The 1979 South African Open was a combined men's and women's

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

tournament played on outdoor

hard court A hardcourt (or hard court) is a surface or floor on which a sport is played, most usually in reference to tennis courts. It is typically made of rigid materials such as asphalt or concrete, and covered with acrylic resins to seal the surface and ...

s in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. The men's tournament was part of the

1979 Colgate-Palmolive Grand Prix The 1979 Colgate-Palmolive Grand Prix was a professional tennis circuit held that year. It consisted of four grand slam (tennis), Grand Slam tournaments, the Grand Prix tennis circuit, Grand Prix tournaments and the Nations Cup, a team event. S ...

. It was the 76th edition of the tournament and was held from 27 November through 3 December 1979.

Andrew Pattison Andrew Pattison (born 30 January 1949) is a former South African-born Rhodesian and later Zimbabwean tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking was world No. 24, which he reached on 24 September 1974. Pattison won four singles tourna ...

and

Brigitte Cuypers Brigitte Cuypers (born 3 December 1955) is a retired tennis player from South Africa. Cuypers reached the final of the South African Open (tennis), South African Championships singles event on five consecutive occasions from 1975 to 1979 and w ...

won the singles titles.

Finals

Men's singles

defeated

Víctor Pecci Víctor Pecci Sr. (born October 15, 1955) is a former professional tennis player from Paraguay. He was ranked as high as world No. 9 in singles in 1980 and world No. 31 in doubles in 1984. Pecci is famous for reaching the 1979 French Open final. ...

2–6, 6–3, 6–2, 6–3

Women's singles

defeated

Tanya Harford Tanya Harford (born 28 November 1958) is a retired South African tennis player. In 1981 she won the doubles title at the French Open together with compatriot Rosalyn Fairbank. In the final they defeated Candy Reynolds and Paula Smith in straig ...

7–6, 6–2

Men's doubles

Bob Hewitt Robert Anthony John Hewitt (born 12 January 1940) is a former professional tennis player from Australia. In 1967, after marrying a South African, he became a South African citizen. He has won 15 major titles and a career Grand Slam in both men' ...

Frew McMillan Frew Donald McMillan (born 20 May 1942) is a former professional male tennis player from South Africa who won five grand slam doubles titles including three Wimbledons with Bob Hewitt. All together, he won 63 doubles titles, surpassed only by ...

defeated

Heinz Günthardt Heinz Peter Günthardt (born 8 February 1959) is a retired tennis player from Switzerland. Tennis player career Günthardt won five singles titles during his professional career, including the Rotterdam WCT in 1980. The right-hander reached hi ...

Paul McNamee Paul McNamee (born 12 November 1954) is an Australian former doubles world No. 1 tennis player and prominent sports administrator. Tennis career Juniors In his hometown, McNamee won the boys' singles tournament at the 1973 Australian Open. ...

1–6, 6–1, 6–4

Men's doubles

Lesley Charles Lesley Charles (born 15 July 1952) is a former tennis player from the UK. In 1973 and 1975 she competed in the Australian Open. Charles was a Wimbledon mixed doubles runner-up in 1974, with compatriot Mark Farrell, losing in straight sets to Owen ...

defeated

Françoise Dürr Françoise Dürr (born 25 December 1942; sometimes referred to by English writers as Frankie Durr) is a retired French tennis player. She won 50 singles titles and over 60 doubles titles. According to Lance Tingay, Bud Collins, and the Women' ...

Marise Kruger Marise Kruger (born 17 July 1958) is a former South African tennis player who was active in the second half of the 1970s. Tennis career Kruger started playing tennis when she was five. She reached the girl's final at the 1976 Wimbledon Champion ...

1–6, 6–1, 6–4

References

External links

ITF – Johannesburg tournament details
{{DEFAULTSORT:1979 South African Open (tennis) South African Open South African Open (tennis)

Open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001 * ''Open'' (YF ...

Sports competitions in Johannesburg 1970s in Johannesburg November 1979 sports events in Africa December 1979 sports events in Africa