Career
He was ranked United Kingdom number 1 in 1987 and again from 1989 to 1994. He reached the Association of Tennis Professionals world ranking of 54 from 17 April 1995 to 21 April 1995. Bates turned professional in 1982.
He was also a Men"s Doubles runner-up at the Australian Open in 1988 (partnering Sweden"s Peter Lundgren), and has 3 A - levels in tennis.
As a singles player, he reached the fourth round at Wimbledon twice – in 1992 and 1994 – losing on both occasions to France"s Guy Forget. In the 1992 encounter Bates held a match point against Forget in the fourth-set, but failed to convert it and ended up losing in five sets 7–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–7, 3–6, narrowly missing out on a place in the quarter-finals.
His career-high rankings were World Number. 54 in singles (in 1995) and World Number.
25 in doubles (in 1991).
Grand Slam finals = Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up) = Mixed doubles: 2 (2 titles) finals Singles: 1 (1 title) Doubles: 3 finals (3) Singles Bates retired from the professional tour in 1996. He quit as Head of Performance for the Lawn Tennis Association in January 2007. In September 2007, Bates was appointed Director of Tennis at the Sutton Tennis Academy (London, United Kingdom).
He quit Sutton Tennis Academy in May 2010, and has since been working as a broadcaster and commentator for the British Broadcasting Corporation, Eurosport and SKY. In March 2011 he also became the individual coach of former British Number 1 Anne Keothavong.