Jo Durie is a former world number 5 professional
tennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
player from the United Kingdom. During her career, she won two
Grand SlamThe four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
titles, both in the mixed doubles.
Singles career
After a successful junior career Durie turned professional in 1977, playing her first match at Wimbledon that year against the eventual champion
Virginia WadeSarah Virginia Wade, OBE is a former English tennis player. She won three Grand Slam singles championships and four Grand Slam doubles championships. She won the women's singles championship at Wimbledon on 1 July 1977, in that tournament's centenary year, the last time any Briton has won a...
. In 1980 Durie suffered a major back injury which kept her out of the game for eight months. However she made a successful return to the woman's tennis circuit in 1981, reaching the 4th round of the singles at
WimbledonThe Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
and the
US OpenThe US Open, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships, is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern iteration of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, which for men's singles was first contested in 1881...
and climbing to her highest singles ranking of 35.
1983 proved to be her most successful year as a singles player. At the
Australian OpenThe Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...
she reached her first
Grand SlamThe four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
quarter-final. As an unseeded player Durie then went onto reach the semi-finals of the French Open, beating both
Pam ShriverPamela Howard Shriver Lazenby , is a former professional tennis player and is currently a sports broadcaster from the United States for ESPN2. During the 1980s and 1990s, she won 133 top-level titles, including 21 women's doubles titles and one mixed doubles title at Grand Slam tournaments...
and
Tracy AustinTracy Ann Austin Holt is a former World No. 1 female professional tennis player from the United States who won the women's singles title at the US Open in 1979 and 1981 and the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 1980, before a series of injuries cut her career short.-To 1980:Austin defeated...
along the way. Her dramatic rise up the singles rankings that year ended with another
Grand SlamThe four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
singles semi-final appearance at the
US OpenThe US Open, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships, is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern iteration of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, which for men's singles was first contested in 1881...
, where she eventually lost to
Chris EvertChristine Marie "Chris" Evert is a former world number 1 professional tennis player from the United States. She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships, including a record seven championships at the French Open and a record six championships at the U.S. Open. She was the year-ending World No...
in straight sets. Her most successful year at
WimbledonThe Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
as a singles player came in 1984 when she reached the quarter-finals, beating a 15-year old
Steffi GrafSteffi Graf is a former World No. 1 German tennis player.In total, Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players only to Margaret Court's 24...
in a memorable fourth round match. It was just after Wimbledon in 1984 that she reached a career high singles ranking of World No. 5.
She won two top-level singles titles (both in 1983) at
Mahwah, New JerseyMahwah is a township in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 25,890. The name Mahwah is derived from the Lenni Lenape word "mawewi" which means "Meeting Place" or "Place Where Paths Meet".The area that is now Mahwah was...
and Sydney, and had career wins over Steffi Graf,
Zina GarrisonZina Lynna Garrison is a former professional tennis player from the United States. During her career, she was a women's singles runner-up at Wimbledon in 1990, a three-time Grand Slam mixed doubles champion, and a women's doubles gold medalist at the 1988 Olympic Games.-Career:An African-American...
,
Pam ShriverPamela Howard Shriver Lazenby , is a former professional tennis player and is currently a sports broadcaster from the United States for ESPN2. During the 1980s and 1990s, she won 133 top-level titles, including 21 women's doubles titles and one mixed doubles title at Grand Slam tournaments...
,
Hana MandlíkováHana Mandlíková is a former Czech professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia and later Australia. During her career, she won four Grand Slam singles titles – two at the Australian Open, one at the French Open, and one at the US Open...
, and
Tracy AustinTracy Ann Austin Holt is a former World No. 1 female professional tennis player from the United States who won the women's singles title at the US Open in 1979 and 1981 and the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 1980, before a series of injuries cut her career short.-To 1980:Austin defeated...
. Further back injuries in 1989 led to a remodeling of her service action. Durie made her last appearance in a WTA tour singles final at the
Virginia Slims of NewportThe Virginia Slims of Newport is a defunct WTA Tour affiliated tennis tournament played from 1971 to 1990. It was held at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island in the United States and played on grass courts.-Singles:-Doubles:...
tournament in 1990. In 1991 at the age of 30, and one of the oldest singles competitors that year, she had another successful run to the 4th round of the
US OpenThe US Open, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships, is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern iteration of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, which for men's singles was first contested in 1881...
.
She was ranked the No. 1 British player for most of her career. She won the British National Singles titles a record seven times. She was the second British woman player after
Virginia WadeSarah Virginia Wade, OBE is a former English tennis player. She won three Grand Slam singles championships and four Grand Slam doubles championships. She won the women's singles championship at Wimbledon on 1 July 1977, in that tournament's centenary year, the last time any Briton has won a...
to win $1 million in prize money.
