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Murphy Jensen

Country (sports)	United States
Born	(1968-10-30) October 30, 1968 (age 56) Ludington, Michigan
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Turned pro	1991
Retired	2006
Plays	Left-handed (one-handed backhand)
College	University of Southern California University of Georgia
Prize money	$681,817
Singles
Career record	0–5
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 586 (11 January 1993)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	Q2 (1992)
Doubles
Career record	125–179
Career titles	4
Highest ranking	No. 17 (18 October 1993)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	2R (1993, 1994, 1995)
French Open	W (1993)
Wimbledon	2R (1993)
US Open	3R (1994, 1995, 1998)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open	1R (1994, 1996)
French Open	SF (1993)
Wimbledon	2R (1995)
US Open	QF (1994)

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 northern Michigan. He first saw a tennis net being used to corral salmon along the Pere Marquette River as a boy. His father, former New York Giants offensive guard and 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. 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 and the most popular doubles team in the history of the game. Murphy turned to drugs and alcohol to cope with the stress of his new-found success and celebrity status. In 1999, after missing a mixed-doubles match at Wimbledon with Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, Jensen lost in the first round of the 1999 US Open. Feeling the pressure of work and family responsibilities (his son, William, was born during 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 spent the past 18 years in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction.

In 2014, Jensen met serial entrepreneur Daniella Tudor, also in treatment for addiction recovery. The two shared an interest in helping others recover from addiction and agreed that existing recovery models had substantial improvement potential.

After leaving recovery, the two continued to work 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 1999) with actress Robin Givens, whom he dated periodically during the late 1990s.

Jensen has been open about his struggles with addiction, and the factors that lead to his recovery. He has been in long-term recovery and sober since June 1, 2006, and cites his close relationships with recovery mentors as one of the key factors in preventing relapse. In founding WEconnect, Jensen's aim is to reduce the stigma of addiction and encourage and lead others with the disorder to receive proper care. He has states that rather than being remembered as a tennis champion, he hopes to bring awareness to addiction and leave behind a legacy of helping others.

Career finals

Doubles (four titles)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
1.	June 7, 1993	French Open, Paris	Clay	Luke Jensen	Marc-Kevin Goellner David Prinosil	6–4, 6–7, 6–4
2.	June 26, 1995	Nottingham, England	Grass	Luke Jensen	Patrick Galbraith Danie Visser	6–3, 5–7, 6–4
3.	August 26, 1996	Long Island, U.S.	Hard	Luke Jensen	Hendrik Dreekmann Alexander Volkov	6–3, 7–6
4.	July 21, 1997	Washington, D.C., U.S.	Hard	Luke Jensen	Neville Godwin Fernon Wibier	6–4, 6–4

Runners-up (7)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
1.	January 18, 1993	Sydney Outdoor, Australia	Hard	Luke Jensen	Sandon Stolle Jason Stoltenberg	3–6, 4–6
2.	May 24, 1993	Bologna, Italy	Clay	Luke Jensen	Danie Visser Laurie Warder	6–4, 4–6, 4–6
3.	October 18, 1993	Tokyo Indoor, Japan	Carpet	Luke Jensen	Grant Connell Patrick Galbraith	3–6, 4–6
4.	February 28, 1994	Mexico City, Mexico	Clay	Luke Jensen	Francisco Montana Bryan Shelton	3–6, 4–6
5.	September 19, 1994	Bogotá, Colombia	Clay	Luke Jensen	Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor	4–6, 6–7
6.	May 12, 1997	Coral Springs, U.S.	Clay	Luke Jensen	Dave Randall Greg Van Emburgh	7–6, 2–6, 6–7
7.	May 26, 1997	St. Poelten, Austria	Clay	Luke Jensen	Kelly Jones Scott Melville	2–6, 6–7

Film and television career

Since retiring from the game, Jensen has acted in bit parts in films such as Wimbledon 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

1. LA Times
2. Murphy Jensen interview
3. Only when Murphy Jensen hit rock bottom did he find what he needed
4. USC Men's Tennis -- On The Pro Tour Archived August 22, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, USCTrojans.com, Accessed July 8, 2008.
5. Rolling Stone Magazine
7. Robin Givens
8. Robin Givens Timeline and Biography

External links

• Official website.
• Murphy Jensen at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Murphy Jensen at the International Tennis Federation
• Murphy Jensen at IMDb

• 1968 births
• Living people
• American male film actors
• American male tennis players
• American male television actors
• French Open champions
• Sportspeople from Atlanta
• People from Hollywood, Los Angeles
• People from Ludington, Michigan
• Tennis people from Georgia (U.S. state)
• Tennis people from Michigan
• USC Trojans men's tennis players
• Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles