A King of Queens

September 1982… There were reports the Rubik’s Cube craze was coming to an end, E.T. was gobbling up Reese’s Pieces because somebody at M&M’s dropped the ball, people across the country were getting their first taste of the McRib Sandwich and in New York City, nobody on Broadway was being subjected to “Cats” yet.

Meanwhile, in Flushing Meadows out on Long Island, current Texas A&M men’s tennis head coach Steve Denton and his college teammate Kevin Curren were making a run through a stacked field to win the U.S. Open men’s doubles title.

This year, 40 years after he was one of the Kings of Queens, Denton is back for his annual trip to the USTA National Tennis Center to mentor and support the Aggies in the US Open. This year, a trio of Ol’ Sarge’s charges battled for a grand slam title…Arthur Rinderknech in singles and men’s doubles action, Austin Kraijicek and Jackson Withrow are battling in men’s doubles and mixed doubles. 

He aspires for his players to exceed his accomplishments and he provides valuable insight on handling the challenges of a grand slam event.

For Denton, picking a doubles partner was easy. He and Curren were longtime roommates and teammates at a school in Austin, experiencing tremendous success. After college, they teamed up to win 15 doubles titles between 1980-83, including 10 prior to the 1982 U.S. Open.

“We played college together, so we knew each other really well,” Denton said. “Kevin had one of the best serves in the world. I guess we had two of the best serves in the world. It made us difficult to play against. We were very athletic and had very big serves. We didn’t lose serve very often. That put pressure on the other team. If we held serve, we just needed a couple breaks.”

The duo started the tournament with a tough test, topping Rick Leach and Tim Pawset, 6-2, 5-7, 6-1. After stumbling in the second set, the double-barrel action of two of the hardest servers of the game was overwhelming.

“Most grand slam runs have an early match like that,” Denton said. “You have to grind through it. Survive the set, survive the match, keep working hard and get the momentum behind you. We got things working the third set and it carried into the next two matches, for sure.”

The second round found Denton and Curren playing Italian Claudio Panatta and Romanian Ilie Nastase, a former world No. 1 singles player who was renowned for his unpredictability and unorthodox shot making, along with bizarre behavior. 

“I had played Ilie on numerous occasions,” Denton said. “So I knew about his antics. I spent a lot of time looking at my shoes. I wasn’t going to let him distract me.”

Denton and Curren made quick work of the enigmatic duo, winning 6-4, 6-3. After breezing through the third round with a straight-set triumph against Wojtek Fibak and John Fitzgerald, things ratcheted up a notch as the rounds went to best-of-five. 

The quarterfinal pitted the pair against the American tandem Chip Hooper and Peter Rennert. Straits were dire as Denton and Curren lost the tie-breaker in the third set to go down 2-1. The hard serving duo held serve and got key breaks in the last two sets to win 7-5, 4-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2.

“I’ve always been a big believer that five-set matches are the true test.” Denton said. “It is a lot easier for upsets in best-of-three. We were behind in that match after three sets, but we knew with our service game and our style of play that we’d be tough to play.”

In addition to surviving their five-set meatgrinder, Denton’s spirits were lifted by an upset win by Victor Amaya and Hank Pfister over the No. 1 seeded duo of John McEnroe and Peter Fleming. Denton had beaten McEnroe in the singles Cincinnati Masters semifinal a couple weeks earlier, so he was not lacking confidence. But if you can avoid playing the No. 1 player in the world for a title, you’ll take it.

“No offense to Peter, but they were the No. 1 seed because of John McEnroe,” Denton said. “You would love to beat the best of the best to win a title, but if you don’t have to play them, you’ll take that, too.”

The identical twin team of Tim and Tom Gullickson were the next test in the semifinal. The pair were one of the best doubles teams in the world and would go on to become coaches of some of the top professional players, including Pete Sampras, Martina Navratilova, Mary Joe Fernandez and Andy Roddick.

There would be no shenanigans from the identical twins.

“They could dress the same, but it was easy to tell them apart,” Denton said. “Tim was right-handed and Tom was a lefty. But, of course, playing together their whole life, they were a really strong doubles team and a really good test for us.” 

Denton and Curren were victorious, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, earning a spot in the championship match. They would be playing on the biggest stage in front of a raucous crowd at Louis Armstrong Stadium for the U.S. Open title.

“New Yorkers are known to be loud and they enjoy their tennis,” Denton said. “They’re very knowledgeable. There’s a buzz in the atmosphere, even when you’re playing on the stadium court. With all the boxes, the social aspect, the music and everything else, it’s just an unbelievable atmosphere.”

