Sue Barker

Sue Barker
MBE

Country	Great Britain
Born	(1956-04-19) 19 April 1956 Paignton, Devon, England
Height	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Turned pro	1973
Retired	1984
Plays	Right-handed (1-handed backhand)
Prize money	£455,272
Singles
Career record	365–208
Career titles	11
Highest ranking	No. 3 (20 March 1977)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	SF (1975, 1977 – Dec)
French Open	W (1976)
Wimbledon	SF (1977)
US Open	4R (1976)
Other tournaments
Championships	F (1977)
Doubles
Career record	33–38
Career titles	12
Last updated on: August 15, 2012.

Susan "Sue" Barker, MBE (born 19 April 1956 in Paignton, Devon) is an English television presenter and former professional tennis player. During her tennis career, she won eleven WTA Tour singles titles, including one Grand Slam singles title at the 1976 French Open. She reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3.^[1] She is now one of the main sports presenters at the BBC.

Tennis career

Barker's tennis career began in 1973 and she won her first top-level singles title in 1974. She won three additional titles in 1975. Barker reached her first Grand Slam semi-final in 1975 at the Australian Open. She won the German Open in 1976, beating Renáta Tomanová of Czechoslovakia in the final 6–3, 6–1.

Later in 1976, Barker had the biggest victory of her career by winning the French Open at the age of 20, again defeating Tomanová in the final.^[2] Barker's toughest game en route to the final in Paris was her quarter-final match against Regina Maršíková, when Barker came back from a set down and won a gruelling final set 8–6. After her French Open victory against Tomanová, Barker felt that it would be the first of a number of Grand Slam titles that she would win, but she would not reach another Grand Slam final in her career.^[3]

In 1977, Barker won two singles titles in San Francisco and Dallas. She beat Martina Navratilova to reach the Virginia Slims Tour Championships final, where she lost in three sets to Chris Evert. Barker reached the Australian Open semi-final for the second time in 1977 and also reached the Wimbledon semi-final that year. She looked set to meet Virginia Wade in the Wimbledon final in 1977, but unexpectedly lost her semi-final against Betty Stöve of the Netherlands, which denied her the opportunity of playing against Wade in an all-British final.^[4]

Years later, Barker said that losing to Stöve was the biggest disappointment of her career and admitted that she was so upset at losing in the 1977 Wimbledon semi-final that she could not bear to watch the final, which was won by Wade.^[5]

After an injury-plagued 1978 during which her ranking dropped to World No. 24, she won three singles titles and reached three other finals in 1979. She was named the tour's "Comeback Player of the Year" by her fellow professionals.^[6] Barker reached one final in 1980 and won the last singles title of her career at the Brighton International in 1981, finishing the year ranked World No. 16. She won her last doubles title in 1982 at Cincinnati, and played her last professional match in 1984.

In all, Barker won 11 singles titles and 12 doubles titles, posting wins over Evert, Navratilova, Billie Jean King, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Tracy Austin, Virginia Wade, Maria Bueno, Rosemary Casals, Andrea Jaeger and Pam Shriver.

Barker's forehand was her strongest weapon, with her coach Arthur Roberts describing it as "especially potent".^[7] Roberts was a notoriously severe character who very rarely praised Barker. "Everyone was terrified of him", she later said. When she left England to play in tournaments on the Continent, Roberts handed her a one-way ticket only, insisting that she had to earn the fare home.^[8]

In 2004, recalling her French Open win of 1976, Barker said: "I'm still incredibly proud of what I achieved."^[3]

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 title, 0 runner–ups)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1976	French Open	Clay	Renáta Tomanová	6–2, 0–6, 6–2

Year-end Championships finals

Singles: 1 (0 titles, 1 runner–up)

Outcome	Year	Location	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1977	New York City	Carpet (I)	Chris Evert	2–6, 6–1, 6–1

Doubles: 1 (0 titles, 1 runner–up)

Outcome	Year	Location	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1979	New York City	Carpet (I)	Ann Kiyomura	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve	7–6, 7–6

WTA Tour Finals

Singles: 26 (11–15)

Winner — Legend Grand Slam tournaments (1–0) WTA Tour Championships (0–1) Virginia Slims, Avon, Other (10–14)

