Bernard Mitton

Bernard Mitton (9 November 1954 – 5 May 2017) was a professional tennis player from South Africa.

Mitton reached his highest singles ranking of world No. 51 on 15 December 1975, and his highest doubles ranking of 20 on 25 June 1984. His career record in singles on the ATP Tour was 199–218, winning two titles - at Newport, Rhode Island in 1978 and San Jose, California in 1979. He was the runner-up in three other tournaments: San Jose (1978), Adelaide (1979) and Johannesburg (1981).

His doubles record was 210–191, and he won nine titles: 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. He reached the fourth round at a Grand Slam tournament on three occasions. In his first Grand Slam tournament in 1973, he reached the fourth round of Wimbledon, then lost to Connors in straight sets. In 1976, he again reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, defeating former champion John Newcombe in the third round beforeg losing to Raúl Ramírez in four sets. He reached the fourth round at the 1980 US Open, defeating José Luis Clerc in the first round, then lost to Connors.

Mitton retired from the tour in 1984 due to injuries and joined the Newport Beach Tennis Club as director of tennis. From 2000 to 2003, he was at Rancho San Clemente. He taught until his death at the Racket Club of Irvine, California.

Career finals

Legend
Grand Slam
ATP Masters Series
ATP Tour
Challengers
Futures

Singles: 5 (2 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Result	W-L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Apr 1978	San Jose, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Arthur Ashe	7–6, 1–6, 2–6
Win	1–1	Jul 1978	Newport, U.S.	Grass	Template:Flagicon John James	6–1, 3–6, 7–6
Win	2–1	Mar 1979	San José, Costa Rica	Hard	Template:Flagicon Tom Gorman	6–4, 6–1, 6–3
Loss	2–2	Dec 1979	Adelaide, Australia	Grass	Template:Flagicon Kim Warwick	6–7(3–7), 4–6
Loss	2–3	Apr 1981	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Template:Flagicon Kevin Curren	4–6, 4–6

Doubles: 17 (9 titles, 8 runner-ups)

Result	W-L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Jan 1978	Sarasota, U.S.	Carpet	Template:Flagicon Byron Bertram	Template:Flagicon Colin Dowdeswell Template:Flagicon Geoff Masters	6–2, 3–6, 2–6
Loss	0–2	Aug 1978	North Conway, U.S.	Clay	Template:Flagicon Mike Fishbach	Template:Flagicon Robin Drysdale Template:Flagicon Van Winitsky	6–4, 6–7, 3–6
Win	1–2	Jan 1979	Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	Template:Flagicon Kim Warwick	Template:Flagicon Andrew Jarrett Template:Flagicon Jonathan Smith	6–3, 2–6, 6–3
Loss	1–3	Apr 1979	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Heinz Günthardt	Template:Flagicon Peter Fleming Template:Flagicon John McEnroe	4–6, 4–6
Win	2–3	Aug 1980	Stowe, U.S.	Hard	Template:Flagicon Bob Lutz	Template:Flagicon Ilie Năstase Template:Flagicon Ferdi Taygan	6–4, 6–3
Win	3–3	Oct 1980	Cologne, West Germany	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Andrew Pattison	Template:Flagicon Jan Kodeš Template:Flagicon Tomáš Šmíd	6–4, 6–1
Win	4–3	Feb 1981	Richmond, U.S.	Hard	Template:Flagicon Tim Gullikson	Template:Flagicon Brian Gottfried Template:Flagicon Raúl Ramírez	3–6, 6–2, 6–3
Win	5–3	Mar 1981	Tampa, U.S.	Hard	Template:Flagicon Butch Walts	Template:Flagicon David Carter Template:Flagicon Paul Kronk	6–3, 3–6, 6–1
Win	6–3	Apr 1981	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Template:Flagicon Ray Moore	Template:Flagicon Shlomo Glickstein Template:Flagicon David Schneider	7–5, 3–6, 6–1
Win	7–3	Aug 1981	Columbus, U.S.	Hard	Template:Flagicon Tim Gullikson	Template:Flagicon Victor Amaya Template:Flagicon Hank Pfister	4–6, 6–1, 6–4
Loss	7–4	Oct 1982	Maui, U.S.	Hard	Template:Flagicon Francisco González	Template:Flagicon Mike Cahill Template:Flagicon Eliot Teltscher	4–6, 4–6
Loss	7–5	Nov 1982	Ancona, Italy	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Tim Gullikson	Template:Flagicon Anders Järryd Template:Flagicon Hans Simonsson	6–4, 3–6, 6–7
Win	8–5	Nov 1983	Ferrara, Italy	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Butch Walts	Template:Flagicon Stanislav Birner Template:Flagicon Stefan Simonsson	7–6, 0–6, 6–3
Loss	8–6	Nov 1983	Toulouse, France	Carpet (i)	Template:Flagicon Butch Walts	Template:Flagicon Heinz Günthardt Template:Flagicon Pavel Složil	7–5, 5–7, 4–6
Win	9–6	Feb 1984	La Quinta, U.S.	Hard	Template:Flagicon Butch Walts	Template:Flagicon Scott Davis Template:Flagicon Ferdi Taygan	5–7, 6–3, 6–2
Loss	9–7	May 1984	Florence, Italy	Clay	Template:Flagicon Butch Walts	Template:Flagicon Mark Dickson Template:Flagicon Chip Hooper	6–7, 6–4, 5–7
Loss	9–8	Jun 1984	Queen's Club, UK	Grass	Template:Flagicon Butch Walts	Template:Flagicon Pat Cash Template:Flagicon Paul McNamee	4–6, 3–6

External links

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