Heide Orth
Heide Orth (born as Heide Schildeknecht, 10 August 1942) is a tennis player from Germany.
Heide grew up in Essen in the industrial Ruhr valley and began playing tennis with her father at the age of 13. Her first important success was winning the West German Junior Championship in 1960. Later Heide competed on the international women's circuit for many years and she played for the German national Fed Cup team 15 times. Heide reached the quarter-finals in doubles at both Wimbledon and the French Open. In singles she had outstanding wins on the women´s tour against the that time reigning Wimbledon Champions Virginia Wade and Evonne Goolagong.
Heide married Ludwig Orth in 1965 and gave birth to her son in 1970. At that time, she took a ten-years break from tennis before entering the ITF Senior Circuit.
According to ITF (International Tennis Federation) Heide Orth is the worldwide most successful female player in the history of Senior Tennis. She won ITF World Championships in Singles (10) in Doubles (10) and in Team (Cup) Competitions (10). Also she was successful in winning more than 80 European Championships in Singles and Doubles (indoor and outdoor) as well as numerous Championships of Germany and other countries. At tournaments in the USA she earned 43 Gold Balls for winning titles as a USA-Champion on clay and grass.
Heide was fourteen times European Player of the Year and she is one of only four tennis players who received the European Senior Lifetime Champion Award.
Heide Orth is the first female tennis player worldwide to be honoured by the ITF for Outstanding Achievements in Senior Tennis. This special Award will be handed over to her at the ITF World Champions Dinner in Paris June 2014.