Kevin Curren

Kevin Melvyn Curren (born 2 March 1958) is a South African former professional tennis player. He played in two Grand Slam singles finals and won four Grand Slam doubles titles, reaching a career-high singles ranking of world No. 5.

Kevin Curren

Curren in 1982
Country (sports)	South Africa  United States
Residence	Austin, Texas
Born	(1958-03-02) 2 March 1958 Durban, South Africa
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Turned pro	1979
Retired	1993
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	$3,055,510
Singles
Career record	338–235 (Grand Prix, WCT, ATP & Grand Slam-level, and Davis Cup)
Career titles	5
Highest ranking	No. 5 (22 July 1985)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	F (1984)
French Open	2R (1992)
Wimbledon	F (1985)
US Open	4R (1981, 1990)
Other tournaments
WCT Finals	SF (1984)
Doubles
Career record	430–249 (Grand Prix, WCT, ATP & Grand Slam-level, and Davis Cup)
Career titles	26
Highest ranking	No. 3 (3 January 1983)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	SF (1981)
French Open	QF (1984)
Wimbledon	SF (1982, 1983)
US Open	W (1982)
Mixed doubles
Career titles	3
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Wimbledon	W (1982)
US Open	W (1981, 1982)

Personal life

Curren was born in South Africa, and he became a naturalized American citizen in April 1985.[1]

Tennis career

Curren played both tennis and cricket at Glenwood High School in Durban. He also quickly rose among the ranks as a junior at Montclair Lawn Tennis Club in Montclair, Durban. At college he played tennis for the University of Texas at Austin in the United States and won the NCAA singles title in 1979. He turned professional later that year, and won his first top-level singles title in 1981 in Johannesburg.

In 1983, Curren reached his first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon, beating defending champion, Jimmy Connors, 6–3, 6–7, 6–3, 7–6, in the fourth round, snapping Connors' streak of 27 consecutive major quarterfinals appearances. It went on to be his only 4th round loss in 35 Grand Slam tournaments appearances. Curren lost to unseeded New Zealander Chris Lewis in a five-set semifinal match, 7–6, 4–6, 6–7, 7–6, 6–8, which allowed Lewis to become only the seventh unseeded player to reach the Wimbledon final. In 1984, Curren played Mats Wilander in the final of the Australian Open, after making a comeback from two sets down to defeat Ben Testerman in the semifinals. Wilander won the match, played on the grass courts at Kooyong, in four sets, 6–7, 6–4, 7–6, 6–2.

In 1985, after becoming an American citizen, Curren reached the final at Wimbledon with the help of coaching from Tony Roche. After defeating Larry Stefanki, Mike De Palmer, David Mustard and then future champion Stefan Edberg in the fourth round in straight sets, 7–6, 6–3, 7–6, he eliminated the then-world No. 1, John McEnroe, in the quarterfinals, 6–2, 6–2, 6–4, and world No. 3, Jimmy Connors, in the semifinals, 6–2, 6–2, 6–1. Curren was the first player to beat both American players in the same Grand Slam event. McEnroe commented that he felt overpowered[2] and later that he had difficulty in dealing with Curren's highly individualistic and very fast serving, which, in its low toss, was hard to read and tended to produce low balls that skipped on the grass courts of the time. In the final, he lost in four sets to Boris Becker, 3–6, 7–6, 6–7, 4–6, in a match best remembered for making the 17-year-old Becker the youngest male Grand Slam champion (a record which was later eclipsed by Michael Chang in 1989 at the French Open). The final was very heated and intense, and Becker sent several hostile glares to Curren before and after points. On one of the final change-overs, Becker even bumped Curren's shoulder as they passed one another. After his defeat, Curren was noted as saying that he thought the game would see an increase in the number of successful young players and predicted that they would have more intense, but shorter careers.[3] Curren was the last American man to reach the final at Wimbledon until Andre Agassi did so seven years later in 1992.

