdoor (3–5)
* Indoor (0–1)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Oct 2000 | Tokyo, Japan | Championship Series | Hard | Jeff Tarango | Mahesh Bhupathi Leander Paes | 4–6, 7–6$^{(7–1)}$, 3–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | Nov 2000 | Brighton, United Kingdom | World Series | Hard | Jeff Tarango | Paul Goldstein Jim Thomas | 6–3, 7–5 |
| Loss | 1–2 | Feb 2001 | Marseille, France | World Series | Hard | Jeff Tarango | Fabrice Santoro Julien Boutter | 6–7$^{(7–9)}$, 5–7 |
| Win | 2–2 | Apr 2001 | Casablanca, Morocco | World Series | Clay | Jeff Tarango | David Macpherson Pablo Albano | 7–6$^{(7–2)}$, 6–3 |
| Loss | 2–3 | Jul 2001 | Gstaad, Switzerland | World Series | Clay | Jeff Tarango | Roger Federer Marat Safin | 1–0 ret. |
| Loss | 2–4 | Jul 2001 | Stuttgart, Germany | Championship Series | Clay | Jeff Tarango | Guillermo Cañas Rainer Schüttler | 6–4, 6–7$^{(1–7)}$, 4–6 |
| Win | 3–4 | Apr 2002 | Barcelona, Spain | Championship Series | Clay | Daniel Vacek | Lucas Arnold Ker Gastón Etlis | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 3–5 | May 2002 | St Pölten, Austria | World Series | Clay | Mike Bryan | Petr Pála David Rikl | 5–7, 4–6 |
| Loss | 3–6 | Jul 2002 | Båstad, Sweden | World Series | Clay | Paul Hanley | Jonas Björkman Todd Woodbridge | 6–7$^{(6–8)}$, 4–6 |

## ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
### Singles: 4 (3–1)

* Legend
* ATP Challenger (2–0)
* ITF Futures (1–1)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (2–0)
* Clay (0–1)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (1–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | May 1998 | USA F1, Delray Beach | Futures | Clay | Ronald Agénor | 3–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | Jun 1998 | Ireland F1, Dublin | Futures | Carpet | Noam Okun | 4–6, 6–4, 6–3 |
| Win | 2–1 | Aug 1998 | Tijuana, Mexico | Challenger | Hard | Alejandro Hernández | 7–5, 6–1 |
| Win | 3–1 | Jul 1999 | Aptos, United States | Challenger | Hard | Harel Levy | 6–7, 6–4, 6–2 |

### Doubles: 15 (11–4)

* Legend
* ATP Challenger (10–3)
* ITF Futures (1–1)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (9–3)
* Clay (0–1)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (2–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | May 1998 | USA F1, Delray Beach | Futures | Clay | Scott Humphries | Simon Aspelin Chris Tontz | 4–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | Jun 1998 | Ireland F2, Dublin | Futures | Carpet | Scott Humphries | Jeff Coetzee Damien Roberts | 3–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
| Win | 2–1 | Jul 1998 | Denver, United States | Challenger | Hard | Glenn Weiner | Justin Bower Troy Budgen | 7–6, 6–4 |
| Win | 3–1 | Aug 1998 | Tijuana, Mexico | Challenger | Hard | Scott Humphries | Mitch Sprengelmeyer Eric Taino | 6–3, 6–2 |
| Loss | 3–2 | Oct 1998 | Dallas, United States | Challenger | Hard | Scott Humphries | Jared Palmer Jonathan Stark | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 3–3 | Oct 1998 | San Antonio, United States | Challenger | Hard | Scott Humphries | Michael Sell David Di Lucia | 3–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 3–4 | Oct 1998 | San Diego, United States | Challenger | Hard | Scott Humphries | Adam Peterson Paul Goldstein | 2–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 4–4 | Feb 1999 | Cherbourg, France | Challenger | Hard | Andrew Painter | Massimo Bertolini Cristian Brandi | 7–5, 7–6 |
| Win | 5–4 | Mar 1999 | Magdeburg, Germany | Challenger | Carpet | Andrew Painter | Jan-Ralph Brandt Dirk Dier | 7–6, 6–7, 7–6 |
| Win | 6–4 | Jul 1999 | Aptos, United States | Challenger | Hard | Andrew Painter | Harel Levy Lior Mor | 7–6, 1–6, 7–5 |
| Win | 7–4 | Oct 1999 | Hong Kong, Hong Kong | Challenger | Hard | Neville Godwin | Bob Bryan Mike Bryan | 3–6, 7–5, 7–6 |
| Win | 8–4 | Feb 2000 | Amarillo, United States | Challenger | Hard | Brian Macphie | Brandon Coupe Michael Sell | 7–5, 6–2 |
| Win | 9–4 | Feb 2000 | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | Challenger | Hard | Todd Woodbridge | Irakli Labadze Kevin Ullyett | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 10–4 | Mar 2000 | Singapore, Singapore | Challenger | Hard | Neville Godwin | Nathan Healey Paul Hanley | 6–4, 6–1 |
| Win | 11–4 | Mar 2000 | Hamilton, New Zealand | Challenger | Hard | Neville Godwin | Michael Joyce Jim Thomas | 7–6$^{(7–4)}$, 6–4 |

