1999 NCAA Doubles Champion

Fall of 2001: Finished the fall 6-0 in singles and 3-1 in doubles … Ranked No. 1 in the nation in the ITA Fall Singles Rankings, and is No. 7 in doubles with junior Ryan Haviland … Also finished 2001 ranked No. 692 in the world in the ATP Singles Rankings, after achieving a career-high ranking of No. 524 earlier in the year … Owns a career collegiate singles record of 90-23 (.796 winning percentage) … Team co-captain with David Martin … In his only event thus far this season, captured his second career ITA All-American Singles Championship … Became just the second player in the 22-year history of the event to win it twice, joining only Georgia’s Al Parker (1989-90) … Hippensteel, who also won the event as a sophomore in 1999, lost just two sets in his six All-American singles victories … He defeated four players ranked in the top 50 nationally to get to the semifinals, and then beat No. 88 Amer Delic of Illinois 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals and No. 91 Kosta Zinchanka of South Alabama 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-3 in the final … Advanced to the semis of the ITA All-American Doubles Championships with Haviland … The duo upset fourth seeds Daniel Kiernan and Sebastian Rutka of LSU 8-6 in the opening round.

Summer of 2001: Participated in both singles and doubles qualifying at the U.S. Open … Singles finalist at a futures event in Chico … Singles semifinalist at a futures tournament in Sunnyvale.

2000-01 (Junior): Finished 35-9 in singles and 23-8 in doubles … Went 19-5 in dual singles competition, and 16-4 in doubles … Ranked 13th in the final ITA Singles and Doubles (w/Kim) Rankings … Named an Intercollegiate Tennis Association Singles All-American after advancing to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships … First Team Verizon Academic All-American … Named ITA Doubles Team of the Month in May with senior Alex Kim … First Team Verizon Academic All-District 8 … Named 2001 Pacific-10 Conference Doubles Team of the Year with Kim … First Team All-Pacific-10 Conference … First Team Pacific-10 Conference All-Academic … Won the singles title at the ITA Northern California Regional Championships/Indoor Qualifier … Won the Pac-10 Doubles Championship with Kim … In singles, reeled off 14 straight wins from Feb. 10-April 10 … At the NCAA Singles Championships, won three consecutive matches over opponents ranked among the top 45 nationally … Eventually lost in the quarterfinals to South Carolina’s Guilaume Legat 7-5, 6-4 … Singles finalist at the Pac-10 Championships, including back-to-back three-set wins over then-No. 16 John Paul Fruttero of California (6-7, 7-6, 6-3) and then-No. 12 Jean-Julien Rojer of UCLA (6-7, 7-6, 6-4) … Clinched Stanford’s 4-3 win at then-No. 1 UCLA on April 6 with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Marcin Matkowski … Went 3-0 at the National Team Indoors in February, including straight set wins over then-No. 8 Ramsey Smith of Duke (6-4, 6-4) and then-No. 33 Jean-Noel Grinda of UCLA (6-4, 6-4) … Turned in a dominating performance at the ITA Northern California Regional Championships/Indoor Qualifier to win his second career title in that event (1998) … As the top seed in the tournament, lost a combined total of just 25 games in his six victories, including a 6-4, 6-1 win over Adrian Barnes of California in the final … Advanced to the singles final of the ITA Summer Championships, where he fell to Virginia’s Brian Vahaly 7-5, 6-3 … In doubles, teamed with Kim to win 15 of their last 17 matches after a 6-4 start … The pair won the Pacific-10 Conference Doubles Championships in April, including a 6-1, 6-1 win over Olivier Charroin and Pim Van Mele of Arizona State in the final … In the semifinals, Hippensteel and Kim beat then-No. 12 Jean-Noel Grinda and Jean-Julien Rojer of UCLA 8-5 … Advanced to the doubles semis at the ITA Summer Championships with Stanford teammate Scotty Scott … Over the summer, was a singles quarterfinalist and doubles semifinalist at the Kansas City Futures … Posted summer wins over 1999 NCAA Singles Champion Jeff Morrison of Florida and former Stanford teammate and fellow 1999 NCAA Doubles Champion Ryan Wolters.

