Dana Loconto

Dana Loconto (Born March 7, 1949 in Gadsden, Alabama) was a professional tennis referee.

Graduated from Etowah High School in 1967

Graduated from Auburn University in 1971

Keyboard player for The Bleus, rock and roll band. Had seven Nationwide Records.

Owner of Loconto Associates Computer Operations from 1972 - 1985

USTA Tennis Official 1985 - 1989

Full Time Tennis Official ATP Tour 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."

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", 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. 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.

Dana Loconto has chaired matches at Wimbledon, Australian Open, French Open and U S Open.

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. 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.

Dana Loconto was the chair umpire in Indianapolis in 1996 which resulted in the default of Andre Agassi. Agassi had won the Gold Medal at the Atlanta Olympics two weeks earlier.

In October 2008, the tennis complex in Gadsden, Alabama was renamed "Dana Loconto Tennis Complex".