Steve Denton

Steve Denton

Country (sports)	United States
Residence	College Station, Texas, U.S.
Born	(1956-09-05) September 5, 1956 (age 68) Kingsville, Texas, U.S.
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro	1978
Retired	1987
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
College	University of Texas
Prize money	$1,084,664
Singles
Career record	108–116 (48.2%)
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 12 (April 18, 1983)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	F (1981, 1982)
French Open	1R (1982, 1984)
Wimbledon	4R (1982)
US Open	4R (1982)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	1R (1982)
WCT Finals	QF (1983)
Doubles
Career record	325–198 (62.1%)
Career titles	18
Highest ranking	No. 2 (August 15, 1983)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	F (1983)
French Open	QF (1984)
Wimbledon	SF (1982, 1983)
US Open	W (1982)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour Finals	F (1982)

Steve Denton (born September 5, 1956) is a former professional tennis player. 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 reached the final of the 1981 Australian Open, losing in four sets to Johan Kriek ^[1] and lost to the same opponent in the 1982 Australian Open final, this time in straight sets. ^[1] He won the 1982 US Open doubles championship with Kevin Curren, attaining career-high rankings of World No. 12 in singles and World No. 2 in doubles. He won a total of 18 tour level doubles titles and, despite reaching 6 finals, never won a singles title. In 1984, he served a 138 miles per hour (222 km/h) serve. 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 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.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (2 runners-up)

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

Doubles (1 championship, 1 runner-up)

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

Mixed Doubles (3 runners-up)

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

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

DNQ

A

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	SR
Australian Open	Q3	F	F	3R	1R	2R	NH	1R	A	0 / 6
French Open	A	A	1R	A	1R	A	A	A	A	0 / 2
Wimbledon	Q2	1R	4R	1R	1R	2R	Q2	Q2	Q2	0 / 5
US Open	A	1R	4R	3R	2R	1R	A	A	A	0 / 5
Strike rate	0 / 0	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 0	0 / 1	0 / 0	0 / 18

Career finals

Doubles (18 wins, 21 losses)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1.	1979	Hong Kong	Carpet	Mark Turpin	Pat Du Pré Robert Lutz	3–6, 4–6
Win	1.	1980	Denver, U.S.	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Wojtek Fibak Heinz Günthardt	7–5, 6–2
Loss	2.	1980	Washington-2, U.S.	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Ferdi Taygan Brian Teacher	6–4, 3–6, 6–7
Loss	3.	1980	North Conway, U.S.	Clay	Kevin Curren	Jimmy Connors Brian Gottfried	6–7, 2–6
Win	2.	1980	Indianapolis, U.S.	Clay	Kevin Curren	Wojtek Fibak Ivan Lendl	3–6, 7–6, 6–4
Win	3.	1980	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Ivan Lendl	Pavel Složil Balázs Taróczy	6–2, 6–7, 6–3
Win	4.	1980	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Kevin Curren	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	6–7, 6–4, 6–4
Loss	4.	1980	Bologna, Italy	Carpet	Paul McNamee	Balázs Taróczy Butch Walts	6–2, 3–6, 0–6
Win	5.	1981	Monterrey WCT, Mexico	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Johan Kriek Russell Simpson	7–6, 6–3
Loss	5.	1981	Brussels, Belgium	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Sandy Mayer Frew McMillan	6–4, 3–6, 3–6
Loss	6.	1981	London/Queen's Club, England	Grass	Kevin Curren	Pat Du Pré Brian Teacher	6–3, 6–7, 9–11
Win	6.	1981	Indianapolis, U.S.	Clay	Kevin Curren	Raúl Ramírez Van Winitsky	6–3, 5–7, 7–5
Win	7.	1981	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Tim Wilkison	Sammy Giammalva Jr. Fred McNair	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win	8.	1981	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Kevin Curren	Sherwood Stewart Ferdi Taygan	6–7, 6–4, 6–0
Loss	7.	1982	Masters Doubles WCT, London	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Heinz Günthardt Balázs Taróczy	7–6, 3–6, 5–7, 4–6
Win	9.	1982	Denver, U.S.	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Phil Dent Kim Warwick	6–4, 6–4
Win	10.	1982	Memphis, U.S.	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	7–6, 4–6, 6–2
Loss	8.	1982	Munich-2 WCT, Germany	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Mark Edmondson Tomáš Šmíd	6–4, 5–7, 2–6
Win	11.	1982	Frankfurt, Germany	Carpet	Mark Edmondson	Tony Giammalva Tim Mayotte	6–7, 6–3, 6–3
Win	12.	1982	Houston, U.S.	Clay	Kevin Curren	Mark Edmondson Peter McNamara	7–5, 6–4
Win	13.	1982	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Kevin Curren	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	6–7, 7–5, 6–2
Loss	9.	1982	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Mark Edmondson	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	2–6, 3–6
Win	14.	1982	US Open, New York	Hard	Kevin Curren	Victor Amaya Hank Pfister	6–2, 6–7, 5–7, 6–2, 6–4
Loss	10.	1982	Sydney Indoor, Australia	Hard (i)	Mark Edmondson	John McEnroe Peter Rennert	3–6, 6–7
Win	15.	1983	Philadelphia, U.S.	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	6–4, 7–6
Win	16.	1983	Munich WCT, Germany	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Heinz Günthardt Balázs Taróczy	7–5, 2–6, 6–1
Win	17.	1983	Houston WCT, U.S.	Clay	Kevin Curren	Mark Dickson Tomáš Šmíd	7–6, 6–7, 6–1
Win	18.	1983	Las Vegas, U.S.	Hard	Kevin Curren	Tracy Delatte Johan Kriek	6–3, 7–5
Loss	11.	1983	Forest Hills WCT, U.S.	Clay	Kevin Curren	Tracy Delatte Johan Kriek	7–6, 5–7, 3–6
Loss	12.	1983	London/Queen's Club, England	Grass	Kevin Curren	Brian Gottfried Paul McNamee	4–6, 3–6
Loss	13.	1983	Dallas, U.S.	Hard	Sherwood Stewart	Nduka Odizor Van Winitsky	3–6, 5–7
Loss	14.	1983	Tokyo Indoor, Japan	Carpet	John Fitzgerald	Mark Edmondson Sherwood Stewart	1–6, 4–6
Loss	15.	1983	Wembley, England	Carpet	Sherwood Stewart	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	3–6, 4–6
Loss	16.	1983	Australian Open, Melbourne	Grass	Sherwood Stewart	Mark Edmondson Paul McNamee	3–6, 6–7
Loss	17.	1984	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Kevin Curren	John McEnroe Patrick McEnroe	6–7, 2–6
Loss	18.	1984	Brussels, Belgium	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Tim Gullikson Tom Gullikson	4–6, 7–6, 6–7
Loss	19.	1984	Milan, Italy	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Pavel Složil Tomáš Šmíd	4–6, 3–6
Loss	20.	1985	Memphis, U.S.	Carpet	Kevin Curren	Pavel Složil Tomáš Šmíd	6–1, 3–6, 4–6
Loss	21.	1985	Atlanta, U.S.	Carpet	Tomáš Šmíd	Paul Annacone Christo van Rensburg	4–6, 3–6
Loss	22.	1987	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	John Fitzgerald	Ken Flach Robert Seguso	5–7, 3–6
Loss	23.	1988	Tokyo Outdoor, Japan	Hard	David Pate	John Fitzgerald Johan Kriek	4–6, 7–6, 4–6

