Byron Black

Byron Black

Country (sports)	Zimbabwe
Residence	White River, Mpumalanga, South Africa
Born	(1969-10-06) 6 October 1969 Salisbury, Rhodesia (now 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
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
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 Hamish Black (born 6 October 1969) 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 is married to Fiona Black, and has children. He attended the University of Southern California and was named an All-American by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).

Tennis career

Black started playing tennis at a young age at his father’s grass court in Highlands, and played the game for Lewisham Primary 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 quarterfinalist, 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 the 1996 Wimbledon Championships.

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

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

Career finals

Doubles: 41 (22 titles, 19 runner-ups)

Legend Grand Slam (1–3) ATP Masters Series (5–5) ATP Championship Series (3–4) ATP Tour (13–7)

Finals by surface Hard (14–12) Clay (4–2) Grass (1–2) Carpet (3–3)

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

Singles: 10 (2 titles, 8 runner-ups)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	Jan 1996	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	6–7, 6–3, 1–6
Loss	2.	Apr 1996	New Delhi, India	Hard	Thomas Enqvist	2–6, 6–7
Win	1.	Apr 1996	Seoul, South Korea	Hard	Martin Damm	7–6, 6–3
Loss	3.	Apr 1998	Hong Kong	Hard	Kenneth Carlsen	2–6, 0–6
Loss	4.	Apr 1998	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Andrei Pavel	3–6, 4–6
Loss	5.	Jun 1998	Nottingham, England	Grass	Jonas Björkman	3–6, 2–6
Win	2.	Apr 1999	Chennai, India	Hard	Rainer Schüttler	6–4, 1–6, 6–3
Loss	6.	Nov 1999	Moscow, Russia	Carpet (i)	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	6–7, 4–6
Loss	7.	Feb 2000	Memphis, USA	Hard (i)	Magnus Larsson	2–6, 6–1, 3–6
Loss	8.	Jun 2000	Nottingham, England	Grass	Sébastien Grosjean	6–7, 3–6

Performance timelines

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

DNQ

A

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Doubles

Tournament	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	Career SR	Career win–loss
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	A	2R	1R	F	1R	2R	3R	1R	2R	2R	F	3R	0 / 11	18–11
French Open	A	A	A	1R	1R	W	2R	2R	1R	1R	2R	2R	1R	3R	1 / 11	12–10
Wimbledon	A	A	2R	1R	QF	3R	3R	F	2R	1R	1R	3R	1R	2R	0 / 12	17–12
US Open	2R	A	A	1R	2R	3R	QF	1R	1R	3R	SF	1R	2R	A	0 / 11	14–11
Grand Slam SR	0 / 1	0 / 0	0 / 1	0 / 4	0 / 4	1 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	1 / 45	N/A
Annual win–loss	1–1	0–0	1–1	1–4	4–4	15–3	6–4	7–4	3–4	2–4	6–4	4–4	6–4	5–3	N/A	61–44
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells	NME	2R	A	A	A	F	2R	SF	2R	2R	1R	1R	QF	A	0 / 9	9–8
Miami	NME	A	A	A	SF	SF	SF	SF	QF	3R	1R	QF	2R	A	0 / 9	17–9
Monte Carlo	NME	A	A	A	A	A	2R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 1	0–1
Rome	NME	A	A	A	A	A	1R	W	F	A	A	QF	A	A	1 / 4	11–3
Hamburg	NME	A	A	A	A	A	F	A	A	A	A	2R	A	A	0 / 2	4–2
Canada	NME	A	A	A	2R	W	2R	QF	1R	1R	F	A	1R	A	1 / 8	9–7
Cincinnati	NME	A	A	A	A	QF	SF	QF	1R	1R	W	A	2R	A	1 / 7	10–6
Stuttgart (Stockholm)	NME	A	A	A	A	A	QF	2R	A	1R	W	A	A	A	1 / 4	5–3
Paris	NME	A	A	A	W	F	2R	SF	1R	2R	2R	1R	A	A	1/ 8	11–7
Masters Series SR	N/A	0 / 1	0 / 0	0 / 0	1 / 3	1 / 5	0 / 9	1 / 7	0 / 6	0 / 6	2 / 6	0 / 5	0 / 4	0 / 0	5 / 52	N/A
Annual win–loss	N/A	1–0	0–0	0–0	9–2	14–4	9–9	12–6	6–6	4–6	13–4	5–5	3–4	0–0	N/A	76–46
Year-end ranking	586	381	149	90	5	6	18	4	70	70	10	53	34	106	N/A

External links

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