Philip Clive Dent (born 14 February 1950) is a former professional tennis player. Dent's high water mark as a pro singles player was reaching the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

final in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

, which he lost to

Jimmy Connors James Scott Connors (born September 2, 1952) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He held the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking for a then-record 160 consecutive weeks from 1974 to 1977 and a career total of 268 ...

in four sets. Dent was also the men's doubles champion at the

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

(with teammate John Alexander), and the mixed-doubles champion at the US Open in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

(with teammate

Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 major titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles. King was a member of the victorious United States ...

Tennis career

As well as his victory in the 1975 Australian Open doubles, Dent reached six more men's doubles finals in Grand Slam Tournaments, finishing runner-up at the Australian Open in 1970, 1973, and 1977, the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

in 1975 and 1979 and

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

in 1977. Dent was a member of the Australian tennis teams that won the

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

in 1977 and the World Team Cup in 1979. Before turning professional, Dent won the boys' singles titles at both the Australian Open tournament and at the French Open in 1968. During his professional career, Dent won three top-level singles titles (in Sydney and in Brisbane, Australia, both in 1979, and the former also in 1971) and 25 doubles titles (also winning the 1968 Australian Hard Courts singles event in Launceston). His career-high singles ranking was world No. 12 (in 1977). Dent retired from professional tennis in 1983. Dent defeated

Björn Borg Björn Rune Borg (; born 6 June 1956) is a Swedish former world No. 1 tennis player. Between 1974 and 1981, he became the first man in the Open Era to win 11 Grand Slam singles titles with six at the French Open and five consecutively at Wimb ...

in the third round of the

1974 Australian Open The 1974 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Melbourne in Australia and was held from 26 December 1973 to 1 January 1974. It was the 62nd edition of the Australian Open and th ...

, the only Australian Open in which he competed. After retiring as a player, Dent settled in

Newport Beach, California Newport Beach is a coastal city in South Orange County, California. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries however today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island, Newport ...

. Dent was married to

Betty Ann Grubb Stuart Betty Ann Grubb Stuart (born February 26, 1950) is a retired American professional tennis player. She had her most significant success in doubles, including reaching the final of the 1977 US Open (tennis), 1977 US Open with Renée Richards as he ...

and their son, Taylor Dent was also a professional tennis player and citizen of the United States. Phil now lives in Texas, where he, his son, and his daughter-in-law

Jennifer Jennifer or Jenifer may refer to: People *Jennifer (given name) * Jenifer (singer), French pop singer * Jennifer Warnes, American singer who formerly used the stage name Jennifer * Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer * Daniel Jenifer Film and tele ...

own a tennis academy.Former tennis pros coach the next generation at The Birch Racquet & Lawn Club in Keller
Retrieved 1 April 2024.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Mixed doubles: 1 (1 title)

Grand Slam performance timeline

Singles

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

Career finals

Doubles (25 titles, 25 runner-ups)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dent, Phil 1950 births Living people Australian emigrants to the United States Australian male tennis players Australian Open (tennis) champions French Open junior champions Sportspeople from Newport Beach, California Tennis players from Sydney US Open (tennis) champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' singles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' doubles Sportsmen from New South Wales