Singles: 6 (6 losses)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	1981	Australian Open, Melbourne	Grass	Johan Kriek	2–6, 6–7, 7–6, 4–6
Loss	2.	1982	Metz, France	Hard (i)	Erick Iskersky	4–6, 3–6
Loss	3.	1982	Cincinnati, U.S.	Hard	Ivan Lendl	2–6, 6–7
Loss	4.	1982	Australian Open, Melbourne	Grass	Johan Kriek	3–6, 3–6, 2–6
Loss	5.	1983	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Guillermo Vilas	3–6, 5–7, 4–6
Loss	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. ^[3]

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. ^[4]

Coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Islanders (Southland Conference)(2001–2006)
2001–2002	Texas A&M–Corpus Christi	8–12
2002–2003	Texas A&M–Corpus Christi	13–9
2003–2004	Texas A&M–Corpus Christi	14–7		1st
2004–2005	Texas A&M–Corpus Christi	19–8	6–0	1st	NCAA Second Round
2005–2006	Texas A&M–Corpus Christi	10–12	5–1	1st
Texas A&M–Corpus Christi:		64–48
Texas A&M Aggies (Big 12 Conference)(2006–present)
2006–2007	Texas A&M	15–12	1–5	7th	NCAA Second Round
2007–2008	Texas A&M	13–12	2–4	5th	NCAA Second Round
2008–2009	Texas A&M	17–9	5–1	2nd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2009–2010	Texas A&M	25–7	5–1	2nd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2010–2011	Texas A&M	29–6	5–1	2nd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2011–2012	Texas A&M	14-15	1-4	5th
Texas A&M Aggies (Southeastern Conference)(2012–present)
2012–2013	Texas A&M	19-13	7-5	3rd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2013–2014	Texas A&M	25-7	10-2	2nd	NCAA Second Round
2014–2015	Texas A&M	24-5	11-1	1st	NCAA Elite Eight
2015–2016	Texas A&M	27-10	8-4	3rd	NCAA Second Round
2016–2017	Texas A&M	21-7	11-1	T-1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2017–2018	Texas A&M	26-6	12-0	1st	NCAA Final Four
2018–2019	Texas A&M	21-8	10-2	3rd	NCAA Second Round
2019–2020	Texas A&M	12-3	4-0	X	Cancelled due to Covid19
2020–2021	Texas A&M	19-9	7-5	T-4th	NCAA Elite Eight
2021–2022	Texas A&M	22-14	7-5	6th	NCAA Second Round
2022–2023	Texas A&M	19-12	7-5	T-5th	NCAA Second Round
2023–2024	Texas A&M	20-11	7-5	T-4th	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2024–2025	Texas A&M	18-11	9-5	T-4th	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
Texas A&M:		386–177	129–56
Total:		450–225
National champion        Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

References

1. "Johan Kriek wins Australian Open". Gainesville Sun . December 14, 1982. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
2. "Steve Denton". Texas Longhorns Athletics. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved March 22, 2008.
3. "A&M's Denton Selected to 2008 ITA Hall of Fame Class". Big 12 Sports. Archived from the original on May 11, 2008. Retrieved March 21, 2008.
4. "Denton, Pollock and Krajicek Earn Big 12 Conference Honors". AggieAthletics.com. Retrieved May 7, 2009.^{[ permanent dead link ]}

External links

• Official Texas A&M coach bio
• Steve Denton at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Steve Denton at the International Tennis Federation