In the 1987 Australian Open, Barr also participated in the men's draw and beat countryman Darren Cahill in the first round (his only Grand Slam singles win), before being knocked out of the tournament by Tim Wilkison.[note 1] He also made the mixed doubles quarter-finals, partnering Michelle Jaggard. The Australian twice made the second round of the men's doubles at his home event, with Kim Warwick in 1988 and Neil Borwick two years later.[3]
He had wins over three top-50 players on the Grand Prix tennis circuit.[3] In 1987 he eliminated sixth seed Wally Masur from the Swan Premium Open in Sydney and the following year once again defeated Cahill, now 25 in the world, in the Queensland Open.[3] His other big win came when he beat Yugoslavian Slobodan Živojinović en route to a quarter-final appearance in the 1989 Queensland Open.[3] He only narrowly missed out on a spot in the semi-finals, losing his quarter-final match to Niclas Kroon in a third set tiebreak.[3] Another notable performance was at the 1988 Stella Artois Championships (Queen's), where he won a set against Stefan Edberg.[4] The Swede would go on to win Wimbledon that year.
His career-best world ranking was No. 160 in 1988. He played in four Australian Opens from 1987 to 1990.[9][12]
Apart from tennis, Barr's family was also behind the ice-cream chain Cold Rock in Australia. He and his father Selwyn opened the first of their Cold Rock ice cream stores in 1996.[8][9]
