Françoise Dürr

Françoise Dürr

Country (sports)	France
Born	(1942-12-25) 25 December 1942 Algiers, French Algeria
Height	1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Turned pro	1968 (start of Open Era)
Retired	1984
Plays	Right-handed (single handed-backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF	2003 (member page)
Singles
Career record	101–79
Career titles	26
Highest ranking	No. 3 (1967)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	QF (1965, 1967)
French Open	W (1967)
Wimbledon	SF (1970)
US Open	SF (1967)
Doubles
Career record	202–80
Career titles	60
Highest ranking	No. 1 (1969)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	SF (1969)
French Open	W (1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971)
Wimbledon	F (1965, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1975)
US Open	W (1969, 1972)
Mixed doubles
Career titles	4
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open	SF (1967)
French Open	W (1968, 1971, 1973)
Wimbledon	W (1976)
US Open	F (1969)

Françoise Dürr (born 25 December 1942, in Algiers, French Algeria) is a retired tennis player from France. She won 26 major singles titles and over 60 doubles titles.

According to Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Bud Collins, and the Women's Tennis Association, Dürr was ranked in the world top ten from 1965 through 1967, from 1970 through 1972, and from 1974 through 1976, reaching a career high of World No. 3 in those rankings in 1967.^[1] She finished second to Billie Jean King in prize money earnings in 1971.

Dürr reached a total of 27 Grand Slam finals – 1 in singles, 18 in women's doubles, and 8 in mixed doubles. She won 12 of them.

Career

Dürr is best known for winning the singles title at the 1967 French Championships. She defeated Maria Bueno in a quarterfinal and Lesley Turner Bowrey in the final. In addition to her singles championship, Dürr won seven Grand Slam women's doubles titles and four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. She was the runner-up in eleven Grand Slam women's doubles events and four Grand Slam mixed doubles events.

Dürr won eight doubles titles at the French Championships. The first of Dürr's record-tying five consecutive women's doubles titles was in 1967. This record is shared with Martina Navratilova and Gigi Fernández, who, like Dürr, achieved it with separate partners. Dürr teamed with Ann Haydon-Jones to win the titles in 1968 and 1969 and with Gail Sherriff Chanfreau in 1967, 1970, and 1971. Dürr was the runner-up in women's doubles in 1965 with Janine Lieffrig, in 1973 with Betty Stöve, and in 1979 with Virginia Wade. Dürr teamed with Jean-Claude Barclay to win the mixed doubles title in 1968, 1971, and 1973. They were runners-up in 1969, 1970, and 1972. In total, Dürr reached 15 finals at the French Open, winning 8 of them.

Dürr won two doubles titles at the US Open. She won the women's doubles title in 1969 with Darlene Hard and in 1972 with Stöve. Dürr was the runner-up in that event in 1971 with Chanfreau and in 1974 with Stöve. Dürr was the runner-up in mixed doubles in 1969, teaming with Dennis Ralston.

She won the Wimbledon mixed doubles title in 1976 with Tony Roche. She was the runner-up in women's doubles at Wimbledon in 1965 with Lieffrig, 1968 with Jones, 1970 with Wade, 1972 with Judy Tegart Dalton, and 1973 and 1975 with Stöve. Additionally, Dürr was a singles semifinalist at the Championships in 1970.

Dürr was rarely a participant at the Australian Championships and Australian Open, as she appeared there three times, in 1965, 1967, and 1969. She reached the singles quarterfinals in 1965 and 1967 and the doubles semifinals with Jones in 1969.

Dürr and Betty Stöve won the 1979 WTA Tour Championships in doubles against Sue Barker and Ann Kiyomura, beating them 7–6, 7–6 in the final. She played the French Open ladies doubles event a last time in 1984, reaching the second round before retiring from Grand Slam competition .

Dürr played for France on the France Fed Cup team 14 times, finishing her career with a 31–17 record. She played 27 ties, with a 16–8 singles record and a 15–9 doubles record.

Dürr was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2003 for her extraordinary career in doubles and for winning the French Championships in singles.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1–0)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
Winner	1967	French Championships	Clay	Lesley Turner Bowrey	4–6, 6–3, 6–4

Doubles: 18 (7–11)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1965	French Championships	Clay	Janine Lieffrig	Margaret Court Lesley Turner Bowrey	6–3, 6–1
Runner-up	1965	Wimbledon	Grass	Janine Lieffrig	Maria Bueno Billie Jean King	6–2, 7–5
Winner	1967	French Championships	Clay	Gail Chanfreau	Annette Van Zyl Pat Walkden	6–2, 6–2
Runner-up	1968	Wimbledon	Grass	Ann Haydon-Jones	Rosemary Casals Billie Jean King	3–6, 6–4, 7–5
Winner	1968	French Open	Clay	Ann Haydon-Jones	Rosemary Casals Billie Jean King	7–5, 4–6, 6–4
Winner	1969	French Open	Clay	Ann Haydon-Jones	Nancy Richey Margaret Court	6–0, 4–6, 7–5
Winner	1969	US Open	Grass	Darlene Hard	Margaret Court Virginia Wade	0–6, 6–3, 6–4
Winner	1970	French Open	Clay	Gail Chanfreau	Rosemary Casals Billie Jean King	6–1, 3–6, 6–3
Runner-up	1970	Wimbledon	Grass	Virginia Wade	Rosemary Casals Billie Jean King	6–2, 6–3
Winner	1971	French Open	Clay	Gail Chanfreau	Helen Gourlay Kerry Harris	6–4, 6–1
Runner-up	1971	US Open	Grass	Gail Chanfreau	Rosemary Casals Judy Tegart	6–3, 6–3
Runner-up	1972	Wimbledon	Grass	Judy Tegart	Billie Jean King Betty Stöve	6–2, 4–6, 6–3
Winner	1972	US Open	Grass	Betty Stöve	Margaret Court Virginia Wade	6–3, 1–6, 6–3
Runner-up	1973	French Open	Clay	Betty Stöve	Margaret Court Virginia Wade	6–2, 6–3
Runner-up	1973	Wimbledon	Grass	Betty Stöve	Rosemary Casals Billie Jean King	6–1, 4–6, 7–5
Runner-up	1974	US Open	Grass	Betty Stöve	Rosemary Casals Billie Jean King	7–6, 6–7, 6–4
Runner-up	1975	Wimbledon	Grass	Betty Stöve	Ann Kiyomura Kazuko Sawamatsu	7–5, 1–6, 7–5
Runner-up	1979	French Open	Clay	Virginia Wade	Betty Stöve Wendy Turnbull	2–6, 7–5, 6–4

Mixed doubles: 8 (4–4)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1968	French Open	Clay	Jean-Claude Barclay	Billie Jean King Owen Davidson	6–1, 6–4
Runner-up	1969	French Open	Clay	Jean-Claude Barclay	Margaret Court Marty Riessen	6–3, 6–2
Runner-up	1969	US Open	Grass	Dennis Ralston	Margaret Court Marty Riessen	6–4, 7–5
Runner-up	1970	French Open	Clay	Jean-Claude Barclay	Billie Jean King Bob Hewitt	3–6, 6–4, 6–2
Winner	1971	French Open	Clay	Jean-Claude Barclay	Winnie Shaw Toomas Leius	6–2, 6–4
Runner-up	1972	French Open	Clay	Jean-Claude Barclay	Evonne Goolagong Cawley Kim Warwick	6–2, 6–4
Winner	1973	French Open	Clay	Jean-Claude Barclay	Betty Stöve Patrice Dominguez	6–1, 6–4
Winner	1976	Wimbledon	Grass	Tony Roche	Rosemary Casals Dick Stockton	6–3, 2–6, 7–5

