Steve Denton

Infobox Tennis player
playername = Steve Denton


country = USA
residence = College Station, Texas, USA
datebirth = birth date and age|1956|9|5
placebirth = Kingsville, Texas, USA
height = height|m=1.87
weight = convert|81|kg|lb st|abbr=on|lk=on
turnedpro = 1978
retired = 1988
plays = Right
careerprizemoney = US$1,084,664
singlesrecord = 108–117
singlestitles = 0
highestsinglesranking = No. 12 (August 15, 1983)
AustralianOpenresult = F (1981, 1982)
FrenchOpenresult = 1st (1982, 1984)
Wimbledonresult = 4th (1982)
USOpenresult = 4th (1982)
doublesrecord = 325–198
doublestitles = 18
highestdoublesranking = No. 5 (January 3, 1983)
updated = July 31, 2007

Steve Denton (born September 5, 1956, in Kingsville, Texas) is a former professional tennis player for the ATP Tour. He is currently the head men's tennis coach at Texas A&M University.

After becoming an all-American at the University of Texas in 1978, Denton spent nine seasons playing for the ATP Tour. He won the 1982 US Open doubles championship with Kevin Curren, ranking No. 2 in doubles and No. 11 in singles in the world tennis rankings. He won a total of 20 professional doubles titles, and appeared in the singles final of the Australian Open in 1981 and 1982. In 1984, his convert|138|mph|km/h serve broke the world record, which would not be broken until 13 years later. After retiring from the pros, he moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, coaching several local junior tennis teams. In 2001, he debuted his college coaching career at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi, where he led his teams to three conference championships and a first-ever NCAA tournament appearance. In 2006, he resigned to become the head coach at Texas A&M University.

For his accomplishments, he is a member of the ITA Hall of Fame, the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame, the Blue-Gray Tennis Class Hall of Fame, and the Longhorn Hall of Honor.

Playing career

High school and college

Denton attended Bishop High School in Bishop, Texas. As a prep, he won four consecutive UIL state 3A singles titles. He then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he played tennis from 1976–79. He earned all-American honors in 1978. Along with teammate Kevin Curren, he won the U.S. Tennis Association amateur indoor and SWC doubles title in 1979. He completed his college career with an 85–22 singles record, which currently ranks third all-time in school history. He also compiled a 72–18 doubles record, and a 78–27 team record. For his collegiate and professional accomplishments, he was inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor in 2006. [cite web|url=http://www.texassports.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=64&change_well_id=17&member_id=1104|title=Steve Denton|publisher=Texas Longhorns Athletics|accessdate=2008-03-22]

Professional

Denton was ranked as high as World No. 12 on the ATP Rankings in singles and No. 5 in doubles. Both rankings came in 1983. Denton was known for his big serve and employed an unusual service motion which involved taking two steps forward prior to striking the ball. Current ATP rules prohibit such a motion (or any service motion involving a running or walking start). In 1984, Denton set a service record of 138 mph that would stand for 13 years until it was broken in 1997 by Mark Philippoussis who recorded a 142 mph delivery. The current record of 155 mph is held by Andy Roddick.

He reached six singles finals, most notably the Australian Open (in 1981 and 1982) and the Cincinnati Masters (in 1982). He also won 18 doubles titles (including the U.S. Open and the Canada Masters in 1982, and reaching 23 additional doubles finals.

Grand Slam singles finals

Runner-ups (2)

ingles runner-ups (6)

Coaching career

Denton made his first head coaching debut at Texas A&M–Corpus Christi in 2001. In his five seasons there, he led the Islanders to three Southland Conference championships and to the team's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. He was named Southland Conference Coach of the Year twice. He finished with a 64–48 overall record. [cite news|url=http://www.big12sports.com/sports/c-tennis/spec-rel/032008aaa.html|title=A&M's Denton Selected to 2008 ITA Hall of Fame Class|publisher=Big 12 Sports|accessdate=2008-03-21]

On August 8, 2006, Denton became the head men's tennis coach at Texas A&M University.

References

External links

* [http://www.aggieathletics.com/coaches.php?SID=MTE&CID=194 Official Texas A&M coach bio]
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