The Big Apple crowd would get an extreme treat. Denton brought a booming serve with his unique technique providing one the hardest serves the game has seen. 1982 marked his first season swinging a graphite racket and he had no problem finding the sweet spot. Denton found magic with the new racket, once serving 12 aces in a row during a doubles match in Stockholm.

“I was playing with a Prince woody,” Denton said. “It was then considered an oversize racket, but it was wood. I was struggling a little bit and my coach at the time, Warren Jacques, took it away from me. He was working with Spalding on a graphite racket. I put it in my hand and the very first tournament I was really good in singles play. It really made my serve a weapon.”

At the time, the Texas Gulf Coast was a home for speed merchants across all kinds of sport. Alvin native Nolan Ryan was in Houston clocking 100 mile per hour fastballs with regularity. The University of Houston’s Carl Lewis was the world’s fastest man and working his way to winning Olympic gold in the 100 meters and 200 meters. Houston native A.J. Foyt was lighting up the Indy circuits. Meanwhile, Denton, a Bishop, Texas, native, was honing what, in 1984, would be clocked as the fastest serve in tennis. That year, his 138 MPH serve would be logged in the Guinness Book of World Records where it would stand until 1997.

“My serve was a little unusual,” Denton said. “I took a little bit of a step forward, a la Arthur Ashe. I kind of threw my body into the serve. It really kind of propelled me forward into the court. I had a short toss. Growing up in Corpus Christi, it was really windy down there. The low toss into the court was difficult to read. It’s out of your hand very quickly, so the returner doesn’t have much time to react to where you are serving.“

Denton and Curren were overpowering early in the championship match, winning the first set 6-2. Amaya and Pfister won tightly contested second and third sets by scores of 7-6 and 7-5, putting Denton and Curren in a similar situation as the quarterfinal.

The duo used their booming serve and athletic play to record the same results of the quarterfinals. They held all of their serves and broke their opponents three times to claim the last two sets 6-2, 6-4. Claiming the title did not come without a folly or two. On a serve in the fifth set, an errant Curren serve hit Denton in the small of the back, leading to some choice words of encouragement from Denton. In the end, the pair who played together in an off-orange shade in college, in a bit of irony and foreshadowing, hoisted the U.S. Open trophy wearing maroon adidas 

“It was a great feeling winning a major championship and winning it with a longtime teammate and friend,” Denton said. “There was also a lot of relief because we had gotten so close on other occasions. Getting over the hump and winning a grand slam is something you never forget.”

Denton would continue to experience success, winning four more doubles titles with Curren. He came close to earning grand slam titles on several other occasions. The most notable came playing with a legend of legends, at the 1983 Wimbledon Championships. Denton and Billie Jean King were toppled by John Lloyd and Wendy Turnbull in an epic title match, 6-7, 7-6, 7-5.

“I loved playing doubles,” Denton said. “I think it’s the teamwork aspect of it. I grew up in a small town in Texas playing team sports – baseball and basketball. So I really enjoyed bringing that kind of camaraderie over to the tennis court.”

During Denton’s 1982 U.S. Open, he was competing in singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles in a grueling cocktail, but he enjoyed the busy schedule and thinks it made him a better player. 

“I know there’s so much money in in the singles and prestige in the singles, that the top players don’t necessarily need to play doubles,” Denton said. “But I think it would be good for the sport to see them out there more. When there’s a good doubles match on, it’s very exciting to watch. I loved the style of play.”

Doubles action is something Texas A&M tennis takes pride in. Coach Denton really values the fact it makes the players better. The points are faster, there’s a lot of volleys and overheads. It offers an exciting brand of tennis.

“I always felt like the guys who were playing well in singles were also playing well in doubles,” Denton said. “It really helped your singles game. There were odd matches you might lose because you’re a little tired, but I don’t think it offsets the fact that you become a better player. When you play doubles, you learn how to play the whole court more.”

In the last 40 years, the USTA National Tennis Center has seen tremendous growth. Now the biggest matches are played on Arthur Ashe Stadium with a retractable roof. It’s the largest tennis venue in the world, seating nearly 24,000. All the other courts have been upgraded and now every match is streamed to the entire world.

“They’ve made a lot of improvements,” Denton said. “They keep making the venue a better place and they keep making the U.S. Open one of the most prestigious sports events in the world. It brings some great, great memories.”

Denton aspires to have Aggies back at the U.S. Open every year, bringing him to the place of some great, great memories – old memories for him and hopefully new memories for them.