Octagon Tennis Signs Resurgent American Brian Baker

Written by: Staff on 11th July 2012

Octagon Tennis Signs Resurgent American Brian Baker

epa03293825 Brian Baker of the US returns to Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany during their fourth round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 03 July 2012. EPA/GERRY PENNY |

Global sports and entertainment marketing leader Octagon announced today the signing of American tennis standout Brian Baker. Baker, who has made a remarkable six-year comeback after being sidelined by multiple injuries, was ranked as the No. 2 junior in the nation in 2003 and recently reached a career high ATP ranking (76) after finishing in the final round of 16 at Wimbledon. Octagon Tennis Senior Director Kelly Wolf will lead Baker’s representation team.

Quickly becoming one of the most intriguing U.S. tennis stories in years, Baker captured the nation’s attention at a young age after he won the Junior Orange Bowl and reached the boys’ final of the French Open. With a promising tennis career ahead, the young athlete passed on college scholarship offers to turn pro in 2003. Shortly after, Baker was plagued with several injuries to his wrist, elbow, both hips, knee, and abdomen. After enduring five surgeries between 2003 and 2008, Baker left the ATP World Tour and enrolled at Belmont University in his hometown of Nashville, Tenn.

“Brian’s journey is truly compelling and is one of the most unique stories in sports in recent years,” said Wolf. “It is evident by his recent comeback that Brian is a talented and passionate player who stops at nothing to achieve his goals. We are thrilled to work with him and look forward to providing him with first class management as he makes his transition back to full time professional tennis.”

Unable to step away from the game, Baker worked as an assistant coach with Belmont’s tennis team. While coaching, he started to feel his body steadily improving and decided to take one last chance on his childhood dream. In the summer of 2011, Baker entered himself in an ITF Futures tournament in Pittsburgh and won the PNC Futures tournament title without dropping a set. After claiming two more Futures titles over the summer, Baker put his coaching career on hold to pursue one of the greatest comeback stories in American sports history.

The 27-year-old started 2012 ranked 456th. Since then, Baker won the Savannah Challenger, received the USTA’s wild card entry into Roland Garros, reached the final of the Open de Nice and had an incredible run at Wimbledon. Set to play in the BB&T Atlanta Open July 14-22, Baker now ranks inside the ATP Top 100.

Octagon has a rich and proud history in the sport of tennis, having managed the careers of 63 Grand Slam Champions and 11 Olympic gold medalists over three decades. In addition, Octagon owns or manages more professional tennis events than any other agency with WTA and ATP events including the Toray Pan Pacific Open, Kremlin Cup, Brasil Open, the Western & Southern Financial Group Championships and the Southern California Open among others. For more information on Octagon Tennis, please visit www.octagontennis.com or via Twitter at @OctagonTennis.

Octagon is the world’s largest sports and entertainment representation and marketing agency with global expertise in consulting, athletes & personalities, event management, property representation, marketing solutions, licensing and merchandising and talent procurement. As part of The Interpublic Group (NYSE:IPG), one of the world’s leading organizations of advertising agencies and marketing services, Octagon employs more than 1,000 people in 60 offices around the world. For further information please visit: www.octagon.com or follow us on Twitter: @Octagon_AP.

Topics: Brian Baker, global sports tennis news, Sports, Tennis News