Dana Loconto
Dana Loconto (Born March 7, 1949[citation needed] in Gadsden, Alabama) was a professional tennis referee.[1]
Graduated from Etowah High School in 1967
Graduated from Auburn University in 1971
Keyboard player for The Bleus, rock and roll band.[2] Had seven Nationwide Records.
Owner of Loconto Associates Computer Operations from 1972 - 1985
USTA Tennis Official 1985 - 1989
Full Time Tennis Official[3] ATP Tour[4] 1990 - 1998
As a first time official at the U S Open in 1987, Dana Loconto won the Jack Stahr award. The Jack Stahr Award is "presented annually to an umpire, age 21 or over, who in one of his or her first three years at the US Open, is recognized for hard work, professionalism, technical ability, and cooperative attitude both on and off the court."[5]
Dana Loconto, two years later, in 1989 was the Chair Umpire for the Men's U S Open final between Ivan Lendl and Boris Becker.
In January 1990, Loconto was hired as one of eight full-time world officials on the new ATP Men's Tour. Loconto also served as a staff writer and technical advisor for "Tennis Magazine",[3] writing a monthly article "What's The Call". Loconto also a staff writer, wrote a monthly article for "Tennis International Magazine".
Dana Loconto invented the first hand held scorecard computer in 1991.[6] The digital computer captures every tennis match statistic, during each match. Every men's tennis match since 1991 has been entered through the digital computer.
Loconto was inducted into the Alabama Tennis Hall of Fame in 2001. He was also inducted into the Etowah County Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. Loconto is currently on the ballot for the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. Loconto was inducted in The Alabama Sports Officials Hall of Fame in 2023.
Dana Loconto has chaired matches at Wimbledon, Australian Open, French Open and U S Open. Loconto officiated in 31 Countries around the World.
One of the most memorable matches at Wimbledon was in June 1992, John McEnroe vs Pat Cash. McEnroe outduels Cash in five set match, chaired by Loconto.[7] An unbelievable match took place ten months earlier at the U S Open, between Jimmy Connors vs Patrick McEnroe. Loconto chaired the five set match, in which Connors came back from two sets down, to win in five.[8]
Dana Loconto was the chair umpire in Indianapolis in 1996 which resulted in the default of Andre Agassi.[9] Agassi had won the Gold Medal at the Atlanta Olympics two weeks earlier.[10]
In October 2008, the tennis complex in Gadsden, Alabama was renamed "Dana Loconto Tennis Complex".[11]
References
- ↑ Roberts, John (20 MARCH 1993). "Tennis / Lipton Championships: Courier loses his sense of balance". The Independent. Retrieved 6 January 2013. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ↑ Coakley, Deirdre (April 29, 2004). "The Bleus Finding Success Once More". Gadsden Times. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Umpire has tennis world at his feet". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. June 9, 1996. p. F2. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ↑ Bauman, Paul (1997-09-01). Agassi and ecstasy: the turbulent life of Andre Agassi. Bonus Books. pp. 198–. ISBN 9781566250856. Retrieved 6 January 2013. Search this book on
- ↑ Loconto. "Jack Stahr Award".
- ↑ Finn, Robin (25 February 1992). "Court Technology Goes On-Line". The New York Times. p. 15. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ↑ "McEnroe Out Duels Cash".[permanent dead link]
- ↑ U S Open. "Connors Works Overtime to rally past P McEnroe". Archived from the original on 2018-09-23. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
- ↑ Sun Sentinel, Default. "Andre Agassi". Archived from the original on 2018-09-23. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
- ↑ Los Angeles Times. "Agassi's Special Treatment Must End". Archived from the original on 2018-09-23. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
- ↑ Gadsden, Alabama. "Dana Loconto Tennis Complex".
This article "Dana Loconto" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
