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 younger brother of fellow ATP Tour player Byron Black, with the pair forming the mainstay of the Zimbabwe Davis Cup team for over a decade.

Wayne Black
Country (sports) Zimbabwe
ResidenceHarare, Zimbabwe
Born (1973-11-14) 14 November 1973 (age 50)
Salisbury, Rhodesia
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Turned pro1994
Retired2006
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$3,300,258
Singles
Career record78–103
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 69 (30 March 1998)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open4R (1999)
French Open1R (1997, 1998, 1999)
Wimbledon3R (2001)
US Open2R (1998)
Doubles
Career record319–203
Career titles18
Highest rankingNo. 4 (31 January 2005)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenW (2005)
French OpenQF (2004)
WimbledonSF (1997, 1998, 2005)
US OpenW (2001)
Mixed doubles
Career titles2
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian OpenQF (2005)
French OpenW (2002)
WimbledonW (2004)
US OpenSF (2003)

Black struggled for consistency in his singles game and by the new millennium had converted to a doubles specialist, in which he experienced greater success. He won two men's doubles Grand Slam titles at the 2001 U.S. Open and 2005 Australian Open with compatriot Kevin Ullyett,[1] as well as two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles at the 2002 French Open and 2004 Wimbledon with sister Cara Black.

He reached his career-high doubles ranking of 4 on 31 January 2005, following his second Grand Slam title win, and retired from professional play in 2005.[1]

Early life and education edit

Black and his siblings Byron and Cara were drilled in tennis from a young age by their father; they frequently played at least an hour of tennis before the school day began, another hour after school, followed by a third hour once homework had been completed.

He was educated at St. John's College in Harare and the University of Southern California, but left before completing his degree to go professional.[2]

Personal life edit

Black married Kazakhstani tennis player Irina Selyutina and settled in the United Kingdom following retirement, where both of his children were born.[2] He competed in club tennis for Sutton Tennis & Squash Club for a period of time alongside his former coach Miles Maclagan.[3] Citing a failure to get used to the colder climate of London, he later moved back to his home country and ran a tourist lodge with his wife.[2]

Career finals edit

Doubles (18 titles, 15 runner-ups) edit

Legend
Grand Slam (2–1)
Tennis Masters Cup (0–1)
ATP Masters Series (5–6)
ATP International Series Gold (1–2)
ATP Tour (10–5)
Titles by surface
Hard (14–11)
Clay (2–2)
Grass (1–0)
Carpet (1–2)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1. 25 May 1998 St. Poelten, Austria Clay   David Adams   Jim Grabb
  David Macpherson
4–6, 4–6
Win 1. 15 February 1999 Dubai, UAE Hard   Sandon Stolle   David Adams
  John-Laffnie de Jager
4–6, 6–1, 6–4
Win 2. 15 March 1999 Indian Wells, United States Hard   Sandon Stolle   Ellis Ferreira
  Rick Leach
7–6(7–4), 6–3
Win 3. 29 March 1999 Miami, United States Hard   Sandon Stolle   Boris Becker
  Jan-Michael Gambill
6–1, 6–1
Loss 2. 12 April 1999 Chennai, India Hard   Neville Godwin   Mahesh Bhupathi
  Leander Paes
6–4, 5–7, 4–6
Loss 3. 19 April 1999 Tokyo, Japan Hard   Brian MacPhie   Jeff Tarango
  Daniel Vacek
3–4, RET.
Loss 4. 31 January 2000 Australian Open, Melbourne Hard   Andrew Kratzmann   Ellis Ferreira
  Rick Leach
4–6, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 16–18
Win 4. 9 October 2000 Hong Kong Hard   Kevin Ullyett   Dominik Hrbatý
  David Prinosil
6–1, 6–2
Win 5. 8 January 2001 Chennai, India Hard   Byron Black   Barry Cowan
  Mosé Navarra
6–4, 6–3
Win 6. 19 February 2001 Copenhagen, Denmark Hard (i)   Kevin Ullyett   Jiří Novák
  David Rikl
6–3, 6–3
Win 7. 9 October 2001 U.S. Open, New York City Hard   Kevin Ullyett   Donald Johnson
  Jared Palmer
7–6(11–9), 2–6, 6–3
Win 8. 7 January 2002 Adelaide, Australia Hard   Kevin Ullyett   Bob Bryan
  Mike Bryan
7–5, 6–2
Win 9. 4 March 2002 San Jose, United States Hard (i)   Kevin Ullyett   John-Laffnie de Jager
  Robbie Koenig
6–3, 4–6, [10–5]
Loss 5. 13 May 2002 Rome, Italy Clay   Kevin Ullyett   Martin Damm
  Cyril Suk
5–7, 5–7
Win 10. 17 June 2002 London/Queen's Club, England Grass   Kevin Ullyett   Mahesh Bhupathi
  Max Mirnyi
7–5, 6–3
Win 11. 19 August 2002 Washington, D.C., United States Hard   Kevin Ullyett   Bob Bryan
  Mike Bryan
3–6, 6–3, 7–5
Win 12. 14 October 2002 Lyon, France Carpet   Kevin Ullyett   Mark Knowles
  Daniel Nestor
6–4, 3–6, 7–6(7–3)
Win 13. 28 October 2002 Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i)   Kevin Ullyett   Wayne Arthurs
  Paul Hanley
6–4, 2–6, 7–6(7–4)
Loss 6. 3 March 2003 Dubai, UAE Hard   Kevin Ullyett   Leander Paes
  David Rikl
3–6, 0–6
Win 14. 5 May 2003 Munich, Germany Clay   Kevin Ullyett   Joshua Eagle
  Jared Palmer
6–3, 7–5
Loss 7. 6 October 2003 Moscow, Russia Carpet   Kevin Ullyett   Mahesh Bhupathi
  Max Mirnyi
3–6, 5–7
Loss 8. 20 October 2003 Madrid, Spain Hard (i)   Kevin Ullyett   Mahesh Bhupathi
  Max Mirnyi
2–6, 6–2, 3–6
Loss 9. 22 March 2004 Indian Wells, United States Hard   Kevin Ullyett   Arnaud Clément
  Sébastien Grosjean
3–6, 6–4, 5–7
Win 15. 5 April 2004 Miami, United States Hard   Kevin Ullyett   Jonas Björkman
  Todd Woodbridge
6–2, 7–6(14–12)
Win 16. 17 May 2004 Hamburg, Germany Clay   Kevin Ullyett   Bob Bryan
  Mike Bryan
6–4, 6–2
Loss 10. 26 July 2004 Indianapolis, United States Hard   Kevin Ullyett   Jordan Kerr
  Jim Thomas
7–6(9–7), 6–7(3–7), 3–6
Loss 11. 8 November 2004 Paris, France Carpet   Kevin Ullyett   Jonas Björkman
  Todd Woodbridge
3–6, 4–6
Loss 12. 22 November 2004 Tennis Masters Cup, Houston Hard   Kevin Ullyett   Bob Bryan
  Mike Bryan
6–4, 5–7, 4–6, 2–6
Win 17. 31 January 2005 Australian Open, Melbourne Hard   Kevin Ullyett   Bob Bryan
  Mike Bryan
6–4, 6–4
Loss 13. 4 April 2005 Miami, United States Hard   Kevin Ullyett   Jonas Björkman
  Max Mirnyi
1–6, 2–6
Loss 14. 8 August 2005 Washington, D.C., United States Hard   Kevin Ullyett   Bob Bryan
  Mike Bryan
4–6, 2–6
Win 18. 15 August 2005 Montreal, Canada Hard   Kevin Ullyett   Jonathan Erlich
  Andy Ram
6–7(5–7), 6–3, 6–0
Loss 15. 22 August 2005 Cincinnati, United States Hard   Kevin Ullyett   Jonas Björkman
  Max Mirnyi
6–7(3–7), 2–6

