The Open Era
United States · born St. Louis, Missouri, 1963 · died 2018 · Wimbledon doubles champion with Robert Seguso in 1987 and 1988
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3
Wimbledon titles: men's doubles 1987 and 1988, mixed doubles 1986
6
Major titles: four in men's doubles, two in mixed
2
Queen's doubles titles with Seguso, 1985 and 1988
1988
Olympic doubles gold in Seoul with Seguso
34
Men's doubles titles, 28 of them with Seguso
Kenneth Eliot Flach was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on 24 May 1963 and went to Kirkwood High School before Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. There he won the NCAA Division II singles title three years running, from 1981 to 1983, and met Robert Seguso, with whom he reached the 1983 NCAA Division I doubles final.
Flach and Seguso became one of the leading teams of the 1980s. They won 28 titles together, among them the US Open in 1985 and Wimbledon in 1987 and 1988, and Flach reached No. 1 in the doubles rankings in 1985. They won the Olympic gold medal in Seoul in 1988 and played Davis Cup together from 1985 to 1991, with an 11-2 record. In 1986 Flach also won the French and Wimbledon mixed doubles with Kathy Jordan, and in 1993 he won a second US Open with Rick Leach. His best singles ranking was No. 56, in December 1985.
He retired from the tour in 1996 and coached the Vanderbilt men's team from 1997 to 2005, taking it to its first NCAA tournament in 1999 and the NCAA final in 2003. With Seguso he won senior invitation doubles titles at Wimbledon in 1999, 2000 and 2008. He died in California on 12 March 2018, aged 54, after a sudden illness.
| Wimbledon finals | 1987 with Robert Seguso: beat Sergio Casal and Emilio Sánchez 3-6, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-3), 6-1, 6-4 from two sets down, in 171 minutes. 1988: beat John Fitzgerald and Anders Järryd 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) as top seeds |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon mixed | 1986 with Kathy Jordan, top seeds: beat Heinz Günthardt and Martina Navratilova 6-3, 7-6 (9-7) |
| Wimbledon 1986 | Lost a quarter-final with Seguso to Joakim Nyström and Mats Wilander 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, 11-9, after holding six match points |
| Wimbledon 1988 semi-final | Beat Eddie Edwards and Gary Miller 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (14-12); the 26-point tiebreak is the joint record for a men's doubles semi-final at Wimbledon |
| Queen's and Manchester | Queen's 1985 with Seguso, beating Pat Cash and John Fitzgerald with a 16-14 final set; Queen's 1988, beating Pieter Aldrich and Danie Visser 6-2, 7-6; Manchester 1993 with Rick Leach, beating Stefan Kruger and Glenn Michibata 6-4, 6-1 |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Mixed doubles | with Kathy Jordan |
| 1987 | Men's doubles | with Robert Seguso |
| 1988 | Men's doubles | with Robert Seguso |
| Queen's Club | ||
| 1985 | Men's doubles | with Robert Seguso |
| 1988 | Men's doubles | with Robert Seguso |
| Northern Championships | ||
| 1993 | Men's doubles Manchester Open | with Rick Leach |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
The person behind the player.
Edwardsville, 1981 to 1983
Flach came to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville from Kirkwood High School in St. Louis. He won three consecutive NCAA Division II singles titles from 1981 to 1983 and two Division II doubles titles with different partners. His SIUE team-mate was Robert Seguso, the partner of his professional career.
Source: SIUE1986
Shortly after the 1986 US Open, the summer in which he won the French and Wimbledon mixed titles with Kathy Jordan, he married the model Sandra Freeman. They had four children.
Source: Oman ObserverWimbledon, 1996
His brother Doug was also a tour player. At Wimbledon in 1996 Doug, a qualifier ranked No. 281, beat the third seed Andre Agassi in the first round on No. 2 Court, one of the upsets the Wimbledon Compendium lists in its history of that court.
Source: Wimbledon Compendium 2025; Boston GlobeNashville, 1997 to 2005
As head coach of Vanderbilt's men's team he took it to its first NCAA tournament in 1999. In 2003 the team won the SEC tournament and reached the NCAA final, Vanderbilt's second final in any sport, and Flach was named SEC Coach of the Year. His colleague Geoff Macdonald said: "Ken had a championship mindset."
Source: Vanderbilt CommodoresWimbledon, 1999 to 2008
Flach and Seguso kept playing together in the invitation events at Wimbledon. They won the 35 and over doubles in 1999, shared the title in 2000 with Jeremy Bates and Nick Fulwood, and won the senior invitation doubles in 2008.
Source: Wimbledon Compendium 2025March 2018
In March 2018 he played golf, thought he had bronchitis, and within days developed pneumonia and sepsis. He died in California on 12 March, aged 54. He was remembered on the main stadium court at Indian Wells the next day.
Source: Boston GlobeFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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