Ken Flach

1 tennis player. He won four Grand Slam men's doubles titles (two Wimbledon and two US Open), and two mixed doubles titles (Wimbledon and the French Open). He also won the men's doubles gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, partnering Robert Seguso. Flach reached the world No. 1 doubles ranking in 1985.

Ken Flach

Country (sports)	United States
Born	(1963-05-24)May 24, 1963 St. Louis, Missouri, US
Died	March 12, 2018(2018-03-12) (aged 54) San Francisco, California, US
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Turned pro	1983
Retired	1996
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$2,059,571
Singles
Career record	52-80
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 56 (December 9, 1985)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	3R (1983, 1987)
French Open	1R (1986, 1988)
Wimbledon	3R (1986, 1987, 1988, 1989)
US Open	4R (1987)
Doubles
Career record	443-215
Career titles	34
Highest ranking	No. 1 (October 14, 1985)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	SF (1987)
French Open	QF (1985, 1986, 1988)
Wimbledon	W (1987, 1988)
US Open	W (1985, 1993)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour Finals	F (1987, 1991)
Medal record Men's tennis Representing the  United States Olympic Games 1988 Seoul Men's doubles

Kenneth Eliot Flach was born on May 24, 1963, in St. Louis and grew up in nearby Kirkwood, Missouri.

Before turning professional, Flach played tennis for Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, where he won the NCAA Division II singles championships in 1981, 1982 and 1983, and teamed with Seguso to reach the 1983 Division I doubles final.

Flach married his first wife, model Sandra Freeman, in September 1986 and had four children together, Dylan, Madison, Noah and Hannah.

Flach played doubles on the US Davis Cup team from 1985 to 1991, compiling an 11–2 record. He was also a member of the US team which won the World Team Cup in 1985.

During his career, Flach won 36 doubles titles (34 men's doubles and 2 mixed doubles). His final career title was won in 1994 at Scottsdale, Arizona. At the US Open 1987 (second round) he won the longest fifth set tie-break to this day, 17-15 over Darren Cahill.

Following his retirement from the professional tour in 1996, Flach devoted himself to coaching. He guided Vanderbilt University to its first NCAA tournament berth in 1999. In 2003, he led the team to Vanderbilt's first NCAA championship finals appearance in any sport. He had also played in seniors events, and won the Wimbledon 35-and-over men's doubles title in 1999 and 2000.

In 2010, after moving to California, he married makeup entrepreneur Christina Friedman, and became the director of tennis at Novato's Rolling Hills Club.

In early March 2018, Flach became ill with bronchitis and died from sepsis after playing 36 holes of golf. He died shortly after falling ill with his sister, brothers and four children by his side.

Kaiser Permanente settled a malpractice case for nearly $2.9 million with the family of Ken Flach in 2021.

Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 6 (4 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1985	US Open	Hard	Robert Seguso	Henri Leconte   Yannick Noah	6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–1), 7–6(8–6), 6–0
Win	1987	Wimbledon	Grass	Robert Seguso	Sergio Casal   Emilio Sánchez	3–6, 6–7(6–8), 7–6(7–3), 6–1, 6–4
Loss	1987	US Open	Hard	Robert Seguso	Stefan Edberg   Anders Järryd	6–7(1–7), 2–6, 6–4, 7–5, 6–7(2–7)
Win	1988	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Robert Seguso	John Fitzgerald   Anders Järryd	6–4, 2–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–3)
Loss	1989	US Open	Hard	Robert Seguso	John McEnroe   Mark Woodforde	4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 3–6
Win	1993	US Open (2)	Hard	Rick Leach	Martin Damm   Karel Nováček	6–7(3–7), 6–4, 6–2

Mixed doubles: 2 (2 titles)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1986	French Open	Clay	Kathy Jordan	Rosalyn Fairbank   Mark Edmondson	3–6, 7–6(7–3), 6–3
Win	1986	Wimbledon	Grass	Kathy Jordan	Martina Navratilova   Heinz Günthardt	6–3, 7–6(9–7)

Olympic men's doubles final

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Gold	1988	Seoul Olympics	Hard	Robert Seguso	Sergio Casal   Emilio Sánchez	6–3, 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(1–7), 9–7

Doubles (34 wins, 24 losses)