Doubles career
Partnering her fellow British player Jeremy Bates, Durie won the mixed doubles titles at
WimbledonThe Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
in 1987, the first British doubles team to win the title for fifty-one years. In 1991 they became the first British doubles team to win the Australian Open mixed doubles title.
Durie would go on to win a further five woman's doubles titles during her career. In 1984 she reached the year ending
WTA Tour ChampionshipsThe WTA Tour Championships is a tennis tournament played annually at the end of the season for the top-ranked players on the Women's Tennis Association tour. The month, city and number of players has changed since the first edition in 1972...
doubles final partnering
Ann KiyomuraAnn Kiyomura-Hayashi is a former professional tennis player.Kiyomura played on the WTA Tour from 1973 to 1984. She played in 11 US Opens, reaching the fourth round in 1978. In 1975, she won the Wimbledon women's doubles title, playing with Kazuko Sawamatsu...
. Durie won the British National Doubles title a record nine times.
Team Tennis
Durie was a stalwart member of the British
Wightman CupThe Wightman Cup was a team tennis competition for women contested from 1923 through 1989 between teams from the United States and Great Britain. U.S. player Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman wanted to generate international interest in women's tennis the way Davis Cup did for men's...
(1979, 1981–89), British Federation Cup (1981–95) and British European Cup teams (1989–92). Durie led the British team to victory in the European Championship in
PraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
in 1992.
Retirement
Durie retired from competitive tennis at the Wimbledon Championships in 1995, (her eighteenth appearance at the Championships), and marked it with many memorable performances. After three successive operations on her left knee, Durie went into the Championships ranked 326 in the world; yet reached the second round of the ladies singles. She beat France's Alexia Dechaume-Ballerat, ranked 85 in the world in straight sets in the first round. Her second round, and last singles match at Wimbledon was against
Jana NovotnáJana Novotná is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. She played a serve and volley game, an increasingly rare style of play among women during her career. She won the women's singles title at Wimbledon in 1998 and was runner-up in three previous Grand Slam tournaments...
. After losing the match 6–2 6–2 Jo Durie was given a full standing ovation by the crowd on the 'old'
No. 1 CourtNo. 1 Court is a tennis court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London. Opened in 1997, it is used for the Wimbledon Championships and is sometimes chosen for Great Britain Davis Cup home ties, the primary Centre Court being preserved solely for the Grand Slam tennis...
. Her last match at Wimbledon was appropriately a mixed doubles match, where she played along side her long standing partner Jeremy Bates.
She is one of very few players to have a winning record against
Steffi GrafSteffi Graf is a former World No. 1 German tennis player.In total, Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players only to Margaret Court's 24...
and leads 4-3 in head-to-heads. Note, however, that all of her wins against Graf were before or during 1985, when Graf was typically a much lower-ranked played during the initial stages of her career.
After retiring from the professional tour, Durie has worked as a TV tennis commentator for both the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and British
EurosportEurosport is a pan-European television sport network operated by French broadcaster TF1 Group. The network of channels are available in 59 countries, in 20 different languages providing viewers with European and international sporting events...
. She used to coach British number one
Elena BaltachaElena Baltacha is a British professional tennis player of Ukrainian background. Being a four-time winner of the AEGON Award, she is also the long standing British number 1, a position she has held intermittently since 2002. As of 24 November 2011 she holds a current world ranking of No. 50. Her...
alongside her own former coach Alan Jones. She won back to back Wimbledon Ladies Senior Invitation doubles titles in 1996 and 1997.
Mixed doubles: 2 finals (2 titles)
| Outcome |
Year |
Championship |
Surface |
Partner |
Opponents in the final |
Score in the final |
| Winner |
1987 |
WimbledonThe Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
|
Grass |
 Jeremy Bates |
 Nicole BradtkeNicole Bradtke is a retired professional tennis player from Australia.Bradtke won three singles and nine doubles on the WTA Tour in her career. She reached the semifinals of the 1988 French Open, and won a bronze medal in doubles at the 1992 Summer Olympics, partnering Rachel McQuillan...
Darren CahillDarren Cahill is a tennis coach and former professional tennis player from Australia.Nicknamed "Killer", Cahill turned professional in 1984...
|
7–6(10), 6–3 |
| Winner |
1991 |
Australian OpenThe Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...
|
Hard |
Jeremy Bates |
 Robin WhiteRobin White is a former professional tennis player from the United States.White played on the WTA tour from 1983 to 1995. She won two singles titles, in Hershey, Pennsylvania in 1985 and in Auckland in 1992 but the highlight of her career was her victory with Gigi Fernández in the US Open doubles...
