James McGee (born 10 June 1987) is an Irish former professional tennis player. He was born in Castleknock, Ireland. He attended Belvedere College in Dublin, County Dublin.
Personal life
McGee was born to Kieran and Marie McGee.[1] He started playing tennis at the age of seven at Castleknock.[2] He won his school's tennis championship in 2002, 2003 and 2004, and was also awarded the Most Outstanding Player of the Year in Ireland in 2003.[1] He was educated at Belvedere College in Dublin and then obtained a major in Psychology from North Carolina State University in 2008.[2]
Career
McGee has spent most of his career on the Futures and Challenger circuits. As of 9 June 2014, he has played in 10 Davis Cup ties for Ireland with a record of 13 wins and 8 losses (9–5 in singles & 4–3 in doubles).[3]
In late April, McGee once again equalled his best challenger result, reaching the semi-finals of the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger.[8] He then went on to win his first ever Grand Slam qualifying match, defeating Norbert Gomboš at the French Open and then stunning Guido Pella in two sets in the following round. McGee, however, was unable to become the first Irish tennis player since Sean Sorensen, in 1982, to reach the French Open main draw, as he lost in straight sets to Andrea Arnaboldi.[9] In early June, McGee once again reached the final round of qualifying for an ATP World Tour event, this time at the Queen's Club Championships, but came up just short in a tight three sets match against Daniel Brands. McGee next competed at Wimbledon qualifying but was defeated in straight sets by Aljaž Bedene.[10]
McGee qualified for his first ever grand slam main draw at the 2014 US Open after defeating Zhang Ze in the final round of qualifiers in 3 sets.[16] He also defeated Gonzalo Lama[17] and Yuki Bhambri[18] during the qualifying stages. McGee faced Aleksandr Nedovyesov in the first round of the main draw where he lost in 4 sets.[19] Despite this defeat, the prize money earned for reaching the first round accounted for more than a quarter of his career earnings to date.[20]