Career record 29–85 Handed Right-handed Plays Right-handed Role Tennis Player | Height 6'1" (185 cm) Name David Schneider Residence Boca Raton, Florida Career titles 0 Highest ranking 82 | |
 | ||
Born 17 May 1955 (age 68)
Johannesburg,
South Africa ( 1955-05-17 ) | ||
Country (sports) South Africa
Israel | ||
David Schneider (born 17 May 1955) is a former professional tennis player from South Africa.
Career
Schneider, who is Jewish, won three gold medals at the 1973 Maccabiah Games, in the men's singles, doubles with Errol Kilov and the mixed doubles with Ilana Kloss.
A serve and volley specialist, Schneider had his breakthrough performance at the South African Open in 1978. He reached the semi-finals, with wins over John Feaver, Deon Joubert and Peter Fleming, which ensured he finished the season ranked in the top 100, for the first time. Earlier in the year, he won his first Grand Slam singles match, on his sixth attempt, beating Australian Dick Crealy at Wimbledon.
In 1979 he had his best year on tour, making a quarter-finals in Atlanta, Johannesburg and Tel Aviv. The South African again made the second round in the Wimbledon Championships, with a victory over Bob Carmichael. He lost five set opening round matches to strong opponents at the 1979 US Open and 1979 Australian Open, to Jan Kodeš and Geoff Masters respectively. In the US Open he and partner Charlie Pasarell made it to the third round of the men's doubles.
Schneider holds an Israeli passport and began playing for the Israel Davis Cup team in 1981. Over three years, he took part in six ties and played nine matches, of which he won four, a singles rubber over Slobodan Živojinović and three doubles matches, partnering Shlomo Glickstein. He also had success with Glickstein on the 1981 Grand Prix season, with the pair finishing runner-up in Johannesburg and at the South Orange Open. While living in Israel, Schneider served in the Israeli military (he had also previously served in the South African military). He eventually settled in the United States, where he married an American, with whom he has three American children and two American grandchildren.