Pro Career
Purcell made his first splash on the professional circuit in the summer of 1980. As a wild card entrant at the Washington (D.C.) Star Tournament, he upset top-ranked Eddie Dibbs. Two weeks later, he qualified for a spot in the U.S. Clay Courts. There, he beat Hank Pfister and top-10 ranked Harold Solomon before falling in the finals to José Luis Clerc. Purcell saw his Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking soar from the 300s to the top 40 and was crowned 1980 ATP Rookie of the Year.
The next year he played at Wimbledon, the first of six appearances (1981–85, 1987) on the famed grass courts. He reached the quarterfinals in 1983, beating Tim Wilkison, Stuart Bale, Andreas Mauer and Brian Gottfried before falling to eventual runner-up New Zealand's Chris Lewis 6–7, 6–0, 6–4, 7–6 in the quarterfinals.
Purcell also was a fixture in other Grand Slam events during the 1980s, playing in the US Open 10 times (1978–87) where he recorded victories over Stan Smith, Andrés Gómez and Ilie Năstase, among others. He competed in the French Open six times (1981–84, 1987–88) where he twice reached the round of 16 in singles and in 1981 reached the doubles quarterfinals with Vincent Van Patten.
Another career highlight was beating Ivan Lendl and Fernando Luna at Boston in 1982 before falling in the final to Guillermo Vilas.
Injuries to his elbow from a car accident and a pulled stomach muscle slowed his career in 1985 but a year later, he beat Boris Becker in the German Open for another milestone singles victory.
Purcell won three ATP singles titles in 1981, at Atlanta, Tampa and Tel Aviv. He also teamed to claim four doubles titles, at Delray Beach (1982 with Chip Hooper), Munich (1982 with Eliot Teltscher) and Vienna (1983 with Stan Smith and 1987 with Tim Wilkison).
Ace Authentic produced a line of trading cards called "Heroes & Legends" that included Purcell at his best.
Read more about this topic: Mel Purcell
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