The Tennis World is remembering Andrew Florent as a charismatic, generous and fun-loving personality after the Australian doubles specialist passed away Tuesday, aged 45.

Florent waged a spirited fight after first being diagnosed in January 2013 with bowel cancer, which subsequently spread to his liver. At the time he was told he had between three and 18 months to live, but he fought on bravely for 3 1/2 years and even competed in the legends’ doubles at the 2014 Australian Open.

Florent is survived by his wife Rachael and their two sons, Ollie, 18, and Jai, 15.

“Flory could light up a room like no other. He was the life of the party and never took himself too seriously,” said his close friend and former partner Paul Kilderry. Long-time doubles partner Josh Eagle said Florent had an “insatiable zest for life”.

“He was one of a kind. Everybody loved Flory,” said fellow Australian doubles specialist David Macpherson, who partnered Florent for two seasons. “He was jovial, witty and as positive a life force as you would ever meet. He was very generous and derived a lot of enjoyment from doing things for other people.”

Florent turned pro in 1990 and played through 2003, finishing with 211 doubles match wins and winning three titles: St. Poelten (1994 and ‘99) and Adelaide (1998). He reached a career-high Emirates ATP Doubles Ranking of 13 in 2001.

But Florent will perhaps best be remembered as a larger-than-life character beloved for his high jinks and camaraderie. Stories of his playfulness are legendary…

One of Florent’s favourite stops on the ATP World Tour was the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, during which the annual players’ revue is held. Florent loved nothing better than to get in character and entertain his peers on stage. “That was his number one reason for wanting to play Monte-Carlo,” Eagle said. “He wanted to be front and centre in the show and he absolutely loved it. While others were shying away from taking the stage, his M.O. was to make the players laugh and smile.”

At Scottsdale in 1997, Eagle and Florent were on the wrong end of a hiding from Rick Leach and Jonas Bjorkman. Sitting at the changeover with their opponents about to serve for the match, the Aussies donned Incredible Hulk masks to play out the final game. “You wouldn’t’ get away with that today, but the crowd on centre court loved it,” Eagle said. “And Rick and Jonas weren’t at all annoyed. They knew that was Flory just having a bit of fun.”

At a Challenger in Chinese Taipei in 1994, Eagle and Florent drew the local wild cards, who had never played on the tour. Florent insisted that he and Eagle go out to ‘celebrate the draw’. They arrived home at 6am and proceeded to lose the match 7-6 in the third later that day.

Tributes to Andrew Florent

Paul Kilderry
“Flory had a unique ability to connect with people from all walks of life. He was one of the friendliest players on tour and had amazing relationships with everyone, from the top ranked, to lowest ranked and all staff members. Flory never had a bad word to say about anybody and was an awesome mate to all of his fellow Aussie players

 “Flory could light up a room like no other. He was the life of the party and never took himself too seriously. Often when you would get to an event, people would ask, ‘Is Flory coming this year?’ That could be anyone from the drivers to accreditation staff or the tournament director.

 “Flory was an amazing natural athlete after a very good junior career focused on his doubles. His volleys were a throwback to the great Aussie volleyers of the past.”

RIP Florrie ♥️? pic.twitter.com/4GFy1bjqPS

— Darren Cahill (@darren_cahill) August 16, 2016

David Macpherson
“He was one of a kind. Everybody loved Flory. He was jovial, witty and as positive a life force as you would ever meet. He was very generous and derived a lot of enjoyment from doing things for other people. He shared that special Aussie bond with his countrymen and he was one of our favourite people in the whole world.”

“He and Rachael were a great couple who met early in life and she was always so supportive. He was a tremendous father to his boys and he took a lot of pleasure seeing them grow up the past few years, especially as he watched them develop into good footballers.

“As a player he had a beautiful technique and his volleys were as good as anyone who played the game. He was an incredible athlete who was explosive at the net, and one of the game’s best poachers.”

So sad to hear of the passing of Andrew Florent. He was a very kind/charming/generous person. 1 of the most well liked people in tennis. RIP

— Justin Gimelstob (@justingimelstob) August 16, 2016

John Fitzgerald
“Andrew Florent was one of a kind. 

“After his family, Flory’s mates were incredibly important to him. He was at his best surrounded by fun-loving people who quite often looked to him to create an atmosphere that made you glad to be alive. He loved tennis but loved his family and mates much more. The devotion of his friends since his illness is a remarkable testament to him.

“In all the years I knew him, I never came across one person who didn’t love the bloke, such was his infectious nature. He would never say no to participating in a charity event, whether tennis was involved or not, and in the case of my charity in Adelaide, he quite often ‘made’ the event himself as the star of the show. 

“I had the pleasure of playing doubles with Flory a couple of times. One of those was in Indian Wells and Flory taught my two toddler daughters Do Re Mi from the Sound of Music…’Doe a deer, a female deer’! He remained ‘Doe a deer’ to them for the rest of his life. 

Ollie and Jai are Andrew and Rachael’s pride and joy. The whole family can take strength knowing that a lot of love is directed towards them and Flory’s mates will forever look out for them.

Flory never failed to bring a smile to my face, right to the end. RIP mate.”

So sad to hear the news about Andrew Florent. Our thoughts goes out to his family. We will miss you my friend.

— Thomas Johansson (@tompatennis) August 16, 2016

Joshua Eagle
“Flory was one of the ‘good guys’ of world tennis. Extremely popular on and off the court with all his competitors, he had an innate ability to bring people together for the better. He was always one to celebrate his wins and losses and savour the fact that he was traveling the world playing the game he loved with his close mates, whom he treated as family. 

