Gail Chanfreau (née Sherriff; born 3 April 1945), also known as Gail Lovera and Gail Benedetti, is a French former amateur and 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 cov ...

player.

Tennis career

Chanfreau was born in Australia, but moved to France in 1968. Chanfreau made her first appearance in the Federation Cup for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo ...

. She played for France Fed Cup team from 1969 to 1980. When Gail beat her sister

Carol Sherriff Carol Sherriff (born 20 October 1946) is an Australian former professional tennis player. Sherriff, a right-handed player from Sydney, is a daughter of tennis coach Ross Sherriff and younger sister of Gail Sherriff, better known as Gail Chanf ...

, who reached the third round of the Australian Open on five occasions, 8–10, 6–3, 6–3 in the

1966 Wimbledon Championships The 1966 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament was held from Monday 20 June until Saturday 2 July 1966. It was the 80t ...

second round, that was the second match between sisters at Wimbledon, the first being in the 1884 Wimbledon Championships when Maud Watson beat Lillian. The next Wimbledon match between sisters was in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

between Serena and

Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is ...

. Chanfreau reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in 1967 and 1972, and the quarterfinals of the French Open in 1968 and 1971. She won the French Open doubles in 1967, 1970 and 1971 with Françoise Dürr and 1976 with

Fiorella Bonicelli Fiorella Bonicelli (born 21 December 1951) is a retired professional tennis player from Uruguay. She was born in Lima, Peru but grew up in Montevideo, Uruguay where she started playing tennis when at age 11. During her career, she won the 1975 ...

. At the

Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the ol ...

, she reached the singles final in 1969, only to fall to future International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee Lesley Turner Bowrey, 1–6, 7–5, 10–10 ret. She was international veterans mixed-doubles champion in 1968 and 1975 with Pierre Darmon.

Personal life

She married French tennis player

Jean-Baptiste Chanfreau Jean-Baptiste Chanfreau (born 17 January 1947) is a French international tennis player. He competed in the Australian Open in 1969 and in the Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the ...

in 1968 and moved to France. Her second marriage was to another French tennis player, Jean Lovera.

Grand Slam tournament finals

Doubles: 7 (4 titles, 3 runner-ups)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chanfreau, Gail 1945 births Australian female tennis players Australian emigrants to France French Championships (tennis) champions French female tennis players French Open champions French people of Australian descent Living people Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Tennis players from Sydney