Titles by Surface Hard (0–1) Grass (2–5) Clay (5–1) Carpet (4–8)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	8 July 1974	Båstad	Clay	Marijve Jansen	6–1, 7–5
Winner	2.	7 July 1975	Båstad	Clay	Helga Niessen Masthoff	6–4, 6–0
Winner	3.	14 July 1975	Kitzbühel	Clay	Pam Teeguarden	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	1.	5 November 1975	Paris	Carpet (I)	Virginia Wade	1–6, 7–6, 7–9
Winner	4.	1 December 1975	Adelaide	Grass	Helga Niessen Masthoff	6–2, 6–1
Runner-up	2.	15 December 1975	Sydney	Grass	Evonne Goolagong	2–6, 4–6
Runner-up	3.	10 May 1976	Bournemouth	Clay	Helga Niessen Masthoff	7–5, 3–6, 3–6
Winner	5.	17 May 1976	Hamburg	Clay	Renáta Tomanová	6–3, 6–1
Winner	6.	31 May 1976	French Open	Clay	Renáta Tomanová	6–2, 0–6, 6–2
Runner-up	4.	25 November 1976	Tokyo	Carpet (I)	Chris Evert	2–6, 6–7
Runner-up	5.	6 December 1976	Melbourne	Grass	Margaret Court	2–6, 2–6
Runner-up	6.	17 January 1977	Houston	Carpet (I)	Martina Navrátilová	6–7(3), 5–7
Runner-up	7.	24 January 1977	Minneapolis	Carpet (I)	Martina Navrátilová	0–6, 1–6
Runner-up	8.	21 February 1977	Detroit	Carpet (I)	Martina Navrátilová	4–6, 4–6
Winner	7.	28 February 1977	San Francisco	Carpet (I)	Virginia Wade	6–3, 6–4
Winner	8.	7 March 1977	Dallas	Carpet (I)	Terry Holladay	6–1, 7–6(4)
Runner-up	9.	24 March 1977	Virginia Slims Championships	Carpet (I)	Chris Evert	6–2, 1–6, 1–6
Runner-up	10.	12 December 1977	Sydney	Grass	Evonne Goolagong	2–6, 3–6
Runner-up	11.	12 March 1979	Boston	Carpet (I)	Dianne Fromholtz	2–6, 6–7(4)
Runner-up	12.	26 March 1979	Carlsbad	Hard	Kerry Melville Reid	6–7, 6–3, 2–6
Runner-up	13.	11 June 1979	Chichester	Grass	Evonne Goolagong Cawley	1–6, 4–6
Winner	9.	10 September 1979	Pittsburgh	Carpet (I)	Renée Richards	6–3, 6–1
Winner	10.	3 December 1979	Sydney	Grass	Rosalyn Fairbank	6–0, 7–5
Runner-up	14.	8 December 1980	Adelaide	Grass	Hana Mandlíková	1–6, 4–6
Runner-up	15.	10 August 1981	Richmond	Carpet (I)	Mary-Lou Piatek	4–6, 1–6
Winner	11.	19 October 1981	Brighton	Carpet (I)	Mima Jaušovec	4–6, 6–1, 6–1

Doubles: 30 (12–18)

Winner — Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) WTA Tour Championships (0–1) Virginia Slims, Avon, Other (12–17)

