Catching up with Byron Talbot
July 02, 2015 | Men's Tennis
The Byron Talbot File
The 1980s produced some of Tennessee's top professionals players, and Byron Talbot is certainly one of them. The three-time All-American was a mainstay in the top 10 singles and doubles rankings and was later a top-20 doubles player on the ATP Tour.
- Years at Tennessee:
1985-88 - Hometown:
Johannesburg, South Africa - Currently Lives:
Dallas, Texas - Wife:
Caroline - Children:
Peggy, Elizabeth, John, Madeline - Works:
Merrill Lynch 
(private client group/wealth management) - Tennessee Highlights:
3-time All-American; 4-time All-SEC; 161 career singles wins (most in UT history; 5th in NCAA history); 102 doubles wins with Shelby Cannon (2nd in NCAA history); Held top-five ranking in singles and doubles; Member of the 1986 SEC championship team. - Pro Tour Highlights:
Career high ATP doubles ranking of 20; 7 doubles titles & 6 finals; Wimbledon semifinalist & French Open quarterfinalist.
By Amanda Pruitt
UTSports.com
One look at the Tennessee program records and one name is hard to miss: Byron Talbot.
Talbot, a three-time All-American for the Vols, remains Tennessee's all-time singles wins leader with 161 after finishing his college career in 1988. He and Shelby Cannon have the second-most doubles wins as a team in NCAA history, finishing with 102 victories over four seasons together.
In some Tennessee program firsts, check this out. Talbot was the first:
1. Doubles champ at the ITA All-American Championships with Shelby Cannon (the Vols have won four titles at that major).
2. South Africa native to earn All-America honors (joined later by Chris Haggard in 1993 and Okie Oosthuizen in 2005)
3. Recipient of the Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award (John-Patrick Smith also earned it in 2010)
After graduating from UT, Talbot enjoyed a successful professional playing career in which he won seven pro doubles titles and reached the top 20 in the world rankings. These days, Talbot is living and working with his family in Dallas. Here's our recent Q&A with him:
Who are some of the teammates you've stayed in touch with?
"I'm not in close contact with everybody, but I know Shelby Cannon is in the Carolinas coaching. Mark Herrington, another good friend of mine, is back in Atlanta in the business world. I stay in touch with him periodically. I talk with Tim Leos. He's up in Tulsa but has stopped by here once or twice.
"I play golf a lot with Tracy DeLatte. He was a couple years ahead of me at Tennessee but lives in the Dallas area. We get out and play on the golf course. He doesn't play much tennis anymore, but he's a good athlete, that's for sure. I saw Bryan Shelton. He coaches on the men's side. With my daughter being in college, it opens up the doors for seeing a few players from my era who are still involved in tennis, which is nice.
"We've started an ATP alumni golf event to reunite a lot of guys. Any guys are more than welcome to come. Tracy's heading it up and trying to do that. We're trying to build that up into a nice event to reunite guys and exchange contacts."
Because it's that time of year again, what are some of your memories of playing at Wimbledon?
"It was fantastic. It was so exciting. I remember playing qualifying for the first time. Didn't sleep well the night before because of the excitement and anticipation. Of course, a couple years later, getting through to the semis and having a good run there was just exciting. It was a great two weeks. I visited a year ago and got to see the finals between Federer and Djokovic and ran into some of the old boys, which was a lot of fun."
To talk about your Tennessee career a little, why did you choose to come to Knoxville?
"It just seemed like the best choice that I had at the time. Certainly pre-Internet and all that information you have nowadays, I didn't know much coming from South Africa. I knew of the collegiate sporting opportunities that were over here. A lot of guys came over and their careers had been extended. Earl Grainger was a colleague and friend of mine back in South Africa, he was here with Coach D and did very well and put in a good word. It just seemed to be a good fit for me. I know Paul Annacone left just before I arrived and Mike (DePalmer) Jr. as well. I finished my junior career and military service in South Africa and came over to Tennessee, and that seemed to be the best opportunity. I really enjoyed it. I didn't know much but I got to like orange."
What were some of the highlights for you at Tennessee?
"You remember the teamwork and camaraderie. I do remember winning a couple of exciting matches at SECs and a lot in the doubles. I remember a big trip we had to the collegiate event out of UCLA and playing about 14 matches in one week. When Michael Fancutt was the assistant coach, Shelby and I had a trip out there. 've still got a couple plaques and awards. Those were good memories and bring some flashbacks. It was just really fun being part of a team to try and achieve a common goal. You remember the road trips, the hard work, and playing down in Georgia for NCAAs. That was always exciting."
Your name was coming up in stories quite a bit this year when Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese were approaching your doubles wins record with Shelby Cannon. Like Mikelis and Hunter, you two played together in college all four years. What was that partnership like on court?
"We just played every match. You used to play every day. With the restrictions they have today, I don't think they're allowed to play as many matches (laughs), so hopefully that record holds out for a little longer. With Shelby and I, we built a good camaraderie. He was a very fiery, aggressive person. It was a lefty-righty combination, which worked very well for us. We both returned well, which worked well with the 3-all points when we played that scoring system back in the day. We just cheered each other on. When one was down, the other one helped pick him up. That was one of the keys to our success. We just had different personalities. I was more calm whereas Shelby was a little more fiery on the court, which helped me a bit as well."
Those descriptions sound a lot like Mikelis and Hunter as well.
"I haven't had a chance to watch them play, unfortunately, outside of following the results. That's the key to doubles, having a good relationship and understanding your strengths and weaknesses, and then accepting those. You try to work on the strengths and the weaknesses you are aware of and try to improve those as best you can."
What were some of your favorite restaurants in Knoxville?
"The first place I went to eat when I got to Knoxville was a Chili's with Coach DePalmer. I remember we'd sometimes go to the Ruby Tuesdays for Sunday brunches or celebration dinners. Otherwise, there were a couple places on the strip that were always good."
Where you able to go to many football or basketball games as a fan while you were at Tennessee?
"I missed a lot of football games in the fall because of the tennis schedule. I do remember my parents coming over from South Africa one year. We got to go to the Orange and White Game. I think the national record was set with 70,000 at the time. At least for them, it was a great experience to do that."
Tennessee is now building a new dorm where Gibbs Hall used to be. What are your memories of Gibbs?
"There were some good memories there. I do remember the dorm rooms. We had the wrestlers on the same floor next to use. Those guys were doing late night workouts with the steam and the showers and things like that. We used to have the little bubble right across the road where we'd do early morning working outs with Coach DePalmer. Especially in the winter, it was good to just roll out of bed and walk to practice."
