# Martin Blackman

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{{short description|Barbadian-American tennis player}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{Infobox tennis biography
 | name = Martin Blackman
 | image =  
 | caption = 
 | country = {{flagu|United States}} /<br />{{flagicon|BAR}} Barbados
 | residence = [Orlando, Florida](/source/Orlando%2C_Florida), U.S.
 | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1970|4|5}}
 | birth_place = [The Bronx, New York](/source/The_Bronx%2C_New_York), U.S.
 | death_date = 
 | death_place =
 | height = {{height|ft=6|in=2}}
 | turnedpro =
 | plays = Right-handed 
 | careerprizemoney = $141,468
 | singlesrecord = 3–14
 | singlestitles = 3  
 | highestsinglesranking = No. 158 (June 6, 1994) 
 | FrenchOpenresult = 1R ([1994](/source/1994_French_Open_%E2%80%93_Men's_singles))
 | USOpenresult = 1R ([1990](/source/1990_US_Open_%E2%80%93_Men's_singles))
 | doublesrecord = 4–7
 | doublestitles = 6
 | highestdoublesranking = No. 142 (September 19, 1994)
 | USOpenDoublesresult = 1R (1994)
}}
'''Martin Blackman''' (born March 5, 1970) is a former professional [tennis](/source/tennis) player from the United States.  He later represented [Barbados](/source/Barbados).<ref>[http://itftennis.com/ProCircuit/players/player/profile.aspx?PlayerID=10000148 ITF Tennis Profile]</ref>

==Early life==
Blackman was born in New York City, before moving to Barbados when he was 2 years old. He spent much of his childhood in Barbados, where his father Courtney Blackman served as Governor of the [Central Bank](/source/Central_Bank_of_Barbados) and he attended the Harrison College School. For two summers, Blackman's family lived on the [Upper West Side](/source/Upper_West_Side) in New York and he trained at the [Port Washington Tennis Academy](/source/Port_Washington_Tennis_Academy). In 1983 he returned to the United States and attended the [Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy](/source/Nick_Bollettieri_Tennis_Academy) on a tennis scholarship.<ref>{{cite book|title=Blacks at the net: Black achievement in the history of tennis, Volume 1|author=Djata, Sundiata A.|publisher=[Syracuse University Press](/source/Syracuse_University_Press)|year=2006}}</ref>

==Junior career==
Blackman beat future [Grand Slam](/source/Grand_Slam_(tennis)) winners [Michael Chang](/source/Michael_Chang) and [Petr Korda](/source/Petr_Korda) en route to the semi-finals of the [1986 US Open Juniors](/source/1986_US_Open_(tennis)) and was also a semi-finalist at the same event a year later, with [MaliVai Washington](/source/MaliVai_Washington) in the doubles.<ref name=ATP>[http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Bl/M/Martin-Blackman.aspx ATP World Tour Profile]</ref> The biggest junior title that he won was the 1986 [USTA](/source/USTA) National Championships (16s), in both the singles and doubles, partnering Chang.<ref name=ATP/> He was also a member of two [NCAA Division I Championship](/source/NCAA_Men's_Tennis_Championship) winning teams while at [Stanford](/source/Stanford_University).<ref name=ATP/>

==Professional career==

Blackman started on the [Grand Prix tennis circuit](/source/Grand_Prix_tennis_circuit) in 1987 when, at the age of just 16, he appeared at Indianapolis and achieved a win over world number 74 [Luiz Mattar](/source/Luiz_Mattar).<ref name=ATP/>

The right-handed Blackman made his first Grand Slam appearance in the [1990 US Open](/source/1990_US_Open_(tennis)), where he lost a three set match to [Martín Jaite](/source/Mart%C3%ADn_Jaite) in the first round.<ref name=ATP/>

In 1994 he played in his two further Grand Slams, at the [French Open](/source/1994_French_Open) and [US Open](/source/1994_US_Open_(tennis)).<ref name=ATP/> At Roland Garros he was unable to better his previous effort and again exited in the opening round, this time to countryman [Bryan Shelton](/source/Bryan_Shelton) in four sets.<ref name=ATP/> At his home event he only entered the main draw of the doubles, with [Ivan Baron](/source/Ivan_Baron_(tennis)).<ref name=ATP/> The pair lost their only match to Canadians [Daniel Nestor](/source/Daniel_Nestor) and [Greg Rusedski](/source/Greg_Rusedski).<ref name=ATP/> Also in 1994, Blackman and partner [Renzo Furlan](/source/Renzo_Furlan) reached the semi-finals of the [Romanian Open](/source/1994_Romanian_Open).<ref name=ATP/>

He appeared in 10 rubbers for the [Barbados Davis Cup team](/source/Barbados_Davis_Cup_team) during his career, winning his first five matches and losing his final five.<ref>[http://www.daviscup.com/en/players/player/profile.aspx?playerid=10000148 Davis Cup Profile]</ref>

Blackman achieved a career-high singles ranking of No. 158 and No. 142 in men's doubles, and eventually retired from the [ATP Tour](/source/ATP_Tour) in 1995.

