March 1, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Former Northwestern Wildcat Todd Martin has been selected for induction into the ITA Men's Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame. Martin helped lead the Wildcats to a Big Ten Championship in 1990 while earning first-team All-America honors. Martin was an accomplished professional, reaching two Grand Slam finals and helping the U.S. to a Davis Cup title in 1995.
Head coach Paul Torricelli will present Martin at his induction on May 23.
"I was thrilled to see the announcement of Todd's induction into the ITA Hall of Fame," Torricelli said. "It is such a well-deserved honor and he is joining the greatest names in college tennis."
Todd's time at NU remains a highlight for all of us and he has been an outstanding representative of the university and the game of tennis," Torricelli said. "His career on the tour and Davis Cup were thrills to watch and true sources of pride."
Martin will become the fifth player or coach to represent Northwestern in the Hall of Fame. Coaches Paul Bennett and Clare Riessen were inducted in 1984 and 1992, respectively. Former players Martin Riessen and Clark Graebner were inducted in 1989 and 1991, respectively.
Although he spent only two seasons at Northwestern, Martin was one of the most dominant players to ever play for the Wildcats. During his time at NU, he qualified for the NCAA Tournament in both singles and doubles, while earning first-team All-America honors.
The 1990 Big Ten Player of the Year, Martin twice earned all-conference honors (1989 and 1990) and was the Big Ten Singles champion in 1990. He helped lead the Wildcats to a Big Ten Championship in 1990 and their first berth in the elite 16-team NCAA Tournament.
As a professional, Martin emerged as one of the world's top players during the 1990's. For most of his professional career, Martin was the highest-ranked ATP player to have ever attended college and played collegiate tennis.
In 1994, he advanced to the finals of the Australian Open and was a Wimbledon and U.S. Open semifinalist. He also won the Stella Artois Grass Court Championships in London. Along the way, he defeated some of the world's top players, including Andre Agassi, Michael Chang and Pete Sampras.
Martin became the IBM/ATP fourth-ranked player in the world in 1999. He was the runner-up in the U.S. Open, falling to Andre Agassi, and made the quarterfinals of both the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
Martin will be joined in this year's class by former Michigan standout MaliVai Washington. The two became forever linked in tennis history when Washington beat Martin in their memorable 1996 Wimbledon semifinal match, 5-7, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 10-8.
Seven years earlier, Martin and Washington were among the nation's top players for Big Ten schools Northwestern and Michigan. Washington earned Big Ten Player of the Year honors in 1989 and Martin followed in 1990.
As a freshman at Northwestern in April of 1988, Martin downed the then-top-ranked Washington in a three-set match at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center. Both played No. 2 singles for their teams.
They also accounted for back-to-back ITA National Indoor singles titles, Washington in '89 and Martin in '90.
"Todd and Mal had some memorable matches, both while at NU and Michigan and later on the tour," Torricelli said. "They are both class acts."
The ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame, located in Athens, Ga., houses over 1,800 rare photos and inducted its first class in 1983. More than 160 players, coaches and contributors have been inducted since then, including the late Arthur Ashe (UCLA), Jimmy Connors (UCLA), John McEnroe (Stanford) and Stan Smith (Southern California).
Eleven new ITA Hall of Fame members will be inducted May 23 in ceremonies in Athens, Ga., during the 2007 NCAA Championships.
Class of 2007 Notes
Martin and Washington will be joined by players Steve Bryan of Texas, Harry Likas, Jr. of San Francisco, Matt Lucena of California, Allen Miller of Georgia, Alex O'Brien of Stanford, Al Parker of Georgia.
Coaches Joe Cabri of Lander ( S.C.) and Tom Parham of Atlantic Christian (now Barton (N.C.)) and Elon (N.C.) will also be inducted. Col. John L. Beaver of Georgia will be inducted posthumously as a contributor.
Steve Bryan is the junior coach of current Wildcat Alex Sanborn.