Bernard Mitton

Bernard Mitton
Country (sports)	South Africa
Residence	Irvine, California, U.S.
Born	11 September 1954; Vryburg, South Africa
Died	5 May 2017 (aged 62)
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in)
Turned pro	1973
Retired	1984
Plays	Right-handed
Singles
Career record	199–218
Career titles	2
Highest ranking	No. 54 (15 December 1975)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	2R (1978, 1982)
French Open	3R (1977)
Wimbledon	4R (1973, 1976)
US Open	4R (1980)
Doubles
Career record	210–191
Career titles	9
Highest ranking	No. 20 (25 June 1984)

Last updated December 09, 2024

Bernard Mitton (9 November 1954 – 5 May 2017^[1]) was a professional tennis player from South Africa.

Mitton reached his highest singles ranking of world No. 51 on 15 December 1975, and his highest doubles ranking of 20 on 25 June 1984. His career record in singles on the ATP Tour was 199–218, winning two titles - at Newport, Rhode Island in 1978 and San Jose, California in 1979. He was the runner-up in three other tournaments: San Jose (1978), Adelaide (1979) and Johannesburg (1981).

His doubles record was 210–191, and he won nine titles: Auckland (1979); Stowe, Vermont and Cologne (1980); Richmond WCT (1981); Johannesburg (1981); Tampa (1981); Columbus, Ohio (1982); Ferrara (1983); and La Quinta, California (1984). He was the runner-up in eight tournaments: Sarasota, Florida (1978); North Conway, New Hampshire (1978); Rotterdam (1979); Maui, Hawaii (1982); Ancona (1982); Toulouse (1983); Florence (1984); and Queen's Club (1984).

Mitton had career wins over John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, and Arthur Ashe in singles. He reached the fourth round at a Grand Slam tournament on three occasions. In his first Grand Slam tournament in 1973, he reached the fourth round of Wimbledon, then lost to Connors in straight sets. In 1976, he again reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, defeating former champion John Newcombe in the third round beforeg losing to Raúl Ramírez in four sets. He reached the fourth round at the 1980 US Open, defeating José Luis Clerc in the first round, then lost to Connors.

Mitton retired from the tour in 1984 due to injuries and joined the Newport Beach Tennis Club as director of tennis. From 2000 to 2003, he was at Rancho San Clemente. He taught until his death at the Racket Club of Irvine, California.^[2]

Career finals

Legend
Grand Slam
ATP Masters Series
ATP Tour
Challengers
Futures

Singles: 5 (2 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Result	W-L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Apr 1978	San Jose, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Arthur Ashe	7–6, 1–6, 2–6
Win	1–1	Jul 1978	Newport, U.S.	Grass	John James	6–1, 3–6, 7–6
Win	2–1	Mar 1979	San José, Costa Rica	Hard	Tom Gorman	6–4, 6–1, 6–3
Loss	2–2	Dec 1979	Adelaide, Australia	Grass	Kim Warwick	6–7^(3–7), 4–6
Loss	2–3	Apr 1981	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Kevin Curren	4–6, 4–6

Doubles: 17 (9 titles, 8 runner-ups)

Result	W-L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Jan 1978	Sarasota, U.S.	Carpet	Byron Bertram	Colin Dowdeswell Geoff Masters	6–2, 3–6, 2–6
Loss	0–2	Aug 1978	North Conway, U.S.	Clay	Mike Fishbach	Robin Drysdale Van Winitsky	6–4, 6–7, 3–6
Win	1–2	Jan 1979	Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	Kim Warwick	Andrew Jarrett Jonathan Smith	6–3, 2–6, 6–3
Loss	1–3	Apr 1979	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet (i)	Heinz Günthardt	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	4–6, 4–6
Win	2–3	Aug 1980	Stowe, U.S.	Hard	Bob Lutz	Ilie Năstase Ferdi Taygan	6–4, 6–3
Win	3–3	Oct 1980	Cologne, West Germany	Carpet (i)	Andrew Pattison	Jan Kodeš Tomáš Šmíd	6–4, 6–1
Win	4–3	Feb 1981	Richmond, U.S.	Hard	Tim Gullikson	Brian Gottfried Raúl Ramírez	3–6, 6–2, 6–3
Win	5–3	Mar 1981	Tampa, U.S.	Hard	Butch Walts	David Carter Paul Kronk	6–3, 3–6, 6–1
Win	6–3	Apr 1981	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Ray Moore	Shlomo Glickstein David Schneider	7–5, 3–6, 6–1
Win	7–3	Aug 1981	Columbus, U.S.	Hard	Tim Gullikson	Victor Amaya Hank Pfister	4–6, 6–1, 6–4
Loss	7–4	Oct 1982	Maui, U.S.	Hard	Francisco González	Mike Cahill Eliot Teltscher	4–6, 4–6
Loss	7–5	Nov 1982	Ancona, Italy	Carpet (i)	Tim Gullikson	Anders Järryd Hans Simonsson	6–4, 3–6, 6–7
Win	8–5	Nov 1983	Ferrara, Italy	Carpet (i)	Butch Walts	Stanislav Birner Stefan Simonsson	7–6, 0–6, 6–3
Loss	8–6	Nov 1983	Toulouse, France	Carpet (i)	Butch Walts	Heinz Günthardt Pavel Složil	7–5, 5–7, 4–6
Win	9–6	Feb 1984	La Quinta, U.S.	Hard	Butch Walts	Scott Davis Ferdi Taygan	5–7, 6–3, 6–2
Loss	9–7	May 1984	Florence, Italy	Clay	Butch Walts	Mark Dickson Chip Hooper	6–7, 6–4, 5–7
Loss	9–8	Jun 1984	Queen's Club, UK	Grass	Butch Walts	Pat Cash Paul McNamee	4–6, 3–6

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References

↑ "Remembering Bernie Mitton, Former Top 50 Player". Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). 9 May 2017.
↑ Ricky Buwalda (October 2015). "A welcome return home" (PDF). International Club South Africa. pp. 3–4.

External links

Bernard Mitton at the Association of Tennis Professionals
Bernard Mitton at the International Tennis Federation

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[1] "Remembering Bernie Mitton, Former Top 50 Player". Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). 9 May 2017.

[ic-2] Ricky Buwalda (October 2015). "A welcome return home" (PDF). International Club South Africa. pp. 3–4.

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