Murphy Jensen (born October 30, 1968) is an American former professional tennis player and Grand Slam doubles champion. He is the younger brother of former professional tennis player Luke Jensen, with whom he teamed to win the 1993 French Open Doubles title.
He is the co-founder of WEconnect, a healthcare information technology company with a platform designed to aid addiction recovery, and currently the head coach of the Washington Kastles of World TeamTennis.
Early life Murphy Jensen grew up on a Christmas-tree farm in the summer resort town of Ludington in western Michigan. He is of Danish descent.Murphy Jensen interview He first saw a tennis net being used to corral salmon along the Pere Marquette River as a boy.Only when Murphy Jensen hit rock bottom did he find what he needed His father (who tried out with the New York Giants as an offensive guard and then became a high school tennis coach) Howard Jensen, taught Murphy and brother Luke to play tennis before they were 5 years old.
Collegiate tennis career Jensen and his brother Luke both attended the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California.USC Men's Tennis -- On The Pro Tour , USCTrojans.com, Accessed July 8, 2008. After two years playing for the USC Trojans, Murphy transferred to the University of Georgia for one year and then turned professional to pursue a career in tennis and to join his brother Luke on the ATP Tour.
Business ownership and activism After winning the 1993 French Open with Luke, the Jensen brothers became a center-court attraction. Murphy turned to drugs and alcohol to cope with the stress of his new-found success and celebrity status. In 1995, he missed a mixed-doubles match at Wimbledon with Brenda Schultz-McCarthy and his family feared he had been kidnapped. During this period of his life Murphy partnered with the very popular Jimmy Buffett to open a Bait Shack in Key West.
After losing in the first round of the 1999 US Open, feeling the pressure of work and family responsibilities (his son, William, was born a few weeks after the tournament), Jensen found himself in the throes of addiction. A hotel manager noticed Jensen's apparent crisis and contacted an interventionist, who asked Jensen to consider treatment for addiction recovery. Jensen agreed, and has since been in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction.
In 2014, Jensen met serial entrepreneur Daniella Tudor, also in treatment for addiction recovery. After leaving recovery, the two worked together towards improving addiction recovery awareness. In 2016, Jensen, Tudor, and business owner Jen Mallory co-founded WEconnect, a web application platform designed to assist patients with addiction recovery after treatment. Described as a "social-purpose corporation", WEconnect's business platform is centered around providing "accountability for an individual's recovery activities by closing the gap in communication with their support network." In June 2016, WEconnect won the TechCrunch Seattle Meet-Up, and was then chosen as the wildcard battlefield startup at TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco in September later that year.
Personal life Jensen has a son William (born 1999Robin Givens) with actress Robin Givens, whom he dated periodically during the late 1990s.
Jensen has been open about his addiction and the factors that led to his recovery. He has been in long-term recovery and sober since June 1, 2006, and he cites his close relationships with recovery mentors as one of the key factors in preventing relapse.
ATP career finals
