Jay Berger

American tennis player

Jay Berger (born November 26, 1966) is an American former professional tennis player. He won three singles and one doubles title on the ATP Tour and reached his career high singles ranking of World No. 7 in April 1990.

Berger was born in Fort Dix, New Jersey, and is Jewish. He and his wife Nadia resided on Key Biscayne and now reside in Jupiter, Florida, and have four children: daughter Alexandra, and sons Daniel, Jonathan, and Noah. His son Daniel, who played golf at Florida State (where he was an All American), is a PGA Tour pro golfer who was 2015 Rookie of the Year, and as of February 14, 2021, has four career PGA Tour wins.

Berger was the USTA Boys’ 18s National Champion in 1985. He also won the 1985 Florida State Junior Championship. He reached the fourth round in the 1985 US Open.

Berger was an All American at Clemson University in 1985 and 1986, where he recorded a 91–22 singles record in two seasons. His 80.5% career winning percentage in singles play places 3rd all time at Clemson.

Berger turned professional in 1986. He played on the tour from 1986 to 1991. He won his first top level singles title in 1986 at Buenos Aires. In 1988, he captured both the singles and doubles titles at São Paulo. In March he upset world # 2 Mats Wilander, 6–0, 7–5, in Orlando, Florida. In March 1989 Berger upset world # 3 Boris Becker, 6–1, 6–1, in Indian Wells. In May he upset world # 3 Mats Wilander, 6–3, 6–4, in Rome. In August Berger beat world # 3 Stefan Edberg, 6–4, 6–2, at Indianapolis. In 1989, Berger reached the quarterfinals at both the French Open and the US Open. He also won the third tour singles title of his career that year at Charleston, South Carolina. Berger was runner up at the Canadian Open in 1990. He retired from the professional tour in 1991. Chronic knee injuries forced his retirement. During his career, Berger won three top level singles titles and one tour doubles title. He registered victories over Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, and Mats Wilander.

Berger appeared in Davis Cup play in 1988 and 1990.

Berger was inducted into the Florida Hall of Fame in 1993. He was inducted into the Greater Miami Dade Hall of Fame in 2001. He was also voted "Sportsman of the Year" by the Olympic Committee in 1985, and "Junior Player of the Year" by TENNIS Magazine in 1985. In 2014 he was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Berger went on to become an assistant coach at Florida International University, where he resumed his studies and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Sports Management in 1994. Berger was the Head Men’s and Women’s tennis coach at the University of Miami and coached the national team. He coached Ryan Harrison until Jan Michael Gambill replaced him in 2014 after which he coached former world No. 8 Jack Sock. He currently coaches the World No. 19 Reilly Opelka.

ResultW LDateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 1–0 Nov 1986 Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay Franco Davín 6–3, 6–3Loss 1–1 Nov 1987 Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay Guillermo Pérez Roldán 2–3 ret. Win 2–1 Oct 1988 São Paulo, Brazil Hard Horacio de la Peña 6–4, 6–4Win 3–1 May 1989 Charleston, US Clay Lawson Duncan 6–4, 6–3Loss 3–2 Aug 1989 Indianapolis, US Hard John McEnroe 4–6, 6–4, 4–6Loss 3–3 Nov 1989 Itaparica, Brazil Hard Martín Jaite 4–6, 4–6Loss 3–4 Jul 1990 Toronto, Canada Hard Michael Chang 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(3–7)

ResultW LDateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 0–1 Nov 1987 Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay Horacio de la Peña Tomás Carbonell Sergio Casal def. Win 1–1 Oct 1988 São Paulo, Brazil Hard Horacio de la Peña Ricardo Acuña Javier Sánchez 5–7, 6–4, 6–3