Darlene Hard

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Darlene Hard
Personal information
Date of birth January 6, 1936 (1936-01-06) (age 72)
Place of birth Flag of the United States Flag of California Los Angeles, CA
Medal record
Competitor for Flag of the United States United States
Women's Tennis
Pan American Games
Bronze 1963 São Paulo Singles
Gold 1963 São Paulo Doubles

Darlene Hard (born January 6, 1936 in Los Angeles, California, United States) was a tennis player known for her volleying ability and strong serves. She captured singles titles at the French Championships in 1960 and the U.S. Championships in 1960 and 1961.

With eight different partners, she won a total of 13 doubles titles in Grand Slam tournaments. Her last doubles title, at the age of 33 at the 1969 U.S. Open, came six years after she had retired from serious competition to become a tennis instructor. She also played the U.S. Open singles tournament in 1969, losing in the second round to Francoise Durr 6–3, 6–3.

Hard was enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1973.

Hard once said, "I was the last of the amateurs. In our day, I won Forest Hills and got my airfare from New York to Los Angeles. Whoopee." But, she added, "I was happy. I loved it. I loved tennis."

She has worked for the University of Southern California since 1981.[1]

Contents

[edit] Grand Slam record

  • French Championships
    • Singles champion: 1960
    • Women's Doubles champion: 1955, 1957, 1960
    • Women's Doubles finalist: 1956, 1961
    • Mixed Doubles champion: 1955, 1961
    • Mixed Doubles runner-up: 1956
  • Wimbledon
    • Singles finalist: 1957, 1959
    • Women's Doubles champion: 1957, 1959, 1960, 1963
    • Mixed Doubles champion: 1957, 1959, 1960
    • Mixed Doubles finalist: 1963
  • U.S. Championships/Open
    • Singles champion: 1960, 1961
    • Singles finalist: 1958, 1962
    • Women's Doubles champion: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1969
    • Women's Doubles finalist: 1957, 1963
    • Mixed Doubles finalist: 1956, 1957, 1961

[edit] Grand Slam singles finals

[edit] Wins (3)

Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
1960 French Championships Yola Ramírez Ochoa 6–3, 6–4
1960 U.S. Championships Maria Bueno 6–4, 10-12, 6–4
1961 U.S. Championships Ann Haydon Jones 6–3, 6–4

[edit] Runner-ups (4)

Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
1957 Wimbledon Flag of the United States Althea Gibson 6–3, 6–2
1958 U.S. Championships Flag of the United States Althea Gibson 3–6, 6–1, 6–2
1959 Wimbledon Flag of Brazil Maria Bueno 6–4, 6–3
1962 U.S. Championships Flag of Australia Margaret Court 9–7, 6–4

[edit] Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Tournament 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 - 1968 1969 1970 Career SR
Australian Championships A A A A A A A A A QF A A A A 0 / 1
French Championships A A 2R 3R QF A A W 4R A 2R A A A 1 / 6
Wimbledon A A SF 3R F A F QF A QF SF A A A 0 / 7
United States 2R SF 3R QF SF F SF W W F QF A 2R 2R 2 / 13
SR 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 1 0 / 2 2 / 3 1 / 2 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 0 0 / 1 0 / 1 3 / 27

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links