2017-18 Men's Tennis Roster
Robert Kelly
- Height:
- 6-2
- Weight:
- null
- Class:
- Senior
- Hometown:
- Chapel Hill, N.C.
- High School:
- Cardinal Gibbons
• Two-time All-America honoree (Doubles in 2016, Doubles in 2017
• Has surpassed 100 career wins in both singles and doubles
• Team captain in 2017-18 as the team's only senior
• Reached the doubles final at the 2017 ITA Men's All-America Championship
• Has been ranked No. 1 in doubles with two different partners during his UNC career (2016 with Brett Clark, 2018 with William Blumberg)
JUNIOR SEASON (2016-17): Went 28-9 in singles and 30-11 in doubles • Earned All-America honors in doubles after reaching the NCAA quarterfinals with partner William Blumberg • It was the second consecutive year of All-America honors in doubles for Kelly • Named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team at No. 3 singles and No. 1 doubles • Second-team All-ACC • All-ACC Academic Team • Finished the season ranked No. 84 in singles and No. 4 (with Blumberg) in doubles • During the Tar Heels' run to the NCAA Tournament final, was 4-1 at the No. 3 singles spot, with his only loss to No. 13 Skander Mansouri of Wake Forest in the quarterfinals ... He and Blumberg were 5-1 in the NCAA Tournament, defeating teams ranked No. 1 (Georgia’s Jan Zielinski and Robert Loeb), No. 5 (Cal’s Filip Bergevi and Florian Lakat) and No. 17 (Virginia’s Luca Corinteli and Carl Soderlund). Their sole loss was to Wake Forest’s fourth-ranked Skander Mansouri and Christian Seraphim, 7-5 ...
SOPHOMORE SEASON (2015-2016): Recorded an overall 36-7 singles record and a 32-7 doubles mark • Led the team in singles wins, 25 of those coming in dual match play • Finished the season with a 10-2 singles record against ACC opponents • Reached a career high Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis ranking of No. 47 in January • Defeated four ranked opponents throughout the season • Ended the season ranked No. 121 in singles and No. 4 in doubles standings with partner Brett Clark • Began dual play ranked as the No. 1 doubles team with Clark and regained the top seed on April 5 after defeating two, top-15 teams from Virginia and Wake Forest in the same weekend • Rallied from a set down against Logan Staggs of UCLA to clinch the match and send the Tar Heels to the ITA National Indoors championship match • Received NCAA Division I Championship bids for both singles and doubles competition but was unable to play due to injury • Runner up in the men's doubles draws at the ITA All-American Championships and the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships with Clark • Earned All-America honors in doubles and was named to the All-ACC third team.
FRESHMAN SEASON (2014-2015): Finished with an overall singles record of 32-8 and a doubles record of 25-6 • Went 23-6 in singles during dual play, mostly at No. 5 (12-3) and No. 6 (7-1) • His 32 singles wins as a freshman was just two short of the program record set by Ronnie Schneider in 2014 • Won his group at the Napa Valley Invitational with three straight-set victories • Clinched a berth in the ITA All-American Championships qualifying draw by ousting four consecutive opponents in the pre-qualifying bracket • Registered wins against No. 125 Sam Verbeek of Pacific and No. 105 William Kallberg of Mississippi in the qualifying draw • Teamed with Oystein Steiro to advance to the doubles quarterfinals at the ITA Carolinas Regional.
JUNIOR/PREP: Played on state championship tennis teams all four years at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, N.C. • Ranked the No. 10 player in the 2014 recruiting class by TennisRecruiting.net • Ranked the No. 1 recruit in North Carolina and No. 1 in the Southeast • Named a high school All-American and was the 3A individual state champion in 2013 and 2014 • Named MVP of the state championship tournament in 2013 • Coached by former UNC All-America tennis player Brad Pomeroy at North Hills Country Club in Raleigh • Won the 2014 USTA 18s Southern Closed and the USTA Boys' 17s L1 Singles championship • Won the 2013 Winter Southern Closed in Knoxville, Tenn. • Reached the doubles quarterfinals of the National Clay Courts • Won the Grade 4 ITF doubles tournament in South Carolina • Also a talented soccer player who was a member of the Triangle United Gold team in the U.S. Soccer Olympic Developement Program • Stopped playing competitive soccer during his sophomore year of high school to focus on tennis • Four-year National Honor Society member with a 4.6 GPA • Recognized with the Presidential Academic Fitness Award and was named a North Carolina Academic Scholar.
PERSONAL: Full name is Robert Quayle Kelly • Son of Robert and Jane Kelly • Born in Prague, Czech Republic and grew up in Fontainebleau, France • Has one brother, Jeremy, who plays soccer at UNC • Both parents attended UNC as Morehead-Cain Scholars • Father played soccer at UNC for then-men's head coach Anson Dorrance.
OFF COURT WITH ROBERT
The aspect of my game I've worked on the most since last year is: drop shot.My greatest strength as a tennis player is: slice.
Favorite tennis memory: Indoor National Championship.
Dream doubles partner: Jack Skahan.
My ideal post-match meal consist of: steak-frites.
My favorite sport, other than tennis, is: soccer.
Outside of tennis, I like to spend time: having dinner with my family.
Favorite movie: Les Intouchables.
My go-to karaoke song is: anything Drake.
My dream job is: Liverpool Football Club player.
ROBERT KELLY'S CAREER STATS
| Season | Singles | Doubles | ||
| 2016-17 | 28-9 | 30-11 | ||
| 2015-16 | 36-7 | 32-7 | ||
| 2014-15 | 32-8 | 25-6 | ||
| Career Totals | 96-24 | 87-24 |
