Amanda Tobin (born 8 June 1960), now known as Amanda Chaplin, is a former professional

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 ...

player from Australia. She also competed as Amanda Tobin-Evans and Amanda Tobin-Dingwall.

Biography

Early years

Tobin was born in Bathurst and grew up in the

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongo ...

, where she attended Oak Flats High School. She competed in all junior Grand Slam events, where she was a quarterfinalist at the US and Wimbledon girls singles event and a semifinalist at the French Open girls' singles. She was the winner of the 1977 Australian Open Junior title. Amanda was ranked Number 1 in Australia for all her junior age groups. Her highest World Junior ranking was Number 2. Amanda represented Australia on 17 occasions and was runner up in the World Junior Championships in Stockholm in late 1977.

Professional career

While still a teenager she made back-to-back quarter-finals in the women's doubles at the Australian Open, partnering

Kerryn Pratt Kerryn Pratt (born 20 June 1959) is an Australian sports broadcaster and former professional tennis player. Trained at the Australian Institute of Sport, AIS, Pratt is the daughter of tennis player Maureen McCalman and was a two-time Australian ...

in 1977 and

Leanne Harrison Leanne Harrison (born 10 April 1958) is a retired 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 ra ...

in 1978. As a singles player she made the third round of a Grand Slam on three occasions over the course of her career, at the 1978 US Open,

1979 Wimbledon Championships The 1979 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from 25 June until 7 July. It was the 93 ...

and

1985 Australian Open The 1985 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Melbourne in Victoria (state), Victoria in Australia. It was the 74th edition of the Australian Open and was held from 25 November through 8 ...

. In Grand Slam competition she twice came up against

Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova ( cs, Martina Navrátilová ; ; born October 18, 1956) is a Czech–American, former professional tennis player. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Navratilova won 18 major singles titles, 31 maj ...

, who on both occasions went on to win the event, at the

1981 Australian Open The 1981 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Melbourne in Victoria in Australia. It was the 70th edition of the Australian Open and was held from 30 November through 6 December 1981 fo ...

and

1986 Wimbledon Championships The 1986 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 100th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held from ...

. Tobin spent a decade competing on the WTA Tour. Her best performances include making the quarter-finals of the singles draw at the NSW Open in 1977 and also Adelaide in 1980, as well as semi-final appearances in doubles at Perth in 1981 and Tokyo in 1986. She was the singles champion and doubles runner-up at the Dunlop masters in Tokyo. Tobin was the Western Australian Open singles champion on five occasions. In 1983 she was the runner up in the Wimbledon Plate Singles event with wins over former top 10 players. Amanda's highest world senior ranking was No. 58. She has the distinction of being the last player to beat

Evonne Goolagong Cawley Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley (née Goolagong; born 31 July 1951) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Goolagong was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s. At the age of 19, she won the French Open singl ...

on tour, which she did at the 1985 Australian Indoor tournament, ending the career of the former world number one.

Personal life

Tobin married first husband Mark Evans in 1980. Her second husband was Greg Dingwall, with whom she played in the mixed doubles at the

1983 Wimbledon Championships The 1983 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 97th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held from ...

. She is married to Vince Chaplin. She has two sons, one of their sons, Jarryd Chaplin, is a professional tennis player. Since the 1990s she has worked as a tennis coach, most recently as the head coach at Kambala Girls School, Rose Bay.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tobin, Amanda 1960 births Living people Australian female tennis players Sportspeople from Wollongong Tennis players from New South Wales Australian Open (tennis) junior champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in girls' singles Sportswomen from New South Wales