The 21st century
Zimbabwe · born Salisbury, Rhodesia, 1973 · right-handed · Wimbledon mixed doubles champion 2004 with his sister Cara
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2004
Wimbledon mixed doubles champion, with his sister Cara Black
4
Grand Slam titles: two men's doubles, two mixed
18
Tour doubles titles
4
Doubles world ranking at his peak, January 2005
4
Grass courts his father built at the family home in Harare
Wayne Black was born in Salisbury, now Harare, on 14 November 1973, the son of Don Black, who had played Wimbledon for Rhodesia in the 1950s, and the brother of Byron and Cara, both of whom became world No. 1 in doubles. The children were coached by their father on the courts he built at home. As teenagers Wayne and Byron went to John Newcombe's Tennis Ranch in Texas, and Wayne then played for the University of Southern California, helping it win the NCAA team title in 1993 and 1994 and being named Pac-10 Player of the Year in 1994.
He turned professional in 1994 and reached No. 69 in singles in 1998, but his career was made in doubles. With Kevin Ullyett he won the US Open in 2001 and the Australian Open in 2005, and he reached No. 4 in the doubles rankings in January 2005. He won 18 tour doubles titles, and with Cara he won the mixed doubles at the 2002 French Open and at Wimbledon in 2004. He played at three Olympic Games, 1996, 2000 and 2004.
With Byron he was the core of the Zimbabwe Davis Cup team that reached the World Group in 1997 and beat Australia 3-2 at Mildura in 1998, the brothers winning both reverse singles. He retired from the tour in 2006, married the Kazakh player Irina Selyutina, and coached in London before moving his family back to Zimbabwe in 2009. He returned to the Davis Cup team for one tie in 2015 and was inducted into the USC Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018.
| Queen's 2002 | Doubles title with Kevin Ullyett; beat Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi 7-5, 6-3 in the final |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon mixed 2004 | Sixth seeds with Cara Black; beat the defending champions Leander Paes and Martina Navratilova in the third round and Bob Bryan and Lindsay Davenport in the semi-finals, then Todd Woodbridge and Alicia Molik 3-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-4 in 127 minutes |
| A family day | On the same final weekend in 2004 Cara also won the ladies' doubles with Rennae Stubbs, so the Black family took two of the five Wimbledon titles |
| Home courts | Don Black built four grass courts and one hard court on his avocado farm in Mandara, a Harare suburb, and coached all three children on them |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Mixed doubles | with Cara Black |
| Queen's Club | ||
| 2002 | Men's doubles | with Kevin Ullyett |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"Thanks dad, for building those grass courts."
The person behind the player.
Mandara, Harare
Don Black, an avocado farmer and tennis teacher, built four grass courts and a hard court on his property. His sons got up before school to train with him. He sawed the grips off his children's racquets, and he told Byron that people could take everything from a player except his backhand.
Source: The Globe and MailMildura, 1998
Zimbabwe beat Australia 3-2 at Mildura, winning both reverse singles on the last day. Pat Rafter withdrew from his match with Black on the final morning through illness and Mark Woodforde took his place. Afterwards Wayne thanked his father on television for building the grass courts.
Source: Sunraysia Daily; The Globe and MailLos Angeles, 1993 to 1994
At USC he helped win two national team championships, was an All-American in both years and was named Pac-10 Player of the Year in 1994. He left before finishing his degree to turn professional. USC inducted him into its Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018.
Source: USC AthleticsWimbledon, 2004
Wayne and Cara Black won the mixed doubles, beating Todd Woodbridge and Alicia Molik in three sets. The same weekend Cara won the ladies' doubles with Rennae Stubbs, her first Grand Slam women's doubles title.
Source: Cape Argus (IOL)London to Harare, 2009
After retiring he coached in London, where his two children were born, then took the family home to Zimbabwe. "Living in London is very hard," he said, citing the cost, the cold and the difficulty of raising a family there; he wanted his children to grow up playing tennis at home, where his parents' house in Mandara still had its grass courts.
Source: The Standard (Zimbabwe)Free membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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