David Wheaton
David Wheaton (born June 2, 1969) is an author, radio host, and contributing columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Formerly he was a professional tennis player representing the United States. Personal. Born in Minneapolis as the youngest of four children. In his tennis carrier, he dated tennis star Mary Joe Fernández around 1990-1992. Wheaton married in 2009 and has one son. Tennis career. Wheaton started tennis at age four, played in his first tournament at eight, won the Minnesota State High School tennis title in 1984 as a freshman, trained at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy for  his last two-and-a-half years of high school, played one year at Stanford, and then competed for 13 years on the professional tour. Juniors. In 1987, Wheaton won the US Open junior title and was the No. 1 ranked junior player in the US. In 1988, he helped Stanford University's tennis team win the NCAA team title and received the Block S Award as the most outstanding freshman athlete at Stanford. Pro tour. Wheaton turned professional on July 4, 1988 and won his first top-level singles title in 1990 at the U.S. Clay Court Championships in  Kiawah Island, South Carolina. He was also runner-up in the 1990 US Open men's doubles (with Paul Annacone). The most significant highlights of his career came in 1991. He won the Grand Slam Cup in Munich, beating Michael Chang in straight sets in the final 7–5, 6–2, 6–4. He also reached the semifinals of singles at Wimbledon (beating Petr Korda, Cédric Pioline, Ivan Lendl, Jan Gunnarsson and Andre Agassi in the quarterfinals before being knocked-out by Boris Becker), and was a men's doubles runner-up at the Australian Open (partnering with his former Stanford teammate Patrick  McEnroe). Wheaton reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 12 in July 1991. During his career, Wheaton won three top-level singles and three doubles titles, representing the US in Davis Cup (v. Australia, 1993) reached the semifinals or better in either singles or doubles of every Grand Slam tournament, and defeated highly ranked players such as Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg, Jim Courier, and Michael Chang. He retired from the professional tour in 2001, following a series of injuries. Since then he has played in some senior tour events, winning the "Wimbledon Over 35  Doubles" championship in 2004 (with T.J. Middleton). Radio and writing career. In 2002, Wheaton embarked a new career in radio, writing, and speaking. He is the producer and host of The Christian Worldview, a live talk radio program that airs on 250 stations in the US. He is a tennis columnist for the "Minneapolis Star-Tribune" and the author of two books, "University of Destruction: Your Game Plan for Spiritual Victory on Campus" (Bethany House, 2005) and "My Boy, Ben—A Story of Love, Loss and Grace" (Tristan Publishing, 2014). Service and awards. Wheaton serves on the board of The  Overcomer Foundation, a non-profit organization that directs his radio ministry. He also served on the board of directors of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) from 2003-2006. He is a member of the Intercollegiate Tennis Hall of Fame (class of 2012) and the USTA Northern Section Hall of Fame (class of 2005). Wheaton received the Eugene L. Scott Renaissance Award in 2011—an award presented to a national/international tennis champion who demonstrates excellence in promoting and developing the sport of tennis in public parks.