Matt Mitchell (tennis)

Matt Mitchell

Country (sports)	United States
Born	(1957-03-16) March 16, 1957 (age 65) Berkeley, California, United States
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Turned pro	1977
Retired	1990
Plays	Right-handed
Prize money	$303,978
Singles
Career record	64–103
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 53 (2 January 1985)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	3R (1979, 1984)
French Open	1R (1983, 1984, 1985)
Wimbledon	2R (1985)
US Open	2R (1982)
Doubles
Career record	123–133
Career titles	7
Highest ranking	No. 30 (8 October 1984)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	QF (1984)
French Open	QF (1985)
Wimbledon	2R (1982, 1983, 1984)
US Open	SF (1986)

Matt Mitchell (born 16 March 1957) is a retired American tennis player who played from 1974 to 1987. As a doubles pro, he was once the world's 30th-best. As an amateur, he won two NCAA championships and earned a place in two halls of fame.

Early life

Mitchell, who was born in Berkeley, California, was the number one player in the last year of his age group from the 10s through the 16s. Mitchell holds four National Junior Titles: National Hardcourt Championships in Burlingame, California, in the 12-and-under Doubles with Jeff Robinson at the Peninsula Tennis Club; National Hardcourt Championships in Burlingame, California, in the 14-and-under Singles where he defeated Southern California's Perry Wright in the finals after upsetting Howard Schoenfield in the semifinals; National Hardcourt Championships in Burlingame, California at the Peninsula Tennis Club in the 16-and-under Singles, where he defeated Southern California's Walter Redondo; and, the National Hardcourt Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in the 16-and-under Doubles with Nial Brash. ^[1]

Career

Amateur

In 1974, Mitchell was recruited by Coach Dick Gould of Stanford University, where he signed his letter of intent in 1975. At Stanford University, he became a three-time All-American, where he achieved his first All-American honors when he beat the two-sport All-American John Lucas from the University of Maryland in the round of 32 at the NCAA Championships in Corpus Christi, Texas. ^[1]

In 1977, Mitchell helped win the NCAA National Team Championships, where each team sent their best six singles players and best three doubles teams to compete in a single-elimination tournament. ^[2] After Stanford University won the National Team Championships, Mitchell, seeded first in the singles event, beat John Bennett of Brigham Young University, John Austin of UCLA, Ben McKown of Trinity College, Bruce Nichols of UCLA, Chris Lewis of USC, and finally, Tony Graham of UCLA in a best-of-five set to win the NCAA Singles Championship. ^[1]

Professional

In 1979 Mitchell, in his first year as a professional player, was nominated as Rookie of the Year after he was ranked the second highest rookie, behind Vince Van Patten.^{[ citation needed ]} Mitchell's greatest success in singles came at the Black and Decker Championships, in Melbourne, Australia in 1984, where he beat Eliot Teltscher who was eighth in the world, and Pat Cash who was tenth in the world to win the tournament. ^[3] That single event catapulted Mitchell's ranking from 164 in the world to 63. ^[4]

Mitchell's greatest success as a professional came as a doubles player, winning seven tournaments in doubles between 1980 and 1985. ^[5] These included the 1984 ATP Player's Championships in Cincinnati, Ohio with Francisco Gonzalez, and, while partnering with Kevin Curren former All-American from University of Texas at Austin in 1986, they lost in the semifinals of the US Open Championships to Mats Wilander and Joakim Nyström of Sweden in a five-set match, 7–6 in the fifth. ^[6] Mitchell's highest doubles ranking as a professional was 30 in the world.

Honors

In 1981, Mitchell was inducted into Stanford University Athletic Hall of Fame. ^[7]

In 2006, Mitchell was inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Men's Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame. ^[8]

Career finals

Singles: 1 title, 1 runner-up

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Aug 1983	Cleveland, U.S.	Hard	Martin Davis	3–6, 2–6
Win	1–1	Oct 1984	Melbourne, Australia	Carpet (i)	Pat Cash	6–4, 3–6, 6–2

Doubles: 7 titles, 3 runner-ups

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Oct 1980	Brisbane, Australia	Grass	John McEnroe	Phil Dent Rod Frawley	8–6
Win	2–0	Oct 1981	Maui, U.S.	Hard	Tony Graham	John Alexander James Delaney	6–3, 3–6, 7–6
Loss	2–1	Aug 1982	Cleveland, U.S.	Hard	Craig Wittus	Victor Amaya Hank Pfister	4–6, 6–7
Win	3–1	Oct 1982	Melbourne, Australia	Grass	Francisco González	Syd Ball Rod Frawley	7–6, 7–6
Loss	3–2	Aug 1983	Cleveland, U.S.	Hard	Francisco González	Mike Myburg Christo van Rensburg	6–7, 5–7
Win	4–2	Aug 1984	Cleveland, U.S.	Hard	Francisco González	Martin Davis Chris Dunk	7–6, 7–5
Win	5–2	Aug 1984	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Francisco González	Sandy Mayer Balázs Taróczy	4–6, 6–3, 7–6
Win	6–2	Oct 1984	Brisbane, Australia	Carpet (i)	Francisco González	Broderick Dyke Wally Masur	6–7, 6–2, 7–5
Win	7–2	Oct 1985	Melbourne, Australia	Carpet (i)	Brad Drewett	David Dowlen Nduka Odizor	4–6, 7–6, 6–4
Loss	7–3	Mar 1986	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet (i)	Wojciech Fibak	Stefan Edberg Slobodan Živojinović	6–2, 3–6, 2–6

References

1. "2015 USTA Northern California Hall of Fame - Matt Mitchell". Archived from the original on December 24, 2016. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
2. "NCAA tennis champions" . Retrieved September 20, 2016.
3. "Matt Mitchell 1984 tennis season" . Retrieved September 19, 2016.
4. "Matt Mitchell ATP rankings" . Retrieved September 19, 2016.
5. "ATP titles and final of Matt Mitchell" . Retrieved September 19, 2016.
6. "Steve's Tennis: ATP US Open Draw (Men's) - 1986" . Retrieved September 20, 2016.
7. "1981 Stanford Hall of Fame" . Retrieved September 19, 2016.
8. "Intercollegiate Tennis Association Hall of Fame - Class of 2006" . Retrieved September 19, 2016.

External links

• Matt Mitchell at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Matt Mitchell at the International Tennis Federation