Steve Denton

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Country	United States
Residence	College Station, Texas, USA
Born	September 5, 1956 (1956-09-05) (age 55) Kingsville, Texas, USA
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro	1978
Retired	1987
Plays	Right-handed
Career prize money	US$1,084,664
Singles
Career record	108–117 (at ATP Tour, Grand Prix tour, WCT tour, and Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 12 (August 15, 1983)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	F (1981, 1982)
French Open	1st (1982, 1984)
Wimbledon	4th (1982)
US Open	4th (1982)
Doubles
Career record	325–198 (at ATP Tour, Grand Prix tour, WCT tour, and Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	18
Highest ranking	No. 5 (January 3, 1983)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	F (1983)
French Open	QF (1984)
Wimbledon	SF (1982, 1983)
US Open	W (1983)

Steve Denton (born September 5, 1956, in Kingsville, Texas) is a former professional tennis player for the ATP Tour. 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 won the 1982 US Open doubles championship with Kevin Curren, ranking No. 2 in doubles and No. 11 in singles in the world tennis rankings. He won a total of 20 professional doubles titles, and appeared in the singles final of the Australian Open in 1981 and 1982. In 1984, his 138 miles per hour (222 km/h) serve broke the world record, which would not be broken until 13 years later. 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 1976–79. 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. 5 in doubles. Both rankings came 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 set a service record of 138 mph (222 km/h) that would stand for 13 years until it was broken in 1997 by Mark Philippoussis who recorded a 142 mph (229 km/h) delivery. The current record of 156 mph (251 km/h) is held by Ivo Karlovic.

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

Grand Slam singles finals

Runner-ups (2)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1981	Australian Open	Johan Kriek	2–6, 6–7, 7–6, 4–6
1982	Australian Open	Johan Kriek	3–6, 3–6, 2–6

Grand Prix, WCT and Grand Slam finals

Doubles titles (18)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	1980	Denver, U.S.	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Wojtek Fibak Heinz Günthardt	7–5, 6–2
2.	1980	Indianapolis, U.S.	Clay	Kevin Curren	Wojtek Fibak Ivan Lendl	3–6, 7–6, 6–4
3.	1980	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Ivan Lendl	Pavel Složil Balázs Taróczy	6–2, 6–7, 6–3
4.	1980	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Kevin Curren	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	6–7, 6–4, 6–4
5.	1981	Monterrey WCT, Mexico	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Johan Kriek Russell Simpson	7–6, 6–3
6.	1981	Indianapolis, U.S.	Clay	Kevin Curren	Raúl Ramírez Van Winitsky	6–3, 5–7, 7–5
7.	1981	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Tim Wilkison	Sammy Giammalva Jr. Fred McNair	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
8.	1981	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Kevin Curren	Sherwood Stewart Ferdi Taygan	6–7, 6–4, 6–0
9.	1982	Denver, U.S.	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Phil Dent Kim Warwick	6–4, 6–4
10.	1982	Memphis, U.S.	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	7–6, 4–6, 6–2
11.	1982	Frankfurt, Germany	Carpet	Mark Edmondson	Tony Giammalva Tim Mayotte	6–7, 6–3, 6–3
12.	1982	Houston, U.S.	Clay	Kevin Curren	Mark Edmondson Peter McNamara	7–5, 6–4
13.	1982	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Kevin Curren	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	6–7, 7–5, 6–2
14.	1982	U.S. Open, New York	Hard	Kevin Curren	Victor Amaya Hank Pfister	6–2, 6–7, 5–7, 6–2, 6–4
15.	1983	Philadelphia, U.S.	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	6–4, 7–6
16.	1983	Munich WCT, Germany	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Heinz Günthardt Balázs Taróczy	7–5, 2–6, 6–1
17.	1983	Houston WCT, U.S.	Clay	Kevin Curren	Mark Dickson Tomáš Šmíd	7–6, 6–7, 6–1
18.	1983	Las Vegas, U.S.	Hard	Kevin Curren	Tracy Delatte Johan Kriek	6–3, 7–5

Doubles runner-ups (23)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	1979	Hong Kong	Carpet	Jeff Turpin	Pat Du Pré Robert Lutz	3–6, 4–6
2.	1980	Washington-2, U.S.	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Ferdi Taygan Brian Teacher	6–4, 3–6, 6–7
3.	1980	North Conway, U.S.	Clay	Kevin Curren	Jimmy Connors Brian Gottfried	6–7, 2–6
4.	1980	Bologna, Italy	Carpet	Paul McNamee	Balázs Taróczy Butch Walts	6–2, 3–6, 0–6
5.	1981	Brussels, Belgium	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Sandy Mayer Frew McMillan	6–4, 3–6, 3–6
6.	1981	London/Queen's Club, England	Grass	Kevin Curren	Pat Du Pré Brian Teacher	6–3, 6–7, 9–11
7.	1982	Masters Doubles WCT, London	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Heinz Günthardt Balázs Taróczy	7–6, 3–6, 5–7, 4–6
8.	1982	Munich-2 WCT, Germany	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Mark Edmondson Tomáš Šmíd	6–4, 5–7, 2–6
9.	1982	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Mark Edmondson	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	2–6, 3–6
10.	1982	Sydney Indoor, Australia	Hard (i)	Mark Edmondson	John McEnroe Peter Rennert	3–6, 6–7
11.	1983	Forest Hills WCT, U.S.	Clay	Kevin Curren	Tracy Delatte Johan Kriek	7–6, 5–7, 3–6
12.	1983	London/Queen's Club, England	Grass	Kevin Curren	Brian Gottfried Paul McNamee	4–6, 3–6
13.	1983	Dallas, U.S.	Hard	Sherwood Stewart	Nduka Odizor Van Winitsky	3–6, 5–7
14.	1983	Tokyo Indoor, Japan	Carpet	John Fitzgerald	Mark Edmondson Sherwood Stewart	1–6, 4–6
15.	1983	Wembley, England	Carpet	Sherwood Stewart	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	3–6, 4–6
16.	1983	Australian Open, Melbourne	Grass	Sherwood Stewart	Mark Edmondson Paul McNamee	3–6, 6–7
17.	1984	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Kevin Curren	John McEnroe Patrick McEnroe	6–7, 2–6
18.	1984	Brussels, Belgium	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Tim Gullikson Tom Gullikson	4–6, 7–6, 6–7
19.	1984	Milan, Italy	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Pavel Složil Tomáš Šmíd	4–6, 3–6
20.	1985	Memphis, U.S.	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Pavel Složil Tomáš Šmíd	6–1, 3–6, 4–6
21.	1985	Atlanta, U.S.	Carpet	Tomáš Šmíd	Paul Annacone Christo van Rensburg	4–6, 3–6
22.	1987	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	John Fitzgerald	Ken Flach Robert Seguso	5–7, 3–6
23.	1988	Tokyo Outdoor, Japan	Hard	David Pate	John Fitzgerald Johan Kriek	4–6, 7–6, 4–6

Singles runner-ups (6)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	1981	Australian Open, Melbourne	Grass	Johan Kriek	2–6, 6–7, 7–6, 4–6
2.	1982	Metz, France	Hard (i)	Erick Iskersky	4–6, 3–6
3.	1982	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Ivan Lendl	2–6, 6–7
4.	1982	Australian Open, Melbourne	Grass	Johan Kriek	3–6, 3–6, 2–6
5.	1983	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Guillermo Vilas	3–6, 5–7, 4–6
6.	1984	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet	John McEnroe	3–6, 6–7

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