Though he never won a Grand Slam singles title, Curren did win four Grand Slam doubles titles. In 1981, he won the US Open mixed doubles, and in 1982 he won the Wimbledon mixed doubles and both men's doubles and mixed doubles at the US Open. During his career, Curren won five top-level singles titles and 26 doubles titles. His career-high rankings were world No. 5 in singles and world No. 3 in doubles. His final career singles title came in 1989 at Frankfurt, and his last doubles title was won in 1992 in Seoul. Curren retired from the professional tour in 1993.

Since retiring from the tour, Curren has served as captain of the South Africa Davis Cup team.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1984	Australian Open	Grass	Mats Wilander	7–6^(7–5), 4–6, 6–7^(3–7), 2–6
Loss	1985	Wimbledon	Grass	Boris Becker	3–6, 7–6^(7–4), 6–7^(3–7), 4–6

Doubles: 1 (1 title)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1982	US Open	Hard	Steve Denton	Victor Amaya Hank Pfister	6–2, 6–7^(4–7), 5–7, 6–2, 6–4

Mixed doubles: 3 (3 titles)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1981	US Open	Hard	Anne Smith	JoAnne Russell Steve Denton	6–4, 7–6
Win	1982	Wimbledon	Grass	Anne Smith	Wendy Turnbull John Lloyd	2–6, 6–3, 7–5
Win	1982	US Open	Hard	Anne Smith	Barbara Potter Ferdi Taygan	6–7, 7–6^(7–4), 7–6^(7–5)

ATP career finals

Singles: 13 (5 titles, 8 runner-ups)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1.	1981	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Bernard Mitton	6–4, 6–4
Loss	1.	1982	Los Angeles-2 WCT, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Ivan Lendl	6–7^(5–7), 5–7, 1–6
Loss	2.	1982	Amsterdam WCT, Netherlands	Carpet (i)	Wojtek Fibak	5–7, 6–3, 4–6, 3–6
Win	2.	1982	Cologne, Germany	Carpet (i)	Shlomo Glickstein	2–6, 6–2, 6–3
Loss	3.	1983	Milan, Italy	Carpet (i)	Ivan Lendl	7–5, 3–6, 6–7
Loss	4.	1984	Australian Open, Melbourne	Grass	Mats Wilander	7–6^(7–5), 4–6, 6–7^(3–7), 2–6
Win	3.	1985	Toronto, Canada	Carpet (i)	Anders Järryd	7–6^(8–6), 6–3
Loss	5.	1985	Houston WCT, U.S.	Carpet (i)	John McEnroe	5–7, 1–6, 6–7^(4–7)
Loss	6.	1985	Wimbledon, U.K.	Grass	Boris Becker	3–6, 7–6^(7–4), 6–7^(3–7), 4–6
Win	4.	1986	Atlanta, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Tim Wilkison	7–6^(7–5), 7–6^(7–2)
Loss	7.	1986	Scottsdale, U.S.	Hard	John McEnroe	3–6, 6–3, 2–6
Loss	8.	1988	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Ivan Lendl	6–7^(10–12), 2–6
Win	5.	1989	Frankfurt, Germany	Carpet (i)	Petr Korda	6–2, 7–5

