Mike De Palmer (October 17, 1961 – August 7, 2021) was a professional tennis player from the United States.
De Palmer enjoyed most of his tennis success while playing doubles. During his career, he won six tour doubles titles and finished runner-up an additional six times. He achieved a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 20 in 1986.
DePalmer had a career high singles ranking of 35, with wins over Jimmy Connors, Vitas Gerulaitis, Mel Purcell, Peter Fleming, Peter Lundgren, Paul McNamee, Jakob Hlasek, and Tim Gullikson. He reached the singles final in Ancona, Italy, in 1982, losing to Anders Järryd in two sets.
De Palmer coached Boris Becker from August 1995 to June 1999, as well as coaching other professional tennis players.
De Palmer died in Knoxville, Tennessee, on August 7, 2021, at the age of 59 because of complications from pancreatic cancer. His father coached the tennis team at the University of Tennessee from 1981 to 1994.
Grand Prix and WCT finals
Singles: (1 runner-up) ResultW-LDateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 0–1 Nov 1982 Ancona, Italy Carpet (i) Anders Järryd 3–6, 2–6
Doubles: 12 (6 titles / 6 runner-ups) ResultW-LDateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 0–1 Sep 1984 San Francisco, U.S. Hard (i) Sammy Giammalva Jr. Peter Fleming John McEnroe 3–6, 4–6Win 1–1 Jul 1985 Livingston, U.S. Hard Peter Doohan Eddie Edwards Danie Visser 6–3, 6–4Loss 1–2 Nov 1985 Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i) Gary Donnelly Guy Forget Andrés Gómez 3–6, 4–6Win 2–2 Nov 1985 Vienna, Austria Carpet (i) Gary Donnelly Sergio Casal Emilio Sánchez 6–4, 6–3Loss 2–3 May 1986 Florence, Italy Clay Gary Donnelly Sergio Casal Emilio Sánchez 4–6, 6–7Loss 2–4 Sep 1986 San Francisco, U.S. Hard (i) Gary Donnelly Peter Fleming John McEnroe 4–6, 6–7(2–7)Win 3–4 Oct 1986 Tokyo Indoor, Japan Carpet (i) Gary Donnelly Andrés Gómez Ivan Lendl 6–3, 7–5Win 4–4 Oct 1986 Hong Kong, U.K. Hard Gary Donnelly Pat Cash Mark Kratzmann 7–6, 6–7, 7–5Win 5–4 Nov 1986 Johannesburg, South Africa Hard (i) Christo van Rensburg Andrés Gómez Sherwood Stewart 3–6, 6–2, 7–6(7–4)Loss 5–5 Mar 1987 Chicago, U.S. Carpet (i) Gary Donnelly Paul Annacone Christo van Rensburg 3–6, 6–7(4–7)Win 6–5 May 1989 Florence, Italy Clay Blaine Willenborg Pietro Pennisi Simone Restelli 4–6, 6–4, 6–4Loss 6–6 Jun 1989 Bristol, England Grass Gary Donnelly Paul Chamberlin Tim Wilkison 6–7, 4–6
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