==Coaching career==

Blackman was head men's tennis coach at [American University](/source/American_University) from 1998 to 2004, when he became Director of the Junior Tennis Champions Center at College Park, Maryland He was Senior Director of Talent Identification and Development for the [United States Tennis Association](/source/United_States_Tennis_Association) (USTA) from 2009 to 2011, serving on the  Board of Directors from 2003 to 2004 and 2005–06. He founded the Blackman Tennis Academy in [Boca Raton, Florida](/source/Boca_Raton%2C_Florida) in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |title=Martin Blackman – General Manager, Player Development |url=https://www.playerdevelopment.usta.com/About-USTA/Player-Development/Bios/martin_blackman_-_general_manager_player_development/ |publisher=US Tennis Association |accessdate=January 18, 2019 }}</ref> In 2015, Blackman re-joined the USTA, succeeding [Patrick McEnroe](/source/Patrick_McEnroe) as General Manager of Player Development.<ref>{{cite news |title=Blackman takes over as USTA GM of development |url=https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/12625028/martin-blackman-hired-replace-patrick-mcenroe-usta-general-manager-player-development |accessdate=January 18, 2019 |publisher=ESPN |agency=Associated Press |date=April 6, 2015 }}</ref>

==Personal life==
Blackman holds an Economics Degree from [George Washington University](/source/George_Washington_University) and from the prestigious school, [Stanford University](/source/Stanford_University).
He lives in Florida with his wife and their four children.

==Challenger titles==
===Singles===
{|class="sortable wikitable" style=font-size:97%
!style="width:20px"|No.
!style="width:30px"|Year
!style="width:140px"|Tournament
!style="width:50px"|Surface
!style="width:140px"|Partner
!style="width:90px" class="unsortable"|Score
|- 
|1.
|1993
|[Belo Horizonte](/source/BH_Tennis_Open_International_Cup), Brazil
|Hard
|{{flagicon|RSA|1928}} [David Adams](/source/David_Adams_(tennis))
|6–7, 6–4, 7–6
|}

===Doubles===
{|class="sortable wikitable" style=font-size:97%
!style="width:20px"|No.
!style="width:30px"|Year
!style="width:140px"|Tournament
!style="width:50px"|Surface
!style="width:140px"|Partner
!style="width:140px"|Opponents
!style="width:90px" class="unsortable"|Score
|-
|1. 
|1992
|[Singapore](/source/Singapore)
|Hard
|{{flagicon|ITA}} [Laurence Tieleman](/source/Laurence_Tieleman)
|{{flagicon|GER}} [Patrick Baur](/source/Patrick_Baur)<br />{{flagicon|NED}} [Sander Groen](/source/Sander_Groen)
|6–4, 1–6, 7–6
|-
|2.
|1994
|[Wellington](/source/BP_National_Championships), New Zealand
|Hard
|{{flagicon|USA}} [Kenny Thorne](/source/Kenny_Thorne)
|{{flagicon|AUS}} [Sandon Stolle](/source/Sandon_Stolle)<br />{{flagicon|AUS}} [Simon Youl](/source/Simon_Youl)
|6–7, 6–3, 6–3
|-
|3. 
|1994
|[Poznań](/source/Pozna%C5%84), Poland
|Clay
|{{flagicon|CHI}} [Sergio Cortés](/source/Sergio_Cort%C3%A9s)
|{{flagicon|POR}} [João Cunha-Silva](/source/Jo%C3%A3o_Cunha-Silva)<br />{{flagicon|POR}} [Emanuel Couto](/source/Emanuel_Couto)
|6–7, 7–5, 7–5
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackman, Martin}}
Category:1970 births
Category:Living people
Category:Barbadian male tennis players
Category:American male tennis players
Category:American people of Barbadian descent
Category:Sportspeople of Barbadian descent
Category:Stanford Cardinal men's tennis players
Category:Tennis players from New York City
Category:20th-century American sportsmen
Category:Tennis players from Florida
Category:Sportspeople from Orlando, Florida

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Martin Blackman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Blackman) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Blackman?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.