Doubles: 53 (26 titles, 27 runner-ups)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1.	1980	Denver, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Steve Denton	Wojtek Fibak Heinz Günthardt	7–5, 6–2
Loss	1.	1980	Washington D.C., U.S.	Carpet (i)	Steve Denton	Ferdi Taygan Brian Teacher	6–4, 3–6, 6–7
Loss	2.	1980	North Conway, U.S.	Clay	Steve Denton	Jimmy Connors Brian Gottfried	6–7, 3–6
Win	2.	1980	Indianapolis, U.S.	Clay	Steve Denton	Wojtek Fibak Ivan Lendl	3–6, 7–6, 6–4
Win	3.	1980	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Steve Denton	Bob Hewitt Frew McMillan	6–7, 6–4, 6–4
Win	4.	1981	Monterrey WCT, Mexico	Carpet (i)	Steve Denton	Johan Kriek Russell Simpson	7–6, 6–3
Loss	3.	1981	Brussels, Belgium	Carpet (i)	Steve Denton	Sandy Mayer Frew McMillan	6–4, 3–6, 3–6
Loss	4.	1981	Queen's Club, U.K.	Grass	Steve Denton	Pat DuPré Brian Teacher	6–3, 6–7, 9–11
Loss	5.	1981	Newport, U.S.	Grass	Billy Martin	Brad Drewett Erik van Dillen	2–6, 4–6
Win	5.	1981	Indianapolis, U.S.	Clay	Steve Denton	Raúl Ramírez Van Winitsky	6–3, 5–7, 7–5
Win	6.	1981	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Steve Denton	Sherwood Stewart Ferdi Taygan	6–7, 6–4, 6–0
Loss	6.	1982	Masters Doubles WCT, London	Carpet (i)	Steve Denton	Heinz Günthardt Balázs Taróczy	7–6, 3–6, 5–7, 4–6
Win	7.	1982	Denver, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Steve Denton	Phil Dent Kim Warwick	6–4, 6–4
Win	8.	1982	Memphis, U.S.	Hard (i)	Steve Denton	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	7–6, 4–6, 6–2
Loss	7.	1982	Munich WCT, West Germany	Carpet (i)	Steve Denton	Mark Edmondson Tomáš Šmíd	6–4, 5–7, 2–6
Loss	8.	1982	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet (i)	Fritz Buehning	Mark Edmondson Sherwood Stewart	5–7, 2–6
Win	9.	1982	Houston, U.S.	Clay	Steve Denton	Mark Edmondson Peter McNamara	7–5, 6–4
Win	10.	1982	US Open, New York	Hard	Steve Denton	Victor Amaya Hank Pfister	6–2, 6–7, 5–7, 6–2, 6–4
Win	11.	1982	Los Angeles-2 WCT, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Hank Pfister	Andy Andrews Drew Gitlin	4–6, 6–2, 7–5
Loss	9.	1982	Amsterdam WCT, Netherlands	Carpet (i)	Buster Mottram	Fritz Buehning Tomáš Šmíd	6–4, 3–6, 0–6
Win	12.	1983	Philadelphia, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Steve Denton	Peter Fleming John McEnroe	6–4, 7–6
Win	13.	1983	Munich WCT, West Germany	Carpet (i)	Steve Denton	Heinz Günthardt Balázs Taróczy	7–5, 2–6, 6–1
Win	14.	1983	Houston WCT, U.S.	Clay	Steve Denton	Mark Dickson Tomáš Šmíd	7–6, 6–7, 6–1
Win	15.	1983	Las Vegas, U.S.	Hard	Steve Denton	Tracy Delatte Johan Kriek	6–3, 7–5
Loss	10.	1983	Forest Hills WCT, U.S.	Clay	Steve Denton	Tracy Delatte Johan Kriek	7–6, 5–7, 3–6
Loss	11.	1983	Queen's Club, U.K.	Grass	Steve Denton	Brian Gottfried Paul McNamee	4–6, 3–6
Loss	12.	1984	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Steve Denton	John McEnroe Patrick McEnroe	6–7, 2–6
Loss	13.	1984	Brussels, Belgium	Carpet (i)	Steve Denton	Tim Gullikson Tom Gullikson	4–6, 7–6, 6–7
Win	16.	1984	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet (i)	Wojtek Fibak	Fritz Buehning Ferdi Taygan	6–4, 6–4
