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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. Durr played with an unorthodox backhand, which she played