David Wheaton Starts to Make Tennis Mark

David Wheaton finally is catching up with Andre Agassi and Michael Chang.

Just a few years ago, they were considered three child prodigies of American tennis. But after winning the 1987 Junior U.S. Open, Wheaton languished while his counterparts flourished.

While Agassi was ranked 24th on the men’s tennis tour at age 17 in November 1987, an 18-year-old Wheaton was at Stanford, adjusting to his growing body and transforming his style of play from baseline to serve-and-volley.

When Chang stunned the tennis world at age 17 by winning the 1989 French Open, a 19-year-old Wheaton was putting behind him a year of frustration and doubts after a nearly career-ending wrist injury suffered in a freak accident.

But at 20, Wheaton finally is catching his peers, and his goal this year is to join Agassi (No. 8) and Chang (No. 7) in the top 10.

“It hasn’t been an easy road for me,” Wheaton said. “It’s been a long road.”

But Wheaton believes his slow, steady ascent not only will take him to No. 1, but also keep him there longer than teen-agers who have risen much more quickly.

“You’re building a foundation by getting experience, playing matches and working your way up steadily,” Wheaton said. “I think that’s a safer way . . . instead of just shooting up there on a few big wins and then just kind of falling down real quick.”

He’s already realized one 1990 goal: making a Grand Slam quarterfinal when in January he reached the final eight of the Australian Open in the best finish by an American.

He was ranked 27th in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals late last month, but had slipped to 35th this week.

“He can be the best player in the world,” Jerry Noyce, an unofficial coach of Wheaton since Wheaton was 11, said at the St. Louis Park health club where Wheaton works out when he comes home to Deephaven.

“He has a tremendous desire to be No. 1. I see him in the top 10 in the next couple of months. He is sort of a secret in his own country, but that won’t last too long.”

People have been saying such things about Wheaton most of his life.

He began playing at age 4, and won the Minnesota boys’ state singles championship as a freshman.

Then he won four junior national titles and was the second-ranked junior in the world in 1987.

But by then, not close to the 6-foot-4, 175-pound body he has today, Wheaton began having trouble holding his own against his peers.

So, instead of turning pro, he went to Stanford, where Cardinal Coach Dick Gould noticed his 115-m.p.h. serve and changed his style to serve-and-volley.

“I think my game takes a little longer to develop,” Wheaton said. “You don’t see many serve-and-volleyers who make it young. It’s more of an experience thing. You have to learn to play around the net.”

Wheaton learned quickly. He competed in the singles and doubles finals in his first tournament as a Stanford freshman, the Volvo All-American, which included most of the best collegiate players.

But his career nearly slammed to a stop after a freak rollerblading accident in December 1987. Traveling faster than he realized as he rolled up to knock on a dorm window, he cut two tendons and a nerve in his wrist as his left arm broke through the window.

“It was like someone had taken a knife and tried to murder me,” said Wheaton, a right-hander who hits a two-handed backhand. “There was a hole in my wrist the size of a half dollar.”

There was some question whether Wheaton would lose the use of his left hand, but two months later he was practicing his forehand and by mid-March he was working on his backhand.

“It was pretty sad. I thought, ‘There goes another case of a kid not making it, burning out,’ ” Wheaton said. “Even to this day, I still don’t have feeling in a large part of my hand. If it was my right hand, it would have been a career-ending injury.”

Wheaton came back to lead Stanford to the 1988 NCAA men’s tennis championship, and was named the NCAA rookie of the year. But his wrist was still weak and he lacked confidence in his backhand.

Wheaton’s troubles showed when he turned pro in the summer of 1988. He was ranked 863rd at one point late that year.

“It was pretty bad for a while,” he said. “I wasn’t hitting my backhand normally until the end of 1988. I was depressed after the summer. I didn’t want to play tennis anymore.”

But after taking time to refocus, Wheaton began his steady improvement by winning three of his first seven 1989 matches.

He won the Brasilia Challenger in April and moved from 214th in the world to 111th. At the Grand Prix in Stratton Mountain in August, he beat Agassi and Jim Courier before losing to Brad Gilbert in the semifinals. That put him at No. 60. He finished 1989, his first full year on the pro circuit, with $122,043 in winnings.

“Things started slowly to get back together,” Wheaton said. “Learning to win again was a big thing for me.”

Wheaton began making a national name for himself at the 1990 Australian Open, where he swept Aaron Krickstein in the fourth round before losing to Stefan Edberg in the quarterfinals.

Now that he’s beaten players like Agassi, once a classmate of his at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, and Krickstein, Wheaton wants to beat some of the world’s top five players.

“I think I’m physically ready to play at that level,” he said. “I can definitely hit the ball with these guys, but it’s just a mental thing now. That comes from experience--winning a lot.”