1999-2000 (Sophomore): Turned in one of the most courageous and productive seasons in Stanford tennis history en route to NCAA All-American and NCAA All-Tournament honors … Finished the season ranked eighth in the nation in singles, but was ranked as high as No. 1 on Dec. 7, and 39th in doubles (w/David Martin) … Accomplished these feats despite missing nearly two-and-a-half months (Jan. 14-March 28) with a severe case of mononucleosis that led to a ruptured spleen … Won the ITA All-American Singles Championships in Austin, Texas, in October, and jumped from No. 26 to No.1 in the subsequent national rankings … But in his first match at No. 1, suffered the ruptured spleen during a match against USC’s Daniel Langre at the National Collegiate Tennis Classic … Completed the lengthy rehabilitation by first leading Stanford to the NCAA Team Title, and then advancing to the semifinals of the NCAA Singles Championships in scorching heat in Athens, Georgia … Played at No. 1 singles before the injury, and No. 3 afterwards behind NCAA Champion Alex Kim and Pac-10 Champion Geoff Abrams … Ranked as high as fifth in the ITA Doubles Rankings with Martin … Also named Second Team All-Pac-10 and Honorable Mention Pac-10 All-Academic … In NCAA team doubles play, Hippensteel and Martin posted wins at the No. 2 slot in the quarters, semis and finals … In the NCAA Singles Championships, won four matches in three days as the No. 9-16 seed, including a 6-7 (7), 6-3, 7-6 (6) third round upset over seventh-seeded Esteban Carrill of Texas Christian … In the semis, dodged three second set match points before being outlasted by teammate and eventual champion Alex Kim 6-2, 6-7 (1), 6-2 … Semifinalist at the Pac-10 Individual Championships in April, and like the NCAAs, was eliminated by a teammate and eventual champion (Geoff Abrams 6-2, 6-4) … Broke on to the national scene at the ITA All-American, where as an unseeded and 26th-ranked entry, posted all six of his wins in straight sets to capture the title … All six wins came over opponents ranked in the top 40 by the ITA (four of them over seeded players), including sixth-seeded Brian Vahaly of Virginia (6-1, 6-3) in the final … In addition, three of the players Hippensteel defeated at the All-American finished the year ranked in the top five nationally (No. 3 Daniel Andersson of Virginia Commonwealth, No.4 Shuon Madden of Texas A&M and No.5 Vahaly) … Featured as a Sports Illustrated "Face In The Crowd" after the All-American win, and won ITA Singles Player of the Month honors for October … Teamed with Martin to win the ITA Northern California Regional Championships/Indoor Qualifier doubles title in Seattle, and the pair also advanced to the quarters of the ITA All-American doubles draw … Along with Stanford teammate Alex Kim, helped lead the U.S. to the finals of the Windmill Cup at Wimbledon … Beat 1999 NCAA Champion Jeff Morrison at the Godfrey Pro Tournament … Played in the U.S. Open doubles main draw for the second consecutive year.

1998-99 (Freshman): Won the NCAA Doubles Championship with senior Ryan Wolters … Ranked No. 42 in singles and No. 2 in doubles (with Wolters) in the ITA Final Rankings … Wolters and Hippensteel were unseeded at NCAAs, and after losing a set in their first round win, lost only 18 games over the final four matches and eight in the final two to win the title convincingly … The duo became Stanford’s second consecutive NCAA Double Champions and 13th overall … Named Region VIII Rookie of the Year … Second Team All-Pacific-10 Conference … Doubles quarterfinalist with Wolters at the Pac-10 Championships … Also reached the second round of the singles draw of the Pac-10 Championships in Ojai … Teamed with Wolters to win the National Collegiate Tennis Classic, and also reached the singles quarters of that event … Singles and doubles champion (with Wolters) at the ITA Northern California Regional Championships/Indoor Qualifier … Reached the doubles quarterfinalist at the ITA All-American Championships with Wolters.

Prior to Stanford: 1998: U.S. Junior Open Doubles Champion with Stanford teammate David Martin … Doubles Champion at USTA Nationals … Doubles semifinalist at Wimbledon Juniors … Ranked as high as third in the ITF World Rankings for Doubles 18’s, and was the third highest ranked American in the singles rankings … The United States Tennis Association sent him to Mexico, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Brazil, Venezuela, Italy, Belgium, France and England … Was the No. 1 player in the Mid-Atlantic Section in 18’s for two consecutive years … 1997: Singles and doubles quarterfinalist at the International Grass Court Championships … Reached the singles round of 16 at the Yucatan World Cup and the Eddie Herr International … 1994:Went from No. 111 in USTA Nationally as a 12 year old to No. 2 in the country by age 14.

Personal: Born May 8, 1980 … Son of Kirk and Bonnie Hippensteel … Received high school degree from the ESI International Academy in Hilton Head, South Carolina and also attended Palmer Prep School in Tampa, Florida … Named to Who’s Who Among American High School Students.

Dick Gould Says: "I think the sky’s the limit for K.J. He can do everything. He has been unbelievably consistent at the NCAA Championships, winning the doubles title as a freshman, reaching the singles semifinals as a sophomore and the singles quarterfinals as a junior. K.J. is the only player I have had who has come close to achieving what Roscoe Tanner did in his time here (NCAA Doubles champion, two-time singles finalist, singles semifinalist).