Career record 117–119 Highest ranking 9 US Open QF (1971) Role Tennis Player | Wimbledon 4R (1972, 1979) Name Laura duPont Career record 79–122 Career titles 5 | |
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Born May 4, 1949Louisville, Kentucky, USA ( 1949-05-04 ) Died February 20, 2002, Durham, North Carolina, United States | ||
Laura duPont (May 4, 1949 – February 20, 2002) was a female American tennis player. She was the first woman to win a national title in any sport for the University of North Carolina, as well as being the first female All-American at the school. She was not related to the multiple grand slam winner Margaret Osborne duPont.
Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Laura became acquainted with tennis by practicing on the city's public courts. In her adolescent years, DuPont moved to North Carolina, where she showed promise competing in junior tennis championships.
DuPont attended the University of North Carolina where she was thrice named Mid-Atlantic Singles Collegiate Champion. DuPont was singles champion in the years 1968, 1970, and 1971. In 1970 she also secured doubles champion. Aside from her tennis accolades at the school, she also played varsity basketball. In 1970, duPont was named North Carolina AAU Athlete of the Year. In 1972, duPont graduated with a B.A. and joined the tennis inter-national circuit soon after. She won the Canadian (1979), Argentine, New Zealand (singles as well as doubles) and German singles.
DuPont's success continued, becoming the South African doubles champion in 1976, and a doubles and singles finalist in 1975. She won the U.S. Clay Court Championships singles title in 1977, as well as being a doubles finalist in 1976. In 1984, duPont won the U.S. Open 35 and over singles championship.
Between the years of 1975 and 1981 Laura was on the Women's Tennis Association board, serving in the roles of vice-president and treasurer.
Laura duPont was inducted into the North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame in 1977 and the Charlotte Catholic High School Hall of Fame in 2000.
After being diagnosed with breast cancer, DuPont moved back to North Carolina in 1997. She died at Duke University Medical Center in Durham on February 20, 2002.