Byron Hamish Black (born 6 October 1969) is a former touring professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

and

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organi ...

player for Zimbabwe.

Personal life

He is the son of Donald Black and Velia Black and brother to

Wayne Black Wayne Hamilton Black (born 17 November 1973) is a former professional tennis player from Zimbabwe. The son of former player Don Black, Black turned professional in 1994 and reached his highest singles ranking of 69 on 30 March 1998. He is the y ...

and

Cara Cara or CARA may refer to: Places * Čara, a village on the island of Korčula, Croatia * Cara, a village in Cojocna Commune, Cluj County, Romania * Cara Island Cara Island ( gd, Cara) is a small island which is located off the west coast o ...

, who were also professional tennis players.He is married to Fiona Black, and has children. He attended the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

and was named an All-American by the

Intercollegiate Tennis Association The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) is the governing body and coaches association of college tennis, both an advocate and authority, overseeing men’s and women’s varsity tennis at all levels – NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, ...

(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

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, Black was a US Open quarterfinalist, and in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, 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 The 1994 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament was held from 23 May until 5 June. It was the 98th staging of the French Open, and the second Gran ...

partnering Jonathan Stark. Black was a doubles finalist in three other majors, the 1994 and 2001

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Ope ...

s and the

1996 Wimbledon Championships The 1996 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 110th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and was held from ...

. 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 The Zimbabwe men's national tennis team represents Zimbabwe in Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Zimbabwe Tennis Association. Zimbabwe currently competes in the Europe/Africa Zone of Group II. They last competed in the World Gr ...

with his brother Wayne.

Career finals

Doubles: 41 (22 titles, 19 runner-ups)

Singles: 10 (2 titles, 8 runner-ups)

Performance timelines

Doubles

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Byron 1969 births Living people Sportspeople from Harare Zimbabwean male tennis players Olympic tennis players of Zimbabwe French Open champions Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics USC Trojans men's tennis players White Zimbabwean sportspeople Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles Zimbabwean people of English descent Zimbabwean people of Scottish descent African Games medalists in tennis African Games gold medalists for Zimbabwe Competitors at the 1987 All-Africa Games ATP number 1 ranked doubles tennis players