Result	No	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1.	Dec 1983	Taipei, Taiwan	Carpet	Robert Seguso	Wally Masur   Kim Warwick	6–7, 4–6
Win	1.	Jun 1984	Rome, Italy	Clay	Robert Seguso	John Alexander   Mike Leach	3–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss	2.	Jul 1984	Newport, US	Grass	Robert Seguso	David Graham   Laurie Warder	4–6, 6–7
Win	2.	Jul 1984	Boston, US	Clay	Robert Seguso	Gary Donnelly   Ernie Fernandez	6–4, 6–4
Win	3.	Aug 1984	Indianapolis, US	Clay	Robert Seguso	Heinz Günthardt   Balázs Taróczy	7–6, 7–5
Win	4.	Sep 1984	Los Angeles, US	Hard	Robert Seguso	Wojtek Fibak   Sandy Mayer	4–6, 6–4, 6–3
Win	5.	Oct 1984	Hong Kong	Hard	Robert Seguso	Mark Edmondson   Paul McNamee	6–7, 6–3, 7–5
Win	6.	Nov 1984	Taipei, Taiwan	Carpet	Robert Seguso	Drew Gitlin   Hank Pfister	6–1, 6–7, 6–2
Win	7.	Jan 1985	Masters Doubles WCT, London	Carpet (i)	Robert Seguso	Heinz Günthardt   Balázs Taróczy	6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 6–0
Loss	3.	Feb 1985	La Quinta, US	Hard	Robert Seguso	Heinz Günthardt   Balázs Taróczy	6–3, 6–7, 3–6
Win	8.	Apr 1985	Fort Myers, US	Hard	Robert Seguso	Sammy Giammalva Jr.   David Pate	3–6, 6–3, 6–3
Loss	4.	Apr 1985	Chicago, US	Carpet (i)	Robert Seguso	Johan Kriek   Yannick Noah	6–3, 6–4, 5–7, 1–6, 4–6
Win	9.	May 1985	Forest Hills, US	Clay	Robert Seguso	Givaldo Barbosa   Ivan Kley	7–5, 6–2
Loss	5.	May 1985	Rome, Italy	Clay	Robert Seguso	Anders Järryd   Mats Wilander	6–4, 3–6, 2–6
Win	10.	Jun 1985	Queen's Club, UK	Grass	Robert Seguso	Pat Cash   John Fitzgerald	3–6, 6–3, 16–14
Win	11.	Jul 1985	Indianapolis, US	Clay	Robert Seguso	Pavel Složil   Kim Warwick	6–4, 6–4
Loss	6.	Aug 1985	Stratton Mountain, US	Hard	Robert Seguso	Scott Davis   David Pate	6–3, 6–7, 6–7
Win	12.	Aug 1985	Montreal, Canada	Hard	Robert Seguso	Stefan Edberg   Anders Järryd	5–7, 7–6, 6–3
Win	13.	Sep 1985	US Open, New York	Hard	Robert Seguso	Henri Leconte   Yannick Noah	6–7, 7–6, 7–6, 6–0
Win	14.	Oct 1985	Tokyo Indoor, Japan	Carpet (i)	Robert Seguso	Scott Davis   David Pate	4–6, 6–3, 7–6
Win	15.	Feb 1986	Memphis, US	Carpet (i)	Robert Seguso	Guy Forget   Anders Järryd	6–4, 4–6, 7–6
Win	16.	Mar 1986	Chicago, US	Carpet (i)	Robert Seguso	Eddie Edwards   Francisco González	6–0, 7–5
Win	17.	Oct 1986	Tokyo Outdoor, Japan	Carpet	Matt Anger	Jimmy Arias   Greg Holmes	6–2, 6–3
Loss	7.	Mar 1987	Miami, US	Hard	Robert Seguso	Paul Annacone   Christo van Rensburg	2–6, 4–6, 4–6
Loss	8.	Apr 1987	Seoul, South Korea	Hard	Jim Grabb	Eric Korita   Mike Leach	7–6, 1–6, 5–7
Win	18.	Jul 1987	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Robert Seguso	Sergio Casal   Emilio Sánchez	3–6, 6–7, 7–6, 6–1, 6–4
Loss	9.	Jul 1987	Livingston, US	Hard	Robert Seguso	Gary Donnelly   Greg Holmes	6–7, 3–6
Win	19.	Aug 1987	Cincinnati, US	Hard	Robert Seguso	Steve Denton   John Fitzgerald	7–5, 6–3
Loss	10.	Sep 1987	US Open, New York	Hard	Robert Seguso	Stefan Edberg   Anders Järryd	6–7, 2–6, 6–4, 7–5, 6–7
