Paul Dogger

Dogger, who was born in Amsterdam, was a highly ranked junior, the national champion in multiple age levels growing up.[1] He often outperformed close friend Richard Krajicek, who went on to win Wimbledon.[2] Most notably, Dogger beat Brice Karsh to win the Under 16s title at the Orange Bowl in 1987.[3] At the age of 16 he played in an exhibition tournament in Ede which included a match against Ivan Lendl where he was competitive in a 4–6, 4–6 loss.[4] Only days after turning 17 in 1988, he became one of the youngest players to win a Challenger tournament when he claimed the title at Oporto.[1] In the same month he represented the Netherlands in a 1988 Davis Cup tie against the USSR in the Latvian resort town of Jūrmala.[1] Featuring in two singles rubbers, he lost both to his Soviet opponents, Andrei Cherkasov and Andrei Chesnokov, as the Netherlands were whitewashed in the tie.[5] He was a boys' singles quarter-finalist at the 1988 French Open and bettered that performance at the 1989 French Open by making the semi-finals.

Unable to replicate his junior success on the professional tour, he peaked at 191 in the world while still only 17 and his best result on the Grand Prix/ATP Tour was a second round appearance at the 1988 Dutch Open. He struggled with injuries and illness, including hernia problems and pneumonia, before retiring at the age of 22 in 1993.[4]

Dogger has battled with alcohol and cocaine addition.[1][4] His father Fred, a former top three player in the Netherlands, suffered from multiple sclerosis and in 1996 chose euthanasia to end his life.[1] This experience was one of the catalysts for Dogger to undergo rehabilitation after emigrating to the United States in 1999.[4] He married an American and has since returned to the Netherlands where he works as a tennis coach.