Steve Denton (born September 5, 1956) is a former professional tennis player. 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 reached the final of the 1981 Australian Open, losing in four sets to Johan Kriek and lost to the same opponent in the 1982 Australian Open final, this time in straight sets. He won the 1982 US Open doubles championship with Kevin Curren, attaining career-high rankings of World No. 12 in singles and World No. 2 in doubles. He won a total of 18 tour level doubles titles and, despite reaching 6 finals, never won a singles title. In 1984, he served a serve. 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 to 1979. 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.

Professional Denton was ranked as high as world No. 12 on the ATP rankings in singles and No. 2 in doubles, both 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 served a serve.

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 US Open and the Canada Masters) in 1982, and reaching 23 additional doubles finals.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (2 runners-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScore Loss 1981 Australian Open Grass Johan Kriek 6–2, 7–6, 6–7, 6–4 Loss 1982 Australian Open (2) Grass Johan Kriek 6–3, 6–3, 6–2

Doubles (1 championship, 1 runner-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore Win 1982 US Open Grass Kevin Curren Victor Amaya Hank Pfister 6–2, 6–7, 5–7, 6–2, 6–4 Loss 1983 Australian Open Grass Sherwood Stewart Mark Edmondson Paul McNamee 6–3, 7–6

Mixed doubles (3 runners-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore Loss 1983 Wimbledon Grass Billie Jean King John Lloyd Wendy Turnbull 6–7, 7–6, 7–5 Loss 1983 US Open Grass JoAnne Russell Anne Smith Kevin Curren 6–4, 7–6 Loss 1984 Wimbledon (2) Grass Kathy Jordan John Lloyd Wendy Turnbull 6–3, 6–3

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

Singles Tournament 19801981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 19871988Australian OpenQ3FF3R1R2RNH1RA 0 / 6French OpenA A1R A1R A A AA 0 / 2WimbledonQ21R4R1R1R2R Q2 Q2Q2 0 / 5US OpenA1R4R3R2R1R A AA 0 / 5Strike rate0 / 0 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 0 0 / 10 / 0

Career finals

Doubles (18 wins, 23 losses)

ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 0–1 Nov 1979 Hong Kong Carpet Mark Turpin Pat Du Pré Robert Lutz 3–6, 4–6Win 1–1 Feb 1980 Denver, U.S. Carpet Kevin Curren Wojciech Fibak Heinz Günthardt 7–5, 6–2Loss 1–2 Mar 1980 Washington-2, U.S. Carpet Kevin Curren Ferdi Taygan Brian Teacher 6–4, 3–6, 6–7Loss 1–3 Aug 1980 North Conway, U.S. Clay Kevin Curren Jimmy Connors Brian Gottfried 6–7, 2–6Win 2–3 Aug 1980 Indianapolis, U.S. Clay Kevin Curren Wojciech Fibak Ivan Lendl 3–6, 7–6, 6–4Win 3–3 Oct 1980 Barcelona, Spain Clay Ivan Lendl Pavel Složil Balázs Taróczy 6–2, 6–7, 6–3Win 4–3 Oct 1980 Basel, Switzerland Hard (i) Kevin Curren Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan 6–7, 6–4, 6–4Loss 4–4 Nov 1980 Bologna, Italy Carpet Paul McNamee Balázs Taróczy Butch Walts 6–2, 3–6, 0–6Win 5–4 Jan 1981 Monterrey WCT, Mexico Carpet Kevin Curren Johan Kriek Russell Simpson 7–6, 6–3Loss 5–5 Mar 1981 Brussels, Belgium Carpet Kevin Curren Sandy Mayer Frew McMillan 6–4, 3–6, 3–6Loss 5–6 Jun 1981 London/Queen's Club, UK Grass Kevin Curren Pat Du Pré Brian Teacher 6–3, 6–7, 9–11Win 6–6 Aug 1981 Indianapolis, U.S. Clay Kevin Curren Raúl Ramírez Van Winitsky 6–3, 5–7, 7–5Win 7–6 Oct 1981 Vienna, Austria Hard (i) Tim Wilkison Sammy Giammalva Jr. Fred McNair 4–6, 6–3, 6–4Win 8–6 Nov 1981 Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i) Kevin Curren Sherwood Stewart Ferdi Taygan 6–7, 6–4, 6–0Loss 8–7 Jan 1982Masters Doubles WCT, London Carpet Kevin Curren Heinz Günthardt Balázs Taróczy 7–6, 3–6, 5–7, 4–6Win 9–7 Feb 1982 Denver, U.S. Carpet Kevin Curren Phil Dent Kim Warwick 6–4, 6–4Win 10–7 Feb 1982 Memphis, U.S. Carpet Kevin Curren Peter Fleming John McEnroe 7–6, 4–6, 6–2Loss 10–8 Mar 1982 Munich-2 WCT, Germany Carpet Kevin Curren Mark Edmondson Tomáš Šmíd 6–4, 5–7, 2–6Win 11–8 Apr 1982 Frankfurt, Germany Carpet Mark Edmondson Tony Giammalva Tim Mayotte 6–7, 6–3, 6–3Win 12–8 Apr 1982 Houston WCT, U.S. Clay Kevin Curren Mark Edmondson Peter McNamara 7–5, 6–4Win 13–8 Aug 1982 Toronto, Canada Hard Kevin Curren Peter Fleming John McEnroe 6–7, 7–5, 6–2Loss 13–9 Aug 1982 Cincinnati, U.S. Hard Mark Edmondson Peter Fleming John McEnroe 2–6, 3–6Win 14–9 Sep 1982US Open, New York Hard Kevin Curren Victor Amaya Hank Pfister 6–2, 6–7, 5–7, 6–2, 6–4Loss 14–10 Oct 1982 Sydney Indoor, Australia Hard (i) Mark Edmondson John McEnroe Peter Rennert 3–6, 6–7Win 15–10 Feb 1983 Philadelphia, U.S. Carpet Kevin Curren Peter Fleming John McEnroe 6–4, 7–6Win 16–10 Mar 1983 Munich WCT, Germany Carpet Kevin Curren Heinz Günthardt Balázs Taróczy 7–5, 2–6, 6–1Win 17–10 Apr 1983 Houston WCT, U.S. Clay Kevin Curren Mark Dickson Tomáš Šmíd 7–6, 6–7, 6–1Win 18–10 Apr 1983 Las Vegas, U.S. Hard Kevin Curren Tracy Delatte Johan Kriek 6–3, 7–5Loss 18–11 May 1983 Forest Hills WCT, U.S. Clay Kevin Curren Tracy Delatte Johan Kriek 7–6, 5–7, 3–6Loss 18–12 Jun 1983 London/Queen's Club, UK Grass Kevin Curren Brian Gottfried Paul McNamee 4–6, 3–6Loss 18–13 Sep 1983 Dallas, U.S. Hard Sherwood Stewart Nduka Odizor Van Winitsky 3–6, 5–7Loss 18–14 Oct 1983 Tokyo Indoor, Japan Carpet John Fitzgerald Mark Edmondson Sherwood Stewart 1–6, 4–6Loss 18–15 Nov 1983 Wembley, UK Carpet Sherwood Stewart Peter Fleming John McEnroe 3–6, 4–6Loss 18–16 Dec 1983Australian Open, Melbourne Grass Sherwood Stewart Mark Edmondson Paul McNamee 3–6, 6–7Loss 18–17 Feb 1984 Richmond WCT, U.S. Carpet Kevin Curren John McEnroe Patrick McEnroe 6–7, 2–6Loss 18–18 Mar 1984 Brussels, Belgium Carpet Kevin Curren Tim Gullikson Tom Gullikson 4–6, 7–6, 6–7Loss 18–19 Mar 1984 Milan, Italy Carpet Kevin Curren Pavel Složil Tomáš Šmíd 4–6, 3–6Loss 18–20 Feb 1985 Memphis, U.S. Carpet Kevin Curren Pavel Složil Tomáš Šmíd 6–1, 3–6, 4–6Loss 18–21 Apr 1985 Atlanta, U.S. Carpet Tomáš Šmíd Paul Annacone Christo van Rensburg 4–6, 3–6Loss 18–22 Aug 1987 Cincinnati, U.S. Hard John Fitzgerald Ken Flach Robert Seguso 5–7, 3–6Loss 18–23 Apr 1988 Tokyo Outdoor, Japan Hard David Pate John Fitzgerald Johan Kriek 4–6, 7–6, 4–6

Singles: 6 (6 losses)

ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 0–1 Jan 1982Australian Open, Melbourne Grass Johan Kriek 2–6, 6–7, 7–6, 4–6Loss 0–2 Mar 1982 Metz, France Hard (i) Erick Iskersky 4–6, 3–6Loss 0–3 Aug 1982Cincinnati, U.S. Hard Ivan Lendl 2–6, 6–7Loss 0–4 Dec 1982Australian Open, Melbourne Grass Johan Kriek 3–6, 3–6, 2–6Loss 0–5 Feb 1983 Richmond WCT, U.S. Carpet Guillermo Vilas 3–6, 5–7, 4–6Loss 0–6 Feb 1984 Richmond WCT, U.S. Carpet John McEnroe 3–6, 6–7(7–9)

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 regular-season championships, two tournament championships, and the team's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. He was named Southland Conference Coach of the Year twice, in 2004 and 2005. He finished with a 64–48 overall record.

On August 8, 2006, Denton became the head men's tennis coach at Texas A&M University. After struggling for two years in Big 12 Conference play, Denton led the Aggies to a 5-1 conference record and 2nd-place finish in his third year, earning Big 12 Coach of the Year honors.

Coaching record

References

External links Official Texas A&M coach bio