Barbara Jordan Barbara Charline Jordan (February 21, 1936 – January 17, 1996) was an American lawyer, educator, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate since Reconstruction, the first ...

defeated

Sharon Walsh Sharon Walsh-Arnold (née Walsh; born February 24, 1952) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. Walsh enjoyed a long career, playing her first Grand Slam singles event in 1969 and her last Grand Slam doubles match in 199 ...

in the final, 6–3, 6–3 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 1979 Australian Open. It was her first

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

title and first tour-level title overall. Jordan was making her tournament debut. Chris O'Neil was the reigning champion, but did not compete this year. This was only the second women's singles final not to feature an Australian player, the first being in

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

. This was also the first all-American final at the tournament.

Seeds

The seeded players are listed below. They are ordered by the round in which they were knocked out. #

Virginia Ruzici Virginia Ruzici (born 31 January 1955) is a Romanian former professional tennis player. She won the 1978 French Open – Women's singles, 1978 French Open singles championship. Career Ruzici became a professional tennis player in 1975. One of h ...

''(first round)'' #

Hana Mandlíková Hana Mandlíková (born 19 February 1962) is a Czech–Australian former professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 3 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) in the mid-1980s. Mandíková won 27 WTA Tour-level sin ...

''(quarterfinals)'' #

Renáta Tomanová Renáta Tomanová (born 9 December 1954) is a former professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia. Career Tomanová won the girls' singles title at the 1972 French Open. In 1975, she and Martina Navratilova represented Czechoslovakia in the ...

''(semifinals)'' #

''(finalist)'' #

''(champion)'' # n/a # Janet Newberry ''(quarterfinals)'' # Cynthia Doerner ''(quarterfinals)'' Note: The sixth seed withdrew and was replaced by Cathy Griffiths.

Qualifying

Draw

Finals

Earlier rounds

Section 1

Section 2

References

External links

1979 Australian Open – Women's draws and results
at the

International Tennis Federation The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. there are 211 nat ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:1979 Australian Open - Women's Singles Women's singles Australian Open (tennis) by year – Women's singles 1979 in Australian women's sport 1980 in Australian women's sport 1979 WTA Tour