“Flory was the most generous person in the world, always giving his time to help out a young fan or volunteer or to play a clinic with sponsors. He was always first to buy dinner or a round of drinks at the end of the day for his mates and often would give the shirt of his own back if he felt it looked better on them.

“Flory brought so much enjoyment to every single day that he lived and it was infectious. Every morning when we shared a room he made me start the day by singing his beloved Hawthorn Football Club song with him and occasionally we even belted it out at the odd karaoke venue around the world. Flory received great pleasure out of making his family and friends happy and laugh.

“After life on the ATP World Tour, Flory embraced his next journey of family and work. With his beautiful wife Rachael, they have done a tremendous job raising two highly capable and respected boys and he loved nothing more than spending time with them and watching them develop. 

“We all loved Flory. With his insatiable zest for life, he absolutely crammed in many great times and memories that will live on forever.

“Flory will be sadly missed. However, his amazing fighting spirit will be remembered all around the world as he certainly put up the good fight right to the very end.”

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman and President
“Andrew’s passing is a great loss to the tennis family. He played the sport with absolute class and his popularity amongst his fellow athletes will long be remembered. Our thoughts are with Andrew’s family and friends during this difficult time.”

Tennis Australia
“The tennis family mourns the loss of our much loved friend Andrew Florent who has lost his long and brave battle with illness. Florrie, as we all knew him, was a true character of our sport as a player and coach, and a larger-than-life personality. His infectious sense of humour and love of life touched so many around the tennis world and he will be sorely missed. Our sympathy goes out to his family, Rachael, Ollie and Jai, and his many friends. RIP Florrie.”

Nick Kyrgios needed only 67 minutes to get past Frenchman Lucas Pouille 6-2, 7-5 and move into the second round of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Monday evening.

The Aussie was locked in from the start of Monday’s final match on center court. Kyrgios, the 14^th seed at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, hit 29 winners, including 16 aces, and broke Pouille three times in the first-round contest. At 5-all in the second set, the 21 year old ripped a backhand pass to break Pouille. He celebrated with a “Let’s go!” shout. Kyrgios finished the match with his 16^th ace.

The top-ranked #NextGen player will next face another #NextGen member in Croatian Borna Coric.

Reilly Opelka keeps checking off the milestones this month.

Two weeks ago, the 18-year-old American used a wild card to grab his first ATP World Tour singles win at the BB&T Atlanta Open. On Monday, the Florida resident grabbed his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 victory at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

Opelka, who also received a wild card in Cincinnati, saved two match points and hit 18 aces to prevail past Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(9). The 6’11” Opelka, No. 364 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, took advantage of his only break point of the second set and broke Chardy at 6-5. Neither player lost his serve in the third set, and Chardy had match points at 6/5 and 8/7 in the tie-break. But Opelka erased them both and earned a mini-break at 9/9 to serve for the match.

The right-hander will face another Frenchman in the second round, seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who’s trying to reach the third round in Cincinnati and achieve best result at the Masters 1000 tournament.

Grigor Dimitrov saved both break points and won almost 80 per cent of his first-serve points to beat Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-1, 6-3. The Bulgarian will next face 16^th seed Feliciano Lopez or German qualifier Mischa Zverev.

DOUBLES

Canadian Milos Raonic earned his second doubles win of the season when he and Serbian Nenad Zimonjic came back to beat the French team of Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 4-6, 7-5, 10-3. Raonic/Zimonjic will next face eighth seeds Rajeev Ram and Raven Klaasen.

Pablo Cuevas, who beat Sam Querrey in singles on Monday, made it two-for-two when he and Marcel Granollers advanced to the second round with a 6-2, 6-4 win against Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Alexander Peya of Austria. Cuevas/Granollers will next meet third seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares.

Tomas Berdych had been looking for a coach like Goran Ivanisevic. Berdych wanted to find someone who had played and won big titles, but also someone who knew how to get a message across to a top player on the ATP World Tour.

In Ivanisevic, a former World No. 2 who recently had success coaching Marin Cilic, Berdych says he’s found “the guy”.

“I think that was the person I was waiting for,” he said on Monday before the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Ohio will be the first time Ivanisevic and Berdych have teamed up at a tournament. The Czech veteran announced their partnership a week ago.

The 30 year old had been playing without a coach since mid-May, when he split with Daniel Vallverdu. Ivanisevic and fellow Croatian Cilic stopped working together on 21 July after being a team for almost three years.

During their time together, Cilic won his first Grand Slam championship at the 2014 US Open. The 6’6” right-hander also reached a career high No. 8 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Berdych wants Ivanisevic, the 2001 Wimbledon champion, to have a similar effect on him, especially with winning big titles. In recent years, the 6’5” right-hander has been one of the most consistent players on tour, finishing the past six seasons inside the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings.

But Berdych has admittedly struggled in the biggest matches. He’s won 12 ATP World Tour titles but only one Masters 1000 crown (2005 BNP Paribas Masters). He enters Cincinnati with a 30-14 record this season, but he’s only 2-7 against the Top 10, according to the FedEx ATP Performance Zone.

The 30 year old remains confident his best tennis lies ahead.

“These days I think 30 is not an old age for tennis players. If you look around, I think it’s still a pretty good time,” Berdych said. “That’s why I’m just trying to look for all the possible help and just trying to improve myself as best as I can.”

Ivanisevic knows about late-career breakthroughs. The 6’4” left-hander had won 21 tour-level titles before making his way to SW19 in June 2001. As a wild card entry, the Split native won seven consecutive matches to capture his first Grand Slam championship at the age of 29.

“He’s the guy who found a way to break through,” Berdych said. “So let’s see if it’s going to be the right thing, the right addition.”