## Performance timelines

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

### Singles

| Tournament | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | SR | W–L | Win % |
| Grand Slam tournaments |||||||||
| Australian Open | Q1 | Q2 | Q1 | Q3 | 2R | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50% |
| French Open | A | A | A | Q1 | Q2 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Wimbledon | A | Q3 | Q3 | Q3 | Q2 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| US Open | A | Q1 | Q2 | Q2 | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50% |
| ATP Tour Masters 1000 |||||||||
| Cincinnati Masters | A | A | A | Q1 | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |

### Doubles

| Tournament | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | SR | W–L | Win % |
| Grand Slam tournaments |||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | 2R | 3R | 2R | 1R | A | 1R | 0 / 5 | 4–5 | 44% |
| French Open | A | QF | SF | 1R | A | 1R | A | 0 / 4 | 6–4 | 60% |
| Wimbledon | 1R | 1R | 3R | 1R | A | 1R | A | 0 / 5 | 2–5 | 29% |
| US Open | 2R | 1R | 3R | 2R | A | A | A | 0 / 4 | 4–4 | 50% |
| Win–loss | 1–2 | 4–4 | 9–4 | 2–4 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0 / 18 | 16–18 | 47% |
| ATP Tour Masters 1000 |||||||||||
| Indian Wells | A | A | QF | 1R | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 2–2 | 50% |
| Miami Open | Q2 | A | 3R | 1R | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 1–2 | 33% |
| Monte Carlo | A | Q1 | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 1–2 | 33% |
| Rome | A | A | 1R | 2R | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 1–2 | 33% |
| Madrid | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | 2R | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50% |
| Hamburg | A | A | 1R | 2R | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 1–2 | 50% |
| Canada Masters | A | A | 2R | QF | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 3–2 | 60% |
| Cincinnati | Q1 | 2R | 2R | 1R | A | A | A | 0 / 3 | 2–3 | 40% |
| Stuttgart | A | 1R | QF | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | 0 / 2 | 2–2 | 50% |
| Paris Masters | A | QF | 2R | 2R | A | A | A | 0 / 3 | 4–3 | 57% |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 3–3 | 7–8 | 8–9 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 21 | 18–21 | 46% |

### Mixed doubles

| Tournament | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | SR | W–L | Win % |
| Grand Slam tournaments |||||||||
| Australian Open | 2R | 1R | SF | 1R | A | 0 / 4 | 4–4 | 50% |
| French Open | 2R | A | QF | A | A | 0 / 2 | 3–2 | 60% |
| Wimbledon | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | 2R | 0 / 4 | 1–4 | 20% |
| US Open | A | 2R | 1R | A | A | 0 / 2 | 1–2 | 33% |
| Win–loss | 2–3 | 1–3 | 5–4 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0 / 12 | 9–12 | 43% |