Loss	14.	1984	Milan, Italy	Carpet (i)	Steve Denton	Pavel Složil Tomáš Šmíd	4–6, 3–6
Loss	15.	1985	Memphis, U.S.	Hard (i)	Steve Denton	Pavel Složil Tomáš Šmíd	6–1, 3–6, 4–6
Loss	16.	1985	Brussels, Belgium	Carpet (i)	Wojtek Fibak	Stefan Edberg Anders Järryd	3–6, 6–7
Win	17.	1986	Queen's Club, U.K.	Grass	Guy Forget	Darren Cahill Mark Kratzmann	6–2, 7–6
Win	18.	1987	Tokyo Outdoor, Japan	Hard	Paul Annacone	Andrés Gómez Anders Järryd	6–4, 7–6
Win	19.	1987	Los Angeles, U.S.	Hard	David Pate	Brad Gilbert Tim Wilkison	6–3, 6–4
Win	20.	1987	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard (i)	David Pate	Eric Korita Brad Pearce	6–4, 6–4
Win	21.	1988	Memphis, U.S.	Hard (i)	David Pate	Peter Lundgren Mikael Pernfors	6–2, 6–2
Loss	17.	1988	Philadelphia, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Danie Visser	Kelly Evernden Johan Kriek	6–7, 3–6
Loss	18.	1988	Vienna, Austria	Carpet (i)	Tomáš Šmíd	Alex Antonitsch Balázs Taróczy	6–4, 3–6, 6–7
Win	22.	1988	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	Jim Grabb	Paul Annacone John Fitzgerald	7–5, 7–5
Win	23.	1988	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard (i)	David Pate	Gary Muller Tim Wilkison	7–6, 6–4
Loss	19.	1989	Indian Wells, U.S.	Hard	David Pate	Boris Becker Jakob Hlasek	6–3, 3–6, 4–6
Loss	20.	1989	Tokyo Outdoor, Japan	Hard	David Pate	Ken Flach Robert Seguso	4–6, 4–6
Win	24.	1989	Tokyo Indoor, Japan	Carpet (i)	David Pate	Andrés Gómez Slobodan Živojinović	4–6, 6–3, 7–6
Loss	21.	1989	Frankfurt, West Germany	Carpet (i)	Eric Jelen	Pieter Aldrich Danie Visser	6–7, 7–6, 3–6
Loss	22.	1989	Wembley, U.K.	Carpet (i)	Jeremy Bates	Jakob Hlasek John McEnroe	1–6, 6–7
Loss	23.	1990	Toronto Indoor, Canada	Carpet (i)	Neil Broad	Patrick Galbraith David Macpherson	6–2, 4–6, 3–6
Loss	24.	1990	Hong Kong, UK	Hard	Joey Rive	Pat Cash Wally Masur	3–6, 3–6
Win	25.	1990	Queen's Club, U.K.	Grass	Jeremy Bates	Henri Leconte Ivan Lendl	6–2, 7–6
Loss	25.	1990	Berlin, Germany	Carpet (i)	Patrick Galbraith	Pieter Aldrich Danie Visser	6–7, 6–7
Loss	26.	1991	Lyon, France	Hard (i)	Jeremy Bates	Steve DeVries David Macpherson	6–7, 6–3, 3–6
Loss	27.	1992	Memphis, U.S.	Hard (i)	Gary Muller	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	5–7, 6–4, 6–7
Win	26.	1992	Seoul, South Korea	Hard	Gary Muller	Kelly Evernden Brad Pearce	7–6, 6–4

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Tournament	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	SR	W–L
Australian Open	A	A	A	2R	A	A	F	A	NH	3R	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 3	9–3
French Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	0 / 1	1–1
Wimbledon	A	A	4R	2R	3R	SF	4R	F	1R	2R	1R	3R	QF	2R	1R	0 / 13	28–13
US Open	2R	2R	A	4R	1R	A	2R	1R	2R	A	2R	A	4R	2R	1R	0 / 11	12–11
Win–Loss	1–1	1–1	3–1	5–3	2–2	5–1	10–3	6–2	1–2	3–2	1–2	2–1	7–2	2–2	1–3	0 / 28	50–28

References

1. ITF Tennis – Mens Circuit – Player Biography
2. "McEnroe Gets What He Had Coming: a Loss", Los Angeles Times, 4 July 1985.
3. "1985: Boris Becker wins Wimbledon at 17". BBC. 7 July 1985. Retrieved 18 October 2008.

External links

• Kevin Curren at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Kevin Curren at the International Tennis Federation