Loss	11.	Nov 1987	Wembley, UK	Carpet (i)	Robert Seguso	Miloslav Mečíř   Tomáš Šmíd	5–7, 4–6
Loss	12.	Dec 1987	Masters Doubles, London	Carpet (i)	Robert Seguso	Miloslav Mečíř   Tomáš Šmíd	4–6, 5–7, 7–6, 3–6
Loss	13.	Mar 1988	Miami, US	Hard	Robert Seguso	John Fitzgerald   Anders Järryd	6–7, 1–6, 5–7
Win	20.	Jun 1988	Queen's Club, UK	Grass	Robert Seguso	Pieter Aldrich   Danie Visser	6–2, 7–6
Win	21.	Jul 1988	Wimbledon, London	Grass	Robert Seguso	John Fitzgerald   Anders Järryd	6–4, 2–6, 6–4, 7–6
Loss	14.	Aug 1988	Indianapolis, US	Hard	Robert Seguso	Rick Leach   Jim Pugh	4–6, 3–6
Win	22.	Aug 1988	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Robert Seguso	Andrew Castle   Tim Wilkison	7–6, 6–3
Win	23.	Sep 1988	Seoul, South Korea	Hard	Robert Seguso	Sergio Casal   Emilio Sánchez	6–3, 6–4, 6–7, 6–7, 9–7
Win	24.	Nov 1988	Wembley, UK	Carpet (i)	Robert Seguso	Martin Davis   Brad Drewett	7–5, 6–2
Loss	15.	Nov 1988	Detroit, US	Carpet (i)	Robert Seguso	Rick Leach   Jim Pugh	4–6, 1–6
Win	25.	Apr 1989	Tokyo Outdoor, Japan	Hard	Robert Seguso	Kevin Curren   David Pate	7–6, 7–6
Win	26.	Aug 1989	Cincinnati, US	Hard	Robert Seguso	Pieter Aldrich   Danie Visser	6–4, 6–4
Loss	16.	Sep 1989	US Open, New York	Hard	Robert Seguso	John McEnroe   Mark Woodforde	4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 3–6
Loss	17.	Oct 1989	Orlando, US	Hard	Robert Seguso	Scott Davis   Tim Pawsat	5–7, 7–5, 4–6
Loss	18.	Mar 1991	Miami, US	Hard	Robert Seguso	Wayne Ferreira   Piet Norval	7–5, 6–7, 2–6
Win	27.	May 1991	Tampa, US	Clay	Robert Seguso	David Pate   Richey Reneberg	6–7, 6–4, 6–1
Loss	19.	Jul 1991	Washington, D.C., US	Hard	Robert Seguso	Scott Davis   David Pate	4–6, 2–6
Win	28.	Aug 1991	Cincinnati, US	Hard	Robert Seguso	Grant Connell   Glenn Michibata	6–7, 6–4, 7–5
Win	29.	Aug 1991	Indianapolis, US	Hard	Robert Seguso	Kent Kinnear   Sven Salumaa	7–6, 6–4
Loss	20.	Nov 1991	Doubles Championships, Johannesburg	Hard (i)	Robert Seguso	John Fitzgerald   Anders Järryd	4–6, 4–6, 6–2, 4–6
Win	30.	Mar 1992	Miami, US	Hard	Todd Witsken	Kent Kinnear   Sven Salumaa	6–4, 6–3
Loss	21.	Jul 1992	Washington, D.C., US	Hard	Todd Witsken	Bret Garnett   Jared Palmer	2–6, 3–6
Win	31.	Apr 1993	Tokyo Outdoor, Japan	Hard	Rick Leach	Glenn Michibata   David Pate	2–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win	32.	Jun 1993	Manchester, UK	Grass	Rick Leach	Stefan Kruger   Glenn Michibata	6–4, 6–1
Loss	22.	Aug 1993	Indianapolis, US	Hard	Rick Leach	Scott Davis   Todd Martin	4–6, 4–6
Win	33.	Sep 1993	US Open, New York	Hard	Rick Leach	Martin Damm   Karel Nováček	6–7, 6–4, 6–2
Win	34.	Feb 1994	Scottsdale, US	Hard	Jan Apell	Alex O'Brien   Sandon Stolle	6–0, 6–4
Loss	23.	May 1994	Coral Springs, US	Clay	Stephane Simian	Lan Bale   Brett Steven	3–6, 5–7
Loss	24.	May 1996	Pinehurst, US	Clay	David Wheaton	Pat Cash   Pat Rafter	2–6, 3–6