Doubles performance timeline edit

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.
Tournament 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Career SR Career win–loss
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A A 1R A 2R 3R F QF QF 3R QF W A 1 / 9 25–8
French Open A A A A 1R 3R 3R 3R 2R 3R 3R 2R QF 1R A 0 / 10 15–10
Wimbledon A A A A 1R SF SF QF 1R 1R 2R 3R QF SF 1R 0 / 11 21–11
U.S. Open A A A A A SF 1R QF 1R W QF 3R QF SF A 1 / 9 25–8
Grand Slam SR 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 1 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 1 / 4 0 / 1 2 / 39 N/A
Annual win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–3 10–3 7–4 10–4 6–4 11–3 9–4 7–4 12–4 14–3 0–1 0–0 86–37
Masters Series
Indian Wells A A 1R A A A 1R W 2R 1R QF A F QF A 1 / 8 14–7
Miami A A A A A A 3R W 2R 3R 3R 2R W F A 2 / 8 18–6
Monte Carlo A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0
Rome A A A A A A A 1R 1R 1R F 2R QF 2R A 0 / 7 5–7
Hamburg A A A A A A A A 1R 2R 1R 2R W 2R A 1 / 6 5–5
Canada A A A A A A QF 2R A 2R 2R 1R 2R W A 1 / 7 8–6
Cincinnati A A A 2R A A QF QF 1R 1R 2R 1R 2R F A 0 / 9 8–9
Madrid (Stuttgart) A A A A A 2R A A A 2R 2R F A SF A 0 / 5 6–5
Paris A A A 1R A 1R 1R 2R A SF 2R QF F SF A 0 / 9 8–9
Masters Series SR 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 0 0 / 2 0 / 5 2 / 6 0 / 5 0 / 8 0 / 8 0 / 7 2 / 7 1 / 8 0 / 0 5 / 59 N/A
Annual win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–1 1–2 0–0 1–2 5–5 11–4 1–5 5–8 9–8 5–7 17–5 17–7 0–0 0–0 72–54
Year-end ranking 541 1056 302 146 158 38 46 14 42 12 13 23 8 5 576 N/A

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Wayne Black Tennis Player Profile | ITF". www.itftennis.com. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Madzokere, Munyaradzi (17 August 2016). "Wayne Black reveals biggest regret". The Standard. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  3. ^ Amos, Stuart (30 August 2007). "Sutton eye national tennis title". Sutton & Croydon Guardian. Retrieved 18 November 2022.

External links edit