Kerry Harris (born 19 September 1949) is an Australian 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, active from 1967 to 1975, who reached the semi-final of the 1972 Australian Open, and reached four

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

doubles finals, of which she won one, in the 1972 Australian Open.

Career

Kerry's early years were spent under the guidance of J Hildebrands (Snr), before being coached by Harry Hopman and trained by Stan Nicholes. In 1968, Harris started on the International tour, the first year in the open era, and she was chosen to be a part of Lawn Tennis Association of Australia's Touring Team with Harry Hopman as manager. She later was coached by Merv Rose. Kerry first reached a Grand Slam final in the 1971 French Open Women's Doubles, partnering Helen Gourlay, which they lost in two sets to defending champions

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 ...

and

Gail Chanfreau Gail Chanfreau (née Sherriff; born 3 April 1945), also known as Gail Lovera and Gail Benedetti, is a French former amateur and professional tennis player. Tennis career Chanfreau was born in Australia, but moved to France in 1968. Chanfreau ...

. Kerry won the final of the 1972 Australian Open Women's Doubles tournament partnered with Helen Gourlay, beating Patricia Coleman-Clegg and

Karen Krantzcke Karen Krantzcke (1 February 1946 – 11 April 1977) was an Australian tennis player. She achieved a world top ten singles ranking in 1970. In her short career, she made the quarterfinals or better at each of the four Grand Slam championships in ...

. In the women's singles, seeded number 6, she reached the semifinals, losing to eventual champion

Virginia Wade Sarah Virginia Wade (born 10 July 1945) is a British former professional tennis player. She won three Major tennis singles championships and four major doubles championships, and is the only British woman in history to have won titles at all ...

in three sets. She reached the women's doubles final of the

1973 Australian Open The 1973 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Melbourne in Australia and was held from 26 December 1972 to 1 January 1973. It was the 61st edition of the Australian Open and the ...

and

1974 Australian Open The 1974 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Melbourne in Australia and was held from 26 December 1973 to 1 January 1974. It was the 62nd edition of the Australian Open and t ...

partnering

Kerry Melville Kerry Melville Reid (née Melville; born 7 August 1947) is a former professional tennis player from Australia. During her 17-year career, Reid won one Grand Slam singles title and 26 other singles titles and was the runner-up in 40 singles to ...

on both occasions. In 1973,

Margaret Court Margaret Court (''née'' Smith; born 16 July 1942), also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian retired former world No. 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, her 24 maj ...

and Virginia Wade won the final, and in 1974,

Evonne Goolagong 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 sing ...

and

Peggy Michel Margaret "Peggy" Michel (born February 2, 1949) is a former professional tennis player from the U.S. She was a doubles specialist who won three Grand Slam titles, all with Evonne Goolagong. She was born in Santa Monica, California. Grand Slam ...

won. Kerry had wins in her career over Margaret Court,

Nancy Richey Nancy Richey (born August 23, 1942) is an American former tennis player. Richey won two major singles titles (the 1967 Australian Championships and 1968 French Open) and four major women's doubles titles (the 1965 US Championships, 1966 Austral ...

, Kerry Melville, Judy Dalton,

Wendy Turnbull Wendy Turnbull, , (born 26 November 1952) is a retired tennis player from Australia. During her career, she won nine Grand Slam titles, four of them in women's doubles and five of them in mixed doubles. She also was a three-time Grand Slam runn ...

Betty Stöve Betty Flippina Stöve (born 24 June 1945) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. She is best remembered for reaching the ladies' singles final, the ladies' doubles final and the mixed doubles final during the same year at Wimbledon in 19 ...

, and Francoise Durr. She was described as an athletic player, with a very powerful serve-and-volley game. She was praised for her good temperament on and off the court. After her tennis career ended, she became a tennis coach.

Grand Slam finals

Doubles (1 title, 3 runner-ups)

Other tournaments

Singles (1 title, 4 runner-ups)

Doubles (7 titles)

External links

* * 1949 births Living people Australian Open (tennis) champions Australian female tennis players Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Tennis players from Melbourne Sportswomen from Victoria (state) {{Australia-tennis-bio-stub