Françoise Dürr

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 9 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.

1959–1970

1971–1979

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).

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 son Nicholas was born in 1980, and a daughter Jessica was born in 1985. In 1992 she returned to live near Paris.

Singles

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

Doubles

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

Mixed doubles

Note: no mixed doubles was held at the Australian Open from 1970–1986