A King of Queens – Texas A&M Athletics

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 races 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 1999.

“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 arer 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.

“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…