Titles by Surface Hard (0–0) Grass (2–4) Clay (2–4) Carpet (8–10)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	26 May 1975	Rome	Clay	Glynis Coles	Chris Evert Martina Navratilova	1–6, 2–6
Winner	1.	14 July 1975	Kitzbühel	Clay	Pam Teeguarden	Fiorella Bonicelli Raquel Giscafré	6–1, 6–3
Winner	2.	1 December 1975	Adelaide	Grass	Michelle Tyler	Kym Ruddell Janet Young	7–5, 6–3
Runner-up	2.	8 December 1975	Perth	Grass	Michelle Tyler	Christine Matison Lesley Turner Bowrey	6–7, 3–6
Runner-up	3.	16 August 1976	Toronto	Clay	Pam Teeguarden	Cynthia Doerner Janet Newberry	7–6, 3–6, 1–6
Winner	3.	12 October 1976	Hilton Head Island	Clay	Evonne Goolagong	Martina Navratilova Virginia Wade	4–6, 6–4, 3–6
Winner	4.	25 November 1976	Tokyo	Carpet (I)	Ann Kiyomura	Rosie Casals Françoise Dürr	4–6, 6–3, 6–1
Runner-up	4.	17 January 1977	Houston	Carpet (I)	Ann Kiyomura	Martina Navratilova Betty Stöve	6–4, 2–6, 1–6
Runner-up	5.	28 February 1977	San Francisco	Carpet (I)	Ann Kiyomura	Kerry Melville Reid Greer Stevens	3–6, 1–6
Runner-up	6.	5 February 1979	Seattle	Carpet (I)	Ann Kiyomura	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve	6–7(4), 6–4, 4–6
Runner-up	7.	19 February 1979	Detroit	Carpet (I)	Ann Kiyomura	Betty Stöve Wendy Turnbull	4–6, 6–7(5)
Runner-up	8.	12 March 1979	Boston	Carpet (I)	Ann Kiyomura	Kerry Melville Reid Wendy Turnbull	4–6, 2–6
Runner-up	9.	19 March 1979	Avon Championships	Carpet (I)	Ann Kiyomura	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve	6–7, 6–7
Runner-up	10.	2 April 1979	Tokyo	Carpet (I)	Ann Kiyomura	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve	5–7, 6–7
Winner	5.	10 September 1979	Pittsburgh	Carpet (I)	Candy Reynolds	Bunny Bruning Jane Stratton	6–3, 6–2
Runner-up	11.	3 December 1979	Sydney	Grass	Pam Shriver	Billie Jean King Wendy Turnbull	5–7, 4–6
Runner-up	12.	10 December 1979	Adelaide	Grass	Pam Shriver	Hana Mandlíková Virginia Ruzici	1–6, 6–3, 2–6
Winner	6.	11 February 1980	Oakland	Carpet (I)	Ann Kiyomura	Greer Stevens Virginia Wade	6–0, 6–4
Runner-up	13.	31 March 1980	Tokyo	Carpet (I)	Ann Kiyomura	Billie Jean King Martina Navrátilová	5–7, 3–6
Runner-up	14.	8 December 1980	Adelaide	Grass	Sharon Walsh	Pam Shriver Betty Stöve	4–6, 3–6
Winner	7.	16 February 1981	Houston	Carpet (I)	Ann Kiyomura	Regina Maršíková Mary-Lou Piatek	5–7, 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	15.	23 February 1981	Seattle	Carpet (I)	Ann Kiyomura	Rosie Casals Wendy Turnbull	4–6, 1–6
Winner	8.	2 March 1981	Los Angeles	Carpet (I)	Ann Kiyomura	Peanut Louie Marita Redondo	6–1, 4–6, 6–1
Winner	9.	4 May 1981	Tokyo	Carpet (I)	Ann Kiyomura	Barbara Potter Sharon Walsh	7–5, 6–2
Runner-up	16.	18 May 1981	Berlin	Clay	Renáta Tomanová	Rosalyn Fairbank Tanya Harford	3–6, 4–6
Winner	10.	8 June 1981	Surbiton	Grass	Ann Kiyomura	Billie Jean King Ilana Kloss	6–1, 6–7, 6–1
Runner-up	17.	3 August 1981	Indianapolis	Clay	Paula Smith	JoAnne Russell Virginia Ruzici	2–6, 2–6
Winner	11.	10 August 1981	Richmond	Carpet (I)	Ann Kiyomura	Kathy Jordan Anne Smith	4–6, 7–6, 6–4
Winner	12.	11 January 1982	Cincinnati	Carpet (I)	Ann Kiyomura	Pam Shriver Anne Smith	6–2, 7–6
Runner-up	18.	15 February 1982	Houston	Carpet (I)	Sharon Walsh	Kathy Jordan Pam Shriver	6–7(6), 2–6

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Tournament	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977		1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	Career SR
Australian Open	A	3R	SF	2R	A	SF	QF	A	3R	3R	1R	A	A	0 / 8
French Open	A	A	3R	W	A		A	2R	A	1R	A	A	1R	1 / 5
Wimbledon	2R	1R	3R	QF	SF		4R	1R	2R	3R	1R	1R	2R	0 / 12
US Open	A	A	2R	4R	3R		A	2R	A	2R	A	A	1R	0 / 6
SR	0 / 1	0 / 2	0 / 4	1 / 4	0 / 3		0 / 2	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 4	0 / 2	0 / 1	0 / 3	1 / 31
Career statistics
Year End Ranking			19	10	5		24	10	16	14	62	57	155

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.

