Byron Black
He is the brother of Cara and Wayne Black, both professional tennis players. He attended the University of Southern California and was an All-American as named by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
In 1995 Black was a US Open quarterfinalist and in 2000 he reached the same round at Wimbledon. His highest career 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 1996 Wimbledon.
Black is one of the few professional players to have played with a double-handed forehand.
Black formed the core of the Zimbabwean Davis Cup team with his brother Wayne.
Byron's father Don had a grass court in Highlands, Harare on which Byron honed his skills. As a junior Byron played tennis for Prince Edward School in Harare. On one occasion as a 13 year old he thrashed an 18 year old Bunny Eales of Oriel Boys 6-1 6-1 in an interschools game. He moved to Oriel Boys High School to increase his exposure to stronger players, like Greig Rodgers and Mark Gurr, future Davis Cup players for Zimbabwe. Byron played in Club Open Tournaments in Harare as well as the Zimbabwe Open tournament for several years before turning professional. At that time, anyone could enter the Zimbabwe open and you could find yourself playing Byron in the first round.
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