Doubles: 11 (4 titles, 7 runner-ups) LegendGrand Slam Tournaments (1–0)ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)ATP Masters Series (0–0)ATP Championship Series (1–1)ATP World Series (2–6)Finals by surfaceHard (2–1)Clay (1–5)Grass (1–0)Carpet (0–1)Finals by settingOutdoors (4–6)Indoors (0–1)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss0–1Sydney, AustraliaWorld SeriesHard Luke Jensen Sandon Stolle Jason Stoltenberg3–6, 4–6Loss0–2Bologna, ItalyWorld SeriesClay Luke Jensen Danie Visser Laurie Warder6–4, 4–6, 4–6Win1–2Paris, FranceGrand SlamClay Luke Jensen Marc-Kevin Goellner David Prinosil6–4, 6–7, 6–4Loss1–3Tokyo, JapanChampionship SeriesCarpet Luke Jensen Grant Connell Patrick Galbraith3–6, 4–6Loss1–4Mexico City, MexicoWorld SeriesClay Luke Jensen Francisco Montana Bryan Shelton3–6, 4–6Loss1–5Bogota, ColombiaWorld SeriesClay Luke Jensen Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor4–6, 6–7Win2–5Nottingham, United KingdomWorld SeriesGrass Luke Jensen Danie Visser Patrick Galbraith6–3, 5–7, 6–4Win3–5Long Island, United StatesWorld SeriesHard Luke Jensen Hendrik Dreekmann Alexander Volkov6–3, 7–6Loss3–6Coral Springs, United StatesWorld SeriesClay Luke Jensen Dave Randall Greg Van Emburgh7–6(7–2), 2–6, 6–7(2–7)Loss3–7St. Pölten, AustriaWorld SeriesClay Luke Jensen Kelly Jones Scott Melville2–6, 6–7Win4–7Washington, United StatesChampionship SeriesHard Luke Jensen Neville Godwin Fernon Wibier6–4, 6–4
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
Doubles: 5 (3–2) LegendATP Challenger (3–2)ITF Futures (0–0)Finals by surfaceHard (1–1)Clay (2–1)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin1–0Salou, SpainChallengerClay Francisco Montana Wayne Arthurs Carl Limberger5–7, 6–2, 7–5Win2–0Hong Kong, Hong KongChallengerHard Luke Jensen Mike Briggs Trevor KronemannwalkoverLoss2–1Zaragoza, SpainChallengerHard Martin Damm David Adams Andrei Olhovskiy2–6, 6–1, 4–6Loss2–2Cologne, GermanyChallengerClay Brian Devening Marc-Kevin Goellner Bernd Karbacher4–6, 7–6, 1–6Win3–2Birmingham, United StatesChallengerClay Luke Jensen Fredrik Bergh Rikard Bergh6–2, 7–6
Performance timelines
Doubles Tournament199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002SRW–LWin %Grand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenAA2R2R2R1R1RAA1RAA0 / 63–6French OpenAAW3RQF1R3R1RAAAA1 / 613–5WimbledonQ1A2R1R1R1R1R1RAAAA0 / 61–6US OpenAA2R3R3R1R1R3R1RAAA0 / 77–7Win–loss0–00–09–35–46–40–42–42–30–10–10–00–01 / 2524–24Year-end ChampionshipsATP FinalsDNQRRDid not qualify0 / 10–3ATP Masters SeriesIndian WellsAAQ22RSF1R2R1RAQ1AA0 / 55–5MiamiAA1R2R1R1R1R2RA1RAA0 / 71–7Monte CarloAA2R1R1RAAAAAAA0 / 31–3HamburgAA1RAAAAAAAAA0 / 10–1RomeAASF2RAAA2RAAAA0 / 35–3CanadaAAAAAA1R1RAAAA0 / 20–2CincinnatiAA1R2R1R2R2R1RAA1R1R0 / 83–8ParisAA2RAAAAAAAAA0 / 10–1Win–loss0–00–04–63–53–41–32–42–50–00–10–10–10 / 3015–30
Mixed doubles Tournament19931994199519961997SRW–LWin %Grand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenA1RA1RA0 / 20–2French OpenSF1R1R1RA0 / 44–4Wimbledon1R1R2RA1R0 / 41–4US Open2RQFAA1R0 / 33–3Win–loss5–32–41–20–20–20 / 138–13
Film and television career Since retiring from the game, Jensen has acted in bit parts in films such as Wimbledon (2004) and more recently Tennis, Anyone. He currently hosts several programs on the Tennis Channel, including Open Access and Murphy's Guide.
On Open Access Jensen reports on high-profile tennis events around the world and interviews participating players about their lives and careers.
Each episode of the more comedic Murphy's Guide is a guide for tourists to a particular city where a major tennis tournament is taking place, such as Paris, London, New York, Melbourne etc. At least one major player appears at some point in the episode, and there is usually a brief segment about where enthusiasts of the game can play when in town, but the show's content mainly features Jensen attempting to navigate the city's sights, trying exotic food, and interacting with locals in his unique style. Through his experiences and misadventures, however, specific travel information about local hotels, restaurants, and attractions is conveyed, often with the help of animated maps and graphics. Many episodes also feature a scripted opening sequence, such as Jensen being made to walk the plank by the pirates of Treasure Island in Las Vegas, being psychoanalyzed by Sigmund Freud in Vienna, and impersonating James Bond and Crocodile Dundee in London and Melbourne, respectively.
References
External links Official website.