Other tournaments and team competitions

1959–1970

• Junior Singles Champion of France, 1959 and 1960.
• French Singles Champion in the National (closed) Championship, 1962, 1964, 1965 and 1966.
• French National Champion in Ladies Doubles 8 times between 1961 and 1970 with various partners.
• French National Champion 5 times in Mixed Doubles between 1964 and 1970 mainly partnered by Jean-Claude Barclay.
• Winner of the Wimbledon Ladies Plate in 1963.
• South African (East London) Singles champion, 1965; other singles titles in 1965 were the Dutch Open, the Turkish in Istanbul, Saint-Moritz, Swiss Open, Caracas, Colombia and Montecarlo.
• Dürr defeated Judy Tegart in the final to win the 1966 British Grass Court Championship at Queens Club London; other singles titles in 1966 were the Dutch Open (defended), Swiss Open (defended) and Perth, Western Australia.
• German Open Singles champion, 1967; other singles titles in 1967 were the Pacific Southwest, Kitzbuehel, Canberra, New Zealand Open, Kingston and Båstad.
• Swiss Open Singles champion, 1969.
• Italian Open Doubles champion with Ann Jones, 1969.
• Losing finalist with Ann Jones in the 1969 Pacific Southwest Doubles Championship to King and Casals 6–8, 8–6, 11–9.
• Italian Open Doubles losing finalist with Virginia Wade 1970. Winners King and Casals 6–2, 3–6, 9–7.
• Losing finalist in the Swiss Open in Gstaad in 1970 6–2, 5–7, 6–2 to Rosemary Casals.
• Doubles Champion with Rosemary Casals Gstaad 1970 defeated Helga Niessen and Betty Stöve 6–2, 6–2.
• British Indoor singles champion at the Albert Hall, London, 1970.

1971–1979

• Winner in singles against Wimbledon and French Open champion Evonne Goolagong Cawley 6–4, 6–2) at the Canadian Open, 1971.
• Dürr and Casals defeated Goolagong and Bowrey 6–3, 6–3 to win the Canadian Open Doubles Championship of 1971.
• Winner against Billie Jean King 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 in the 1971 US Clay Courts International Tennis Championship at Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
• Winner against Lesley Hunt 6–3, 6–3 in the 1971 Swiss Open in Gstaad (the last of her four Swiss Open wins).
• Winner against Billie Jean King 6–3, 6–0 in the 1971 Benson and Hedges New Zealand International Grass Court Championships in Christchurch.
• Winner against Billie Jean King 6–4, 6–2 in the 1971 Clay Court International Championship at Lake Bluff, Chicago, Illinois.
• Losing finalist 6–1, 5–7, 7–5 to Billie Jean King in the 1971 Embassy British Indoor Championship at Wembley, London.
• Losing finalist 6–2, 3–6, 6–2 to Rosemary Casals in the 1971 Philadelphia Indoor Championship Singles.
• Losing finalist 6–3, 7–5 to Virginia Wade in the 1972 USA Indoor Championship in Boston, Massachusetts.
• Losing finalist 6–2, 6–7, 6–3 to Rosemary Casals in the 1972 Longbeach CA Singles Championship.
• Losing finalist 6–7, 7–6, 6–0 to Rosemary Casals in the 1972 Virginia Slims Columbus Ohio Singles Championship.
• Winner against Rosemary Casals 6–4, 1–6, 6–4 in the 1973 Virginia Slims Championship, Houston. TX.
• Member of 1974 World Team Tennis champion Denver Racquets.^[2]
• Losing finalist in the 1975 Swedish Open in Stockholm to Virginia Wade 6–3, 4–6, 7–5.
• Dürr and Stöve defeated Wade and Goolagong 6–3, 6–4 to win the 1975 Swedish Open Doubles Championship.
• Dürr and Casals defeated Evert and Navratilova to win the 1976 Virginia Slims of Houston Doubles Championship.
• Dürr and Casals defeated Wade and Stöve 6–0, 6–4 to win the 1976 U.S. Indoor Doubles Championship held in Atlanta.
• Losing finalist against Chris Evert at Palm Springs in the Colgate Inaugural Singles Championship 1976. In the semi-final she had beaten Martina Navratilova (who was then ranked number 2 in the world) 6–1, 6–1; four months earlier at Wimbledon Dürr had lost to Navratilova in the 4th Round of the singles 2–6, 6–3, 7–5 having held match points.
• Dürr and Wade won the 1977 Colgate Series Championship Doubles at Palm Springs defeating Helen Gourlay-Cawley and Joanne Russell 6–1, 4–6, 6–4 in the final.
• Dürr and Wade were runners up in the 1977 Family Circle Hiltonhead Doubles won by Casals and Evert 1–6, 6–2, 6–3.
• Dürr and Navratilova were runners up in the 1977 Virginia Slims of Seattle Doubles . Won by Casals and Evert 6–4, 3–6, 6–3.
• Losing finalist with Virginia Wade in the 1978 Virginia Slims of Hollywood CA Doubles won by Casals and Turnbull 6–2, 6–4.
• Dürr lost in the final of the 1978 World Tennis Classic in Montreal to Caroline Stoll 6–3, 6–2 .
• Dürr and Stöve won the 1979 Avon Masters in New York defeating Barker and Kiyomura 7–6, 7–6 .
• Dürr and Stöve won the 1979 Bridgestone World Doubles Championship defeating Barker and Kiyomura 7–5, 7–6.
• Dürr and Stöve were WTA year end Doubles Champions in 1979 .