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

Broadcasting career

Upon retiring from tennis Barker became a commentator and sports reporter for Australia's Channel 7 in 1985 before going on to anchor tennis coverage for British Sky Broadcasting in 1990. In 1993, Barker joined the Wimbledon coverage on the BBC and now anchors the two-week-long broadcast for the network.^[9]

Barker has branched out since joining the BBC, becoming one of their chief sports presenters and she is currently the presenter of the sports quiz show A Question Of Sport.^[7]

Barker has hosted BBC Sport's coverage of the Australian Open, the French Open, Queens Club Championships, Eastbourne, and Wimbledon.

Other sporting events she has hosted have included the Grand National (1996–2006), the Derby (2001–2007), Racing at Ascot and Longchamp (1995–1999), Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury, the Great North Run, World Athletics Championships and European Athletics Championships (1999–2009), BBC Sports Personality of the Year (1994-2012), Commonwealth Games (since 1994) and Winter Olympics (since 1994).

In June 1999, she co-presented coverage of HRH Prince Edward's wedding to Sophie Rhys-Jones at Windsor alongside Michael Buerk. Barker had introduced Rhys-Jones to Queen Elizabeth II's youngest son at a charity function a few years earlier.

In 2008, Barker and the BBC extended her contract to cover the London 2012 Olympic Games. It is estimated to be worth £375,000 a year.^[10]

Personal life

In 1978, Barker broke off an engagement with Australian tennis player Syd Ball. In an interview the following year, she said: "I realised that Syd wasn't the answer. Underneath, I wasn't happy and I certainly wasn't ready for marriage. I wasn't fair to him or myself."^[11] After her engagement was broken off, she had a brief relationship with another Australian, golfer Greg Norman.^[11]

In 1982, Barker met singer Cliff Richard.^[12] Their romance during the early 1980s made headlines.^[13] Richard said in 2008 that he had come close to asking her to marry him. He said: "I seriously contemplated asking her to marry me, but in the end I realised that I didn't love her quite enough to commit the rest of my life to her."^[14]

In 1986, after Barker's romance with Richard had ended and she began a brief relationship with tennis player Stephen Shaw, Richard said he was still a friend of Barker. He said: "We have a mutual respect for each other and that means a lot to me."^[15]

In 1988, Richard said of his former romance with Barker: "We were closer than just friends. She's the only person with whom I've had that sort of relationship." He said that one of the things which made up his mind not to marry her was when she got upset because he hadn't told her who he was seeing that day. Richard said: "I suddenly realised that in a marriage you don't live for yourself."^[16]

In 1988, Barker married former policeman Lance Tankard.^[17][18] They live in a mansion in Surrey, which is set in 32 acres of woodland.^[19] The couple own several rottweilers.^[20]

In 1980, Barker was temporarily blinded in her right eye after a large dog in Spain jumped up and bit her. She lost the sight in her eye for five hours and feared that the dog attack would force her to stop playing tennis, which she said "broke her heart".^[21]

In an interview in 1999, Barker said that during her tennis career she was approached by a lesbian tennis player in the locker room and touched "in a way that didn't feel right". Barker refused to name the female tennis player involved.^[8]

In July 2012, the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK received over 40 complaints for a Go Compare advert that Barker starred in when she was featured firing a large rocket launcher at opera singer Gio Compario (Wynne Evans) in an attempt to kill off the face of the brand. A spokesperson for the ASA said: "Some people think it offensive especially at a time when children are watching. Others think it inappropriate when our security forces are coming under fire on a daily basis. As with all complaints, we are looking into the matter before deciding if we launch a full investigation."^[22]

See also

• Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final

Notes and references

External links

• Sue Barker at the Women's Tennis Association
• Sue Barker at the International Tennis Federation
• Sue Barker at the Fed Cup
• Sue Barker at the Internet Movie Database

Media offices
Preceded by David Coleman	Regular host of A Question of Sport 1997 – present	Incumbent
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Mark Nicholas	RTS Television Sport Awards Best Sports Presenter 2001	Succeeded by Gary Lineker

v t e Australian Open girls’ singles champions 1969 Lesley Hunt 1970 Evonne Goolagong 1971 Pat Coleman 1972 Pat Coleman 1973 Chris O’Neil 1974 Jennifer Walker 1975 Sue Barker 1976 Sue Saliba 1977 (Jan) Pamela Baily 1977 (Dec) Amanda Tobin 1978 Elizabeth Little 1979 Anne Minter 1980 Anne Minter 1981 Anne Minter 1982 Amanda Brown 1983 Amanda Brown 1984 Annabel Croft 1985 Jenny Byrne 1987 Michelle Jaggard 1988 Jo-Anne Faull 1989 Kim Kessaris 1990 Magdalena Maleeva 1991 Nicole Pratt 1992 Joanne Limmer 1993 Heike Rusch 1994 Trudi Musgrave 1995 Siobhan Drake-Brockman 1996 Magdalena Grzybowska 1997 Mirjana Lučić 1998 Jelena Kostanić 1999 Virginie Razzano 2000 Anikó Kapros 2001 Jelena Janković 2002 Barbora Strýcová 2003 Barbora Strýcová 2004 Shahar Pe'er 2005 Victoria Azarenka 2006 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 2007 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 2008 Arantxa Rus 2009 Ksenia Pervak 2010 Karolína Plíšková 2011 An-Sophie Mestach 2012 Taylor Townsend 2013 Ana Konjuh 2014 Elizaveta Kulichkova

v t e French Open women's singles champions (1968) Nancy Richey (1969) Margaret Court (1970) Margaret Court (1971) Evonne Goolagong (1972) Billie Jean King (1973) Margaret Court (1974) Chris Evert (1975) Chris Evert (1976) Sue Barker (1977) Mima Jaušovec (1978) Virginia Ruzici (1979) Chris Evert (1980) Chris Evert (1981) Hana Mandlíková (1982) Martina Navratilova (1983) Chris Evert (1984) Martina Navratilova (1985) Chris Evert (1986) Chris Evert (1987) Steffi Graf (1988) Steffi Graf (1989) Arantxa Sánchez (1990) Monica Seles (1991) Monica Seles (1992) Monica Seles (1993) Steffi Graf (1994) Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (1995) Steffi Graf (1996) Steffi Graf (1997) Iva Majoli (1998) Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (1999) Steffi Graf (2000) Mary Pierce (2001) Jennifer Capriati (2002) Serena Williams (2003) Justine Henin (2004) Anastasia Myskina (2005) Justine Henin (2006) Justine Henin (2007) Justine Henin (2008) Ana Ivanovic (2009) Svetlana Kuznetsova (2010) Francesca Schiavone (2011) Li Na (2012) Maria Sharapova (2013) Serena Williams

v t e A Question of Sport Presenters Stuart Hall (1968-69) David Vine (1970-78) David Coleman (1979-97) Sue Barker (since 1997) Regular captains Cliff Morgan (1970-75) Henry Cooper (1970-77) Bobby Moore (1974) Bobby Charlton (1974-75) Fred Trueman (1976) Brendan Foster (1977) Gareth Edwards (1979-81) Emlyn Hughes (1979-81, 1984-88) Willie Carson (1982-83) Bill Beaumont (1982-96) Ian Botham (1988-96) John Parrott (1996-2002) Ally McCoist (1996-2007) Frankie Dettori (2002-04) Matt Dawson (since 2004) Phil Tufnell (since 2008)

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Persondata
Name	Barker, Sue
Alternative names
Short description	English television presenter and former Professional Tennis Player
Date of birth	19 April 1956
Place of birth	Paignton, Devon, England, UK
Date of death
Place of death