Steve Denton

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.^[2]

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 138 mph (222 km/h) 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.

Singles (2 runners-up)

More information Result, Year ...

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
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

Close

Doubles (1 championship, 1 runner-up)

More information Result, Year ...

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
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

Close

Mixed doubles (3 runners-up)

More information Result, Year ...

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
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

Close

Singles

Doubles (18 wins, 23 losses)

More information Result, W/L ...

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

Close

Singles: 6 (6 losses)

More information Result, W/L ...

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

Close

Coaching record