Dürr won over 60 major doubles titles in her career with various partners and featured in many more finals and semi-finals. Dürr featured in many major singles finals and semi-finals in a career spanning over 20 years . She was French Number 1 for almost all that time. Dürr was an integral member of France's Fed Cup team in 1963–1967, 1970, 1972, and 1977–1979. Her career win-loss record was 16–8 in singles and 15–9 in doubles.

Dürr was the first woman to play 100 events on the Virginia Slims Tour (1978). Dürr, Ann Jones, Billie Jean King and Rosemary Casals were the first women to sign professional contracts and organise their own tours at the start of the open era in 1968. Dürr played consistently on the World Team Tennis circuit 1974–1978.

Career and awards after retiring from the tour

In 1980 Françoise Dürr served as Captain for the German Federation Cup Team. In 1993, Dürr was appointed the first Technical Director of Women's Tennis for the French Tennis Federation (FFT). She was the captain of the French Fed Cup team from 1993 through 1996 and the co-captain of the team with Yannick Noah in 1997 when they won the competition. She retired from the FFT in February 2002.

She received the WTA Tour's Honorary Membership Award in 1988 for her contributions to the founding, development, and direction of women's professional tennis. In 2003, Dürr was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She received the Fed Cup Award of Excellence in 2005, presented jointly by the International Tennis Federation and the International Tennis Hall of Fame. In April 2010 a French national honour was presented to Françoise Dürr in recognition of her contribution to sport and the advancement of women in sport. She received the Medal and title of Officer of the National Order of Merit (Officier de l'Ordre national du Mérite, France).^[3]

Personal life

Françoise Dürr played her last official match in 1984 at Roland Garros. She had married Boyd Browning, an American tennis player in 1975 and later moved to the United States where she stayed for ten years. A daughter Jessica was born in 1985. In 1992 she returned to live near Paris.^[4] She was sometimes referred to by English writers as Frankie Durr.

Performance timelines

Singles

A = did not participate in the tournament.

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

Doubles

A = did not participate in the tournament.

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

Mixed doubles

A = did not participate in the tournament.

NH = no mixed doubles was held at the Australian Open from 1970–1986

See also

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

References

External links

• Françoise Dürr at the Women's Tennis Association
• Françoise Dürr at the International Tennis Federation
• Françoise Dürr at the Fed Cup
• Françoise Dürr at the International Tennis Hall of Fame