Scott Davis |
2–6, 6–4, 6–4 |
Doubles: 1 final (0 titles, 1 runner-up)
| Outcome |
Year |
Location |
Surface |
Partner |
Opponents in the final |
Score in the final |
| Runner-up |
1984 |
New York City |
Carpet (i) |
Ann Kiyomura Ann Kiyomura-Hayashi is a former professional tennis player.Kiyomura played on the WTA Tour from 1973 to 1984. She played in 11 US Opens, reaching the fourth round in 1978. In 1975, she won the Wimbledon women's doubles title, playing with Kazuko Sawamatsu...
|
Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver Pamela Howard Shriver Lazenby , is a former professional tennis player and is currently a sports broadcaster from the United States for ESPN2. During the 1980s and 1990s, she won 133 top-level titles, including 21 women's doubles titles and one mixed doubles title at Grand Slam tournaments...
|
6–3, 6–1 |
Singles (2)
| Titles by Surface |
| Hard (1) |
| Clay (0) |
| Grass (1) |
| Carpet (0) |
|
| No. |
Date |
Location |
Surface |
Opponent in the final |
Score in the final |
| 1. |
22 August 1983 |
Mahwah, USA The WTA New Jersey is a defunct WTA Tour affiliated tennis tournament played from 1978 to 1989. It was held in Mahwah, New Jersey in the United States and played on outdoor hard courts....
|
Hard |
 Hana MandlíkováHana Mandlíková is a former Czech professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia and later Australia. During her career, she won four Grand Slam singles titles – two at the Australian Open, one at the French Open, and one at the US Open...
|
2–6, 7–5, 6–4 |
| 2. |
21 November 1983 |
Sydney, Australia |
Grass |
Kathy Jordan Kathryn "Kathy" Jordan is a former American tennis player. During her career, she won 7 Grand Slam titles, 5 of them in women's doubles and 2 of them in mixed doubles...
|
6–3, 7–5 |
Doubles (5)
- 1982: Birmingham (with Anne Hobbs
Anne Hobbs is a British former professional tennis player.-Tennis career:Hobbs represented Great Britain in the Wightman Cup and Federation Cup from 1978 to 1989...
)
- 1983: Boston (with Ann Kiyomura
Ann Kiyomura-Hayashi is a former professional tennis player.Kiyomura played on the WTA Tour from 1973 to 1984. She played in 11 US Opens, reaching the fourth round in 1978. In 1975, she won the Wimbledon women's doubles title, playing with Kazuko Sawamatsu...
)
- 1983: Berlin (with Anne Hobbs)
- 1983: Mahwah (with Sharon Walsh
Sharon Walsh-Arnold is a former professional tennis player from the United States.Walsh enjoyed a long career by modern standards, playing her first Grand Slam singles event in 1969 and her last Grand Slam doubles match in 1990. She was a finalist at the 1979 Australian Open where she lost to...
)
- 1990: Singapore (with Jill Hetherington
Jill Hetherington Hultquist is a former Canadian professional tennis player. Hultquist played college tennis for the University of Florida, and is the current women's tennis head coach at the University of Washington....
)
Singles
| Tournament | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...
| 1989 The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...
| 1990 The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...
| 1991 The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...
| 1992 The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...
| 1993 The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...
| 1994 The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...
| 1995 The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...
|
Career Win-Loss |
Australian OpenThe Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...
|
A |
A |
A |
A |
3R |
3R |
QF |
2R |
3R |
A |
4R |
2R |
3R |
2R |
2R |
2R |
A |
A |
A |
18-11 |
| French Open |
A |
A |
A |
1R |
1R |
2R |
SF |
2R |
1R |
1R |
1R |
2R |
1R |
A |
1R |
3R |
A |
A |
A |
10-12 |
WimbledonThe Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
|
1R |
1R |
2R |
1R |
4R |
1R |
3R |
QF |
4R |
3R |
3R |
2R |
A |
1R |
2R |
1R |
1R |
1R |
2R |
18-18 |
| US Open |
A |
A |
A |
A |
4R |
3R |
SF |
1R |
1R |
3R |
2R |
1R |
1R |
1R |
4R |
1R |
1R |
A |
A |
16-13 |
Doubles
| Tournament | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...
| 1989 The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...
| 1990 The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...
| 1991 The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...
| 1992 The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...
| 1993 The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...
| 1994 The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...
| 1995 The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association . The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events...
|
Career Win-Loss |
Australian OpenThe Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...
|
A |
A |
A |
A |
2R |
2R |
QF |
2R |
SF |
A |
QF |
1R |
QF |
1R |
1R |
2R |
A |
A |
A |
|
| French Open |
A |
A |
A |
1R |
3R |
3R |
SF |
3R |
A |
2R |
A |
A |
2R |
A |
A |
A |
A |
A |
A |
|
WimbledonThe Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
|
1R |
A |
3R |
1R |
1R |
2R |
SF |
SF |
QF |
1R |
1R |
3R |
A |
2R |
1R |
2R |
2R |
1R |
2R |
|
| US Open |
A |
A |
2R |
A |
3R |
2R |
2R |
3R |
2R |
1R |
QF |
2R |
2R |
1R |
QF |
2R |
2R |
A |
A |
|
External links