Laura duPont (May 4, 1949 – February 20, 2002) was a female American

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. She was the first woman to win a national title in any sport for the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

,ITA - 2002 Inductee Laura duPont
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 Margaret Osborne duPont (born Margaret Evelyn Osborne; March 4, 1918 – October 24, 2012) was a world No. 1 American female tennis player. DuPont won a total of 37 singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles Grand Slam titles, which places ...

. Born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, Laura became acquainted with tennis by practicing on the city's public courts. In her adolescent years, DuPont moved to

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

, where she showed promise competing in junior tennis championships. DuPont attended the University of North Carolina where three times she was 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, a doubles finalist in 1975 and singles finalist in 1976. She won the U.S. Clay Court Championships singles title in 1977, as well as was a doubles finalist in 1976. In 1984, duPont won the U.S. Open 35 and over singles championship. From 1975 to 1981, she was on the

Women's Tennis Association The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women and was founded to create a better future for women's tenn ...

board, serving in the roles of vice president and treasurer. Laura duPont was inducted into the North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame in 1977, the

Charlotte Catholic High School Charlotte Catholic is a Wikt:diocesan, diocesan high school in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States founded in 1955. The school is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of ...

Hall of Fame in 2000, the Women's collegiate tennis Hall of fame in 2002Inductees
at the ITA Hall of fame and then North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2018. After being diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...

, DuPont moved back to North Carolina in 1997. She died at

Duke University Medical Center Duke University Hospital is a 957-acute care bed academic tertiary care facility located in Durham, North Carolina. Established in 1930, it is the flagship teaching hospital for the Duke University Health System, a network of physicians and hos ...

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

on February 20, 2002.

WTA Tour finals

Doubles 10 (5–5)

References

External links

* *
Inventory of the Office of the Women's Tennis Coach of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records, 1976–1999
in the University Archives, UNC-Chapel Hill. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dupont, Laura American female tennis players North Carolina Tar Heels women's tennis players Charlotte Catholic High School alumni Sportspeople from Louisville, Kentucky Tennis people from Kentucky Tennis people from North Carolina 1949 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American women 20th-century American people