Introduction
Robbie Koenig (/ˈkoʊnɪɡ/ KOH-nig; born 5 July 1971) is a retired professional tennis player from South Africa who is now a tennis commentator and analyst. He won five doubles titles and reached the semifinals of the 1998 US Open men's doubles competition. Koenig works as a tennis broadcaster for a host of TV channels around the world, most notably the ATP Masters 1000 events, the Australian Open, US Open and Wimbledon (Radio) as well as the premier online tennis channel of TennisTV.com
Playing career
Koenig achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 262, notably reaching the third round of Washington in 1992. He had wins early on in his singles career over the likes of Tim Henman, Pat Rafter, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Felix Mantilla. Most of his success, however, came in doubles. He won 5 titles (with 6 further finals), reaching a career-high doubles ranking of World No. 28 in May 2003. As well as his US Open doubles semi-finals appearance in 1998, Koenig reached the round-of-16 twice at Wimbledon in 1998 and 1999. He was also a quarter-finalist on 3 other occasions at the US Open in 1997, 2001 and 2004. In Mixed Doubles he reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2001 and the US Open in 2002. He also represented South Africa in Davis Cup on four occasions and was captained by 1985 Wimbledon finalist, Kevin Curren.
Commentating career
Koenig is known for his commentary on the ATP World Tour at their Masters 1000 events matches broadcast on Tennis Channel as well as the online tennis broadcast site TennisTV, often as part of a commentating duo alongside Jason Goodall. He has been assigned to commentate at the Australian Open and US Open. He can also be heard on Fox Sports in Australia, Star Sports in Asia, ESPN International as well as SuperSport in South Africa where he co-hosts during the Grand Slam events.
ATP Tour finals
Doubles (5 titles, 6 runners-up)
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 17 May 1999 | St. Pölten, Austria | Clay | Brent Haygarth | Andrew Florent Andrei Olhovskiy |
7–5, 4–6, 5–7 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 7 February 2000 | Dubai, UAE | Hard | Peter Tramacchi | Jiří Novák David Rikl |
2–6, 5–7 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 11 September 2000 | Tashkent, Uzbekistan | Hard | Marius Barnard | Justin Gimelstob Scott Humphries |
3–6, 2–6 |
| Runner-up | 4. | 17 September 2001 | Shanghai, China | Hard | John-Laffnie de Jager | Byron Black Thomas Shimada |
2–6, 6–3, 5–7 |
| Runner-up | 5. | 25 February 2002 | San Jose, U.S. | Hard | John-Laffnie de Jager | Wayne Black Kevin Ullyett |
3–6, 6–4, [5–10] |
| Winner | 1. | 22 July 2002 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Clay | Thomas Shimada | Lucas Arnold Ker Álex Corretja |
7–6, 6–4 |
| Winner | 2. | 9 September 2002 | Tashkent, Uzbekistan | Hard | David Adams | Raemon Sluiter Martin Verkerk |
6–2, 7–5 |
| Winner | 3. | 6 January 2003 | Auckland, New Zealand | Hard | David Adams | Tomáš Cibulec Leoš Friedl |
7–6, 3–6, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 6. | 21 April 2003 | Barcelona, Spain | Clay | Chris Haggard | Bob Bryan Mike Bryan |
4–6, 3–6 |
| Winner | 4. | 18 August 2003 | Long Island, U.S. | Hard | Martín Rodríguez | Martin Damm Cyril Suk |
6–3, 7–6 |
| Winner | 5. | 16 August 2004 | Washington, U.S. | Hard | Chris Haggard | Travis Parrott Dmitry Tursunov |
7–6, 6–1 |