Kelvin Belcher

{{short description|American tennis player}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}

{{Infobox tennis biography

| name = Kelvin Belcher

| image =

| fullname = Kelvin Belcher

| country_represented = {{USA}}

| birth_date = {{birth date|1961|9|20}}

| birth_place = Gadsden, Alabama, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2017|2|18|1961|9|20}}

| death_place = Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.

| height = 6 ft 1 in

| plays = Right-handed

| careerprizemoney =

| singlesrecord = 4–9

| singlestitles =

| highestsinglesranking = No. 193 (January 14, 1985)

| currentsinglesranking =

| AustralianOpenresult =

| FrenchOpenresult =

| Wimbledonresult =

| USOpenresult = 2R (1984)

| doublesrecord = 2–3

| doublestitles =

| highestdoublesranking = No. 312 (December 23, 1985)

| currentdoublesranking =

| AustralianOpenDoublesresult =

| FrenchOpenDoublesresult =

| WimbledonDoublesresult =

| USOpenDoublesresult =

}}

Kelvin Belcher (September 20, 1961 – February 18, 2017) was an American professional tennis player.

Biography

=Early years=

Born in Gadsden, Alabama, Belcher was the son of parents who were both teachers. His father Leon is a professor of psychology and his mother worked as an English teacher. He grew up in Houston, attending Lamar High School.

=Tennis career=

Belcher played collegiate tennis while at Jackson State University, winning multiple Southwestern Athletic Conference singles titles, before transferring to Texas Southern University, where he graduated in 1983.{{cite news|url=http://stylemagazine.com/news/2017/mar/03/remembering-life-kelvin-keith-belcher-md/|title=Remembering the Life of Kelvin Keith Belcher, MD|date=March 3, 2017|work=Houston Style Magazine|accessdate=16 June 2018}}

At the 1984 US Open he qualified for the main draw and made the second round, with a win over Leif Shiras, who was ranked 39 in the world at the time.{{cite web|url=https://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/tournaments/men%27s-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1010004568|title=ITF Tennis - Pro Circuit - U.S. Open - 28 August - 09 September 1984|publisher=International Tennis Federation|accessdate=16 June 2018|archive-date=16 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616080418/https://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/tournaments/men%27s-tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1010004568|url-status=dead}}

In 1984 and 1985 he featured on the Grand Prix circuit.

=Later life=

Following his tennis career he went to medical school at the University of Texas center in Houston and graduated with an M.D. in 1991, later working as a physician.

He died suddenly on February 18, 2017, at the age of 55, while playing a game of golf in Atlanta.{{cite web|url=http://www.troybsmith.com/memsol.cgi?user_id=1928504|title=In Memory of Kelvin Belcher M.D|publisher=troybsmith.com|accessdate=16 June 2018}}

References

{{Reflist}}