Plays Right-handed Role Tennis player Handed Right-handed Name Bernard Mitton Retired 1984 | Career titles 2 Turned pro 1973 Career record 199–218 Height 1.87 m | |
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Country (sports) Republic of South Africa Residence Irvine, California, USA Born 11 September 1954 (age 69)
Vryburg, South Africa ( 1954-09-11 ) Highest ranking No. 54 (15 December 1975) | ||
Bernard Mitton (9 November 1954 – 5 May 2017) was a professional male tennis player in both singles and doubles from the Republic of South Africa. He was born in Vryburg, South Africa.
Mitton reached his highest rank in singles at World No. 51 on 15 December 1975, and in doubles of World No. 20 on 25 June 1984. His career record in singles in the ATP tour was 199–218, winning two titles. In doubles, he went 210–191, winning nine titles.
His two title wins in singles were at Newport, Rhode Island in 1978 and San Jose, California in 1979. He was the runner-up in three tournaments: San Jose (1978), Adelaide (1979) and Johannesburg (1981).
His nine title wins in doubles include: Auckland (1979); Stowe, Vermont and Cologne (1980); Richmond WCT (1981); Johannesburg (1981); Tampa (1981); Columbus, Ohio (1982); Ferrara (1983); and La Quinta, California (1984). He was the runner-up in eight tournaments: Sarasota, Florida (1978); North Conway, New Hampshire (1978); Rotterdam (1979); Maui, Hawaii (1982) Ancona (1982); Toulouse (1983); Florence (1984), and Queen's Club (1984).
Mitton had career wins over John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, and Arthur Ashe in singles. Although he failed to reach the quarterfinals in any Grand Slam tournament, he reached the fourth round on three separate occasions.
In his very first Grand Slam tournament in 1973, he reached the fourth round of Wimbledon before losing to Connors 6–3, 6–3, 6–2.
In 1976, he again reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, defeating former champion John Newcombe in the third round (3–6, 6–3, 9–7, 9–7) before falling to Raúl Ramírez (9–7, 3–6, 6–1, 6–1).
In 1980, he reached the fourth round at the US Open, defeating José Luis Clerc in the first round (6–3, 6–2, 4–6, 2–6, 7–5) before finally losing to Connors (7–6, 6–4, 6–4).
Mitton retired from the tour in 1984 and joined the Newport Beach Tennis Club as director of tennis. From 2000–2003, he was at Rancho San Clemente and was until his death teaching at The Racket Club of Irvine, California. He has three children, Natalie, Barend and Olivia.