Byron Black

Byron Black

Country (sports)	Zimbabwe
Residence	Harare, Zimbabwe
Born	(1969-10-06) 6 October 1969 Harare, Zimbabwe
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro	1991
Retired	2002
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed both sides)
Prize money	$5,159,775
Singles
Career record	257–246 (ATP Tour and Grand Slam-level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	2
Highest ranking	No. 22 (29 April 1996)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	4R (1998)
French Open	3R (1999)
Wimbledon	QF (2000)
US Open	QF (1995)
Other tournaments
Grand Slam Cup	QF (1995)
Olympic Games	2R (1996)
Doubles
Career record	328–201 (ATP Tour and Grand Slam-level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	22
Highest ranking	No. 1 (14 February 1994)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	F (1994, 2001)
French Open	W (1994)
Wimbledon	F (1996)
US Open	SF (1999)

Byron Black (born 6 October 1969 in Harare, Zimbabwe) is a former touring professional tennis and Davis Cup player for Zimbabwe.

Personal life

He is the son of Donald Black and Velia Black and brother to Wayne Black and Cara, who were also professional tennis players. He attended the University of Southern California and was named and an All-American by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).^[1]

Tennis career

Black started playing tennis at a young age at his father’s grass court in Highlands, and played the game for Prince Edward School in his hometown. He played for the tennis team when he moved to the Oriel Boys High School, where he was exposed to other future Davis Cup players for Zimbabwe like Greig Rodgers and Mark Gurr.

Pro tour

In 1995 Black was a US Open quarter-finalist and in 2000 he reached the same round at Wimbledon. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 22, which he achieved in June 1996.

An accomplished doubles player, Black became World No. 1 in doubles in February 1994. He won the 1994 French Open partnering Jonathan Stark. Black was a doubles finalist in three other majors, the 1994 and 2001 Australian Opens and 1996 Wimbledon.

Black is one of the few professional players to have played with a double-handed forehand.^[2]

Black formed the core of the Zimbabwean Davis Cup team with his brother Wayne.

Career finals

Doubles (22 titles, 19 runner-ups)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	20 April 1992	Hong Kong	Hard	Byron Talbot	Brad Gilbert Jim Grabb	2–6, 1–6
Winner	1.	5 April 1993	Durban, South Africa	Hard	Lan Bale	Johan de Beer Marcos Ondruska	7–6, 6–2
Runner-up	2.	12 July 1993	Newport, United States	Grass	Jim Pugh	Javier Frana Christo van Rensburg	6–4, 1–6, 6–7
Winner	2.	26 July 1993	Washington, D.C., United States	Hard	Rick Leach	Grant Connell Patrick Galbraith	6–4, 7–5
Runner-up	3.	30 August 1993	Schenectady, United States	Hard	Brett Steven	Bernd Karbacher Andrei Olhovskiy	6–2, 6–7, 1–6
Winner	3.	4 October 1993	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Jonathan Stark	Brad Pearce Dave Randall	3–6, 7–5, 6–3
Winner	4.	11 October 1993	Toulouse, France	Hard (i)	Jonathan Stark	David Prinosil Udo Riglewski	7–5, 7–6
Winner	5.	25 October 1993	Vienna, Austria	Carpet	Jonathan Stark	Mike Bauer David Prinosil	6–3, 7–6
Winner	6.	8 November 1993	Paris, France	Carpet	Jonathan Stark	Tom Nijssen Cyril Suk	4–6, 7–5, 6–2
Runner-up	4.	10 January 1994	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	David Adams	Mark Kratzmann Andrew Kratzmann	4–6, 3–6
Runner-up	5.	31 January 1994	Australian Open, Melbourne	Hard	Jonathan Stark	Jacco Eltingh Paul Haarhuis	7–6, 3–6, 4–6, 3–6
Runner-up	6.	7 February 1994	San Jose, United States	Hard (i)	Jonathan Stark	Rick Leach Jared Palmer	6–4, 4–6, 4–6
Winner	7.	14 February 1994	Memphis, United States	Hard (i)	Jonathan Stark	Jim Grabb Jared Palmer	7–6, 6–4
Runner-up	7.	28 February 1994	Indian Wells, United States	Hard	Jonathan Stark	Grant Connell Patrick Galbraith	5–7, 3–6
Winner	8.	6 June 1994	French Open, Paris	Clay	Jonathan Stark	Jan Apell Jonas Björkman	6–4, 7–6
Winner	9.	1 August 1994	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Jonathan Stark	Patrick McEnroe Jared Palmer	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	8.	10 October 1994	Sydney Indoor, Australia	Hard (i)	Jonathan Stark	Jacco Eltingh Paul Haarhuis	4–6, 6–7
Runner-up	9.	17 October 1994	Tokyo Indoor, Japan	Hard	Jonathan Stark	Grant Connell Patrick Galbraith	3–6, 6–3, 4–6
Runner-up	10.	7 November 1994	Paris, France	Carpet	Jonathan Stark	Jacco Eltingh Paul Haarhuis	6–3, 6–7, 5–7
Runner-up	11.	9 January 1995	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Grant Connell	Jim Courier Patrick Rafter	6–7, 4–6
Runner-up	12.	15 May 1995	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Andrei Olhovskiy	Wayne Ferreira Yevgeny Kafelnikov	1–6, 6–7
Winner	10.	29 May 1995	Bologna, Italy	Clay	Jonathan Stark	Libor Pimek Vince Spadea	7–5, 6–3
Winner	11.	13 November 1995	Moscow, Russia	Carpet	Jonathan Stark	Tommy Ho Brett Steven	6–4, 3–6, 6–3
Winner	12.	19 February 1996	Dubai, UAE	Hard	Grant Connell	Karel Nováček Jiří Novák	6–0, 6–1
Runner-up	13.	4 March 1996	Philadelphia, United States	Carpet	Grant Connell	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	6–7, 2–6
Runner-up	14.	15 April 1996	New Delhi, India	Hard	Sandon Stolle	Jonas Björkman Nicklas Kulti	6–4, 4–6, 4–6
Winner	13.	20 May 1996	Rome, Italy	Clay	Jonathan Stark	Libor Pimek Byron Talbot	6–2, 6–3
Winner	14.	24 June 1996	Halle, Germany	Grass	Grant Connell	Yevgeny Kafelnikov Daniel Vacek	6–1, 7–5
Runner-up	15.	8 July 1996	Wimbledon, England	Grass	Grant Connell	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	6–4, 1–6, 3–6, 2–6
Winner	15.	19 August 1996	New Haven, United States	Hard	Grant Connell	Jonas Björkman Nicklas Kulti	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	16.	19 May 1997	Rome, Italy	Clay	Alex O'Brien	Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor	3–6, 6–4, 5–7
Winner	16.	13 April 1998	Hong Kong	Hard	Alex O'Brien	Neville Godwin Tuomas Ketola	7–5, 6–1
Runner-up	17.	1 March 1999	London, England	Carpet	Wayne Ferreira	Tim Henman Greg Rusedski	3–6, 6–7(6–8)
Winner	17.	2 August 1999	Los Angeles, United States	Hard	Wayne Ferreira	Goran Ivanišević Brian MacPhie	6–2, 7–6(7–4)
Runner-up	18.	9 August 1999	Montreal, Canada	Hard	Wayne Ferreira	Jonas Björkman Patrick Rafter	6–7(5–7), 4–6
Winner	18.	16 August 1999	Cincinnati, United States	Hard	Jonas Björkman	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	6–3, 7–6(8–6)
Winner	19.	1 November 1999	Stuttgart Indoor, Germany	Hard (i)	Jonas Björkman	David Adams John-Laffnie de Jager	6–7(6–8), 7–6(7–2), 6–0
Winner	20.	28 February 2000	Mexico City, Mexico	Clay	Donald Johnson	Gastón Etlis Martín Rodríguez	6–3, 7–5
Winner	21.	8 January 2001	Chennai, India	Hard	Wayne Black	Barry Cowan Mosé Navarra	6–4, 6–3
Runner-up	19.	29 January 2001	Australian Open, Melbourne	Hard	David Prinosil	Jonas Björkman Todd Woodbridge	1–6, 7–5, 4–6, 4–6
Winner	22.	24 September 2001	Shanghai, China	Hard	Thomas Shimada	John-Laffnie de Jager Robbie Koenig	6–2, 3–6, 7–5

Singles (2 titles, 8 runner-ups)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	8 January 1996	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	6–7, 6–3, 1–6
Runner-up	2.	15 April 1996	New Delhi, India	Hard	Thomas Enqvist	2–6, 6–7
Winner	1.	29 April 1996	Seoul, South Korea	Hard	Martin Damm	7–6, 6–3
Runner-up	3.	13 April 1998	Hong Kong	Hard	Kenneth Carlsen	2–6, 0–6
Runner-up	4.	20 April 1998	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Andrei Pavel	3–6, 4–6
Runner-up	5.	22 June 1998	Nottingham, England	Grass	Jonas Björkman	3–6, 2–6
Winner	2.	12 April 1999	Chennai, India	Hard	Rainer Schüttler	6–4, 1–6, 6–3
Runner-up	6.	15 November 1999	Moscow, Russia	Carpet	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	6–7, 4–6
Runner-up	7.	21 February 2000	Memphis, USA	Hard (i)	Magnus Larsson	2–6, 6–1, 3–6
Runner-up	8.	26 June 2000	Nottingham, England	Grass	Sébastien Grosjean	6–7, 3–6

Performance timelines

Doubles

A = did not attend tournament

References

External links

• Byron Black at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Byron Black at the International Tennis Federation
• Byron Black at the Davis Cup