Byron Hamish Black (born 6 October 1969) is a Zimbabwean tennis and Davis Cup player for Zimbabwe.

Personal life

Born 6 October 1969, in Harare, Black 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 Singles: 10 (2 titles, 8 runner-ups)

ResultW-L DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 0–1 Jan 1996 Adelaide, Australia Hard Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6–7, 6–3, 1–6Loss 0–2 Apr 1996 New Delhi, India Hard Thomas Enqvist 2–6, 6–7Win 1–2 Apr 1996 Seoul, South Korea Hard Martin Damm 7–6, 6–3Loss 1–3 Apr 1998 Hong Kong Hard Kenneth Carlsen 2–6, 0–6Loss 1–4 Apr 1998Tokyo, Japan Hard Andrei Pavel 3–6, 4–6Loss 1–5 Jun 1998 Nottingham, England Grass Jonas Björkman 3–6, 2–6Win 2–5 Apr 1999 Chennai, India Hard Rainer Schüttler 6–4, 1–6, 6–3Loss 2–6 Nov 1999 Moscow, Russia Carpet (i) Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6–7, 4–6Loss 2–7 Feb 2000Memphis, U.S. Hard (i) Magnus Larsson 2–6, 6–1, 3–6Loss 2–8 Jun 2000 Nottingham, England Grass Sébastien Grosjean 6–7, 3–6

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) ResultW-L DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 0–1 Apr 1992 Hong Kong Hard Byron Talbot Brad Gilbert Jim Grabb 2–6, 1–6Win 1–1 Apr 1993 Durban, South Africa Hard Lan Bale Johan de Beer Marcos Ondruska 7–6, 6–2Loss 1–2 Jul 1993 Newport, U.S. Grass Jim Pugh Javier Frana Christo van Rensburg 6–4, 1–6, 6–7Win 2–2 Jul 1993Washington, D.C., U.S. Hard Rick Leach Grant Connell Patrick Galbraith 6–4, 7–5Loss 2–3 Aug 1993 Schenectady, U.S. Hard Brett Steven Bernd Karbacher Andrei Olhovskiy 6–2, 6–7, 1–6Win 3–3 Oct 1993 Basel, Switzerland Hard (i) Jonathan Stark Brad Pearce Dave Randall 3–6, 7–5, 6–3Win 4–3 Oct 1993 Toulouse, France Hard (i) Jonathan Stark David Prinosil Udo Riglewski 7–5, 7–6Win 5–3 Oct 1993 Vienna, Austria Carpet (i) Jonathan Stark Mike Bauer David Prinosil 6–3, 7–6Win 6–3 Nov 1993Paris, France Carpet (i) Jonathan Stark Tom Nijssen Cyril Suk 4–6, 7–5, 6–2Loss 6–4 Jan 1994 Adelaide, Australia Hard David Adams Mark Kratzmann Andrew Kratzmann 4–6, 3–6Loss 6–5 Jan 1994Australian Open, Melbourne Hard Jonathan Stark Jacco Eltingh Paul Haarhuis 7–6, 3–6, 4–6, 3–6Loss 6–6 Feb 1994 San Jose, U.S. Hard (i) Jonathan Stark Rick Leach Jared Palmer 6–4, 4–6, 4–6Win 7–6 Feb 1994Memphis, U.S. Hard (i) Jonathan Stark Jim Grabb Jared Palmer 7–6, 6–4Loss 7–7 Feb 1994Indian Wells, U.S. Hard Jonathan Stark Grant Connell Patrick Galbraith 5–7, 3–6Win 8–7 Jun 1994French Open, Paris Clay Jonathan Stark Jan Apell Jonas Björkman 6–4, 7–6Win 9–7 Aug 1994Toronto, Canada Hard Jonathan Stark Patrick McEnroe Jared Palmer 6–4, 6–4Loss 9–8 Oct 1994Sydney Indoor, Australia Hard (i) Jonathan Stark Jacco Eltingh Paul Haarhuis 4–6, 6–7Loss 9–9 Oct 1994Tokyo Indoor, Japan Hard (i) Jonathan Stark Grant Connell Patrick Galbraith 3–6, 6–3, 4–6Loss 9–10 Nov 1994Paris, France Carpet (i) Jonathan Stark Jacco Eltingh Paul Haarhuis 6–3, 6–7, 5–7Loss 9–11 Jan 1995 Adelaide, Australia Hard Grant Connell Jim Courier Patrick Rafter 6–7, 4–6Loss 9–12 May 1995Hamburg, Germany Clay Andrei Olhovskiy Wayne Ferreira Yevgeny Kafelnikov 1–6, 6–7Win 10–12 May 1995 Bologna, Italy Clay Jonathan Stark Libor Pimek Vince Spadea 7–5, 6–3Win 11–12 Nov 1995 Moscow, Russia Carpet (i) Jonathan Stark Tommy Ho Brett Steven 6–4, 3–6, 6–3Win 12–12 Feb 1996 Dubai, UAE Hard Grant Connell Karel Nováček Jiří Novák 6–0, 6–1Loss 12–13 Mar 1996Philadelphia, U.S. Carpet (i) Grant Connell Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde 6–7, 2–6Loss 12–14 Apr 1996 New Delhi, India Hard Sandon Stolle Jonas Björkman Nicklas Kulti 6–4, 4–6, 4–6Win 13–14 May 1996Rome, Italy Clay Grant Connell Libor Pimek Byron Talbot 6–2, 6–3Win 14–14 Jun 1996 Halle, Germany Grass Grant Connell Yevgeny Kafelnikov Daniel Vacek 6–1, 7–5Loss 14–15 Jul 1996Wimbledon, England Grass Grant Connell Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde 6–4, 1–6, 3–6, 2–6Win 15–15 Aug 1996New Haven, U.S. Hard Grant Connell Jonas Björkman Nicklas Kulti 6–4, 6–4Loss 15–16 May 1997Rome, Italy Clay Alex O'Brien Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor 3–6, 6–4, 5–7Win 16–16 Apr 1998 Hong Kong Hard Alex O'Brien Neville Godwin Tuomas Ketola 7–5, 6–1Loss 16–17 Mar 1999London, England Carpet (i) Wayne Ferreira Tim Henman Greg Rusedski 3–6, 6–7(6–8)Win 17–17 Aug 1999 Los Angeles, U.S. Hard Wayne Ferreira Goran Ivanišević Brian MacPhie 6–2, 7–6(7–4)Loss 17–18 Aug 1999Montreal, Canada Hard Wayne Ferreira Jonas Björkman Patrick Rafter 6–7(5–7), 4–6Win 18–18 Aug 1999Cincinnati, U.S. Hard Jonas Björkman Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde 6–3, 7–6(8–6)Win 19–18 Nov 1999Stuttgart Indoor, Germany Hard (i) Jonas Björkman David Adams John-Laffnie de Jager 6–7(6–8), 7–6(7–2), 6–0Win 20–18 Feb 2000 Mexico City, Mexico Clay Donald Johnson Gastón Etlis Martín Rodríguez 6–3, 7–5Win 21–18 Jan 2001 Chennai, India Hard Wayne Black Barry Cowan Mosé Navarra 6–4, 6–3Loss 21–19 Jan 2001Australian Open, Melbourne Hard David Prinosil Jonas Björkman Todd Woodbridge 1–6, 7–5, 4–6, 4–6Win 22–19 Sep 2001 Shanghai, China Hard Thomas Shimada John-Laffnie de Jager Robbie Koenig 6–2, 3–6, 7–5

Performance timelines

Doubles

Tournament 19891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002 Career SR Career win–loss Grand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenAAA2R1RF1R2R3R1R2R2RF3R0 / 1118–11French OpenAAA1R1RW2R2R1R1R2R2R1R3R1 / 1112–10WimbledonAA2R1RQF3R3RF2R1R1R3R1R2R0 / 1217–12US Open2RAA1R2R3RQF1R1R3RSF1R2RA0 / 1114–11Grand Slam SR0 / 10 / 00 / 10 / 40 / 41 / 40 / 40 / 40 / 40 / 40 / 40 / 40 / 40 / 31 / 45N/AAnnual win–loss1–10–01–11–44–415–36–47–43–42–46–44–46–45–3N/A61–44 ATP Masters SeriesIndian WellsNME2RAAAF2RSF2R2R1R1RQFA0 / 99–8MiamiNMEAAASFSFSFSFQF3R1RQF2RA0 / 917–9Monte CarloNMEAAAAA2RAAAAAAA0 / 10–1RomeNMEAAAAA1RWFAAQFAA1 / 411–3HamburgNMEAAAAAFAAAA2RAA0 / 24–2CanadaNMEAAA2RW2RQF1R1RFA1RA1 / 89–7CincinnatiNMEAAAAQFSFQF1R1RWA2RA1 / 710–6Stuttgart (Stockholm)NMEAAAAAQF2RA1RWAAA1 / 45–3ParisNMEAAAWF2RSF1R2R2R1RAA1/ 811–7Masters Series SRN/A0 / 10 / 00 / 01 / 31 / 50 / 91 / 70 / 60 / 62 / 60 / 50 / 40 / 05 / 52N/AAnnual win–lossN/A1–00–00–09–214–49–912–66–64–613–45–53–40–0N/A76–46 Year-end ranking58638114990561847070105334106N/A

References

External links