Bernard Mitton

Bernard Mitton

Country (sports)	South Africa
Residence	Irvine, California, U.S.
Born	(1954-09-11)11 September 1954 Vryburg, South Africa
Died	5 May 2017(2017-05-05) (aged 62)
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in)
Turned pro	1973
Retired	1984
Plays	Right-handed
Singles
Career record	199–218
Career titles	2
Highest ranking	No. 54 (15 December 1975)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	2R (1978, 1982)
French Open	3R (1977)
Wimbledon	4R (1973, 1976)
US Open	4R (1980)
Doubles
Career record	210–191
Career titles	9
Highest ranking	No. 20 (25 June 1984)

Bernard Mitton (9 November 1954 – 5 May 2017^[1]) was a professional male tennis player in both singles and doubles from the Republic of South Africa. He was born in Vryburg, South Africa.

Mitton reached his highest rank in singles at World No. 51 on 15 December 1975, and in doubles of World No. 20 on 25 June 1984. His career record in singles in the ATP tour was 199–218, winning two titles. In doubles, he went 210–191, winning nine titles.

His two title wins in singles were at Newport, Rhode Island in 1978 and San Jose, California in 1979. He was the runner-up in three tournaments: San Jose (1978), Adelaide (1979) and Johannesburg (1981).

His nine title wins in doubles include: Auckland (1979); Stowe, Vermont and Cologne (1980); Richmond WCT (1981); Johannesburg (1981); Tampa (1981); Columbus, Ohio (1982); Ferrara (1983); and La Quinta, California (1984). He was the runner-up in eight tournaments: Sarasota, Florida (1978); North Conway, New Hampshire (1978); Rotterdam (1979); Maui, Hawaii (1982) Ancona (1982); Toulouse (1983); Florence (1984), and Queen's Club (1984).

Mitton had career wins over John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, and Arthur Ashe in singles. Although he failed to reach the quarterfinals in any Grand Slam tournament, he reached the fourth round on three separate occasions.

In his very first Grand Slam tournament in 1973, he reached the fourth round of Wimbledon before losing to Connors 6–3, 6–3, 6–2.

In 1976, he again reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, defeating former champion John Newcombe in the third round (3–6, 6–3, 9–7, 9–7) before falling to Raúl Ramírez (9–7, 3–6, 6–1, 6–1).

In 1980, he reached the fourth round at the US Open, defeating José Luis Clerc in the first round (6–3, 6–2, 4–6, 2–6, 7–5) before finally losing to Connors (7–6, 6–4, 6–4).

Mitton retired from the tour in 1984 and joined the Newport Beach Tennis Club as director of tennis. From 2000–2003, he was at Rancho San Clemente and was until his death teaching at The Racket Club of Irvine, California. He has three children, Natalie, Barend and Olivia.

Career finals

Singles (2 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	17 April 1978	San Jose, U.S.	Garpet	Arthur Ashe	7–6, 1–6, 2–6
Winner	1.	10 July 1978	Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.	Grass	John James	6–1, 3–6, 7–6
Winner	2.	19 March 1979	San Jose, Costa Rica	Hard	Tom Gorman	6–4, 6–1, 6–3
Runner-up	2.	10 December 1979	Adelaide, Australia	Grass	Kim Warwick	5–7, 4–6
Runner-up	3.	6 April 1981	Johannesburg, Australia	Hard	Kevin Curren	4–6, 4–6

Doubles (9 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Outcome	No.	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1.	1979	Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	Kim Warwick	Andrew Jarrett Jonathan Smith	6–3, 2–6, 6–3
Winner	2.	1980	Stowe, US	Hard	Bob Lutz	Ilie Năstase Ferdi Taygan	6–4, 6–3
Winner	3.	1981	Tampa, U.S.	Hard	Butch Walts	David Carter Paul Kronk	6–3, 3–6, 6–1
Winner	4.	1983	Ferrara, Italy	Carpet	Butch Walts	Stanislav Birner Stefan Simonsson	7–6, 0–6, 6–3
Runner-up	1.	1983	Toulouse, France	Hard (i)	Butch Walts	Heinz Günthardt Pavel Složil	7–5, 5–7, 4–6
Winner	5.	1984	La Quinta, U.S.	Hard	Butch Walts	Scott Davis Ferdi Taygan	5–7, 6–3, 6–2
Runner-up	2.	1984	Florence, Italy	Clay	Butch Walts	Mark Dickson Chip Hooper	6–7, 6–4, 5–7
Runner-up	3.	1984	London/Queen's Club, England	Grass	Butch Walts	Pat Cash Paul McNamee	4–6, 3–6

• 1981: Richmond WCT (with Tim Gullikson)
  • Johannesburg: (with Raymond Moore)
• 1982: Columbus (with Tim Gullikson)

References

External links

• Bernard Mitton at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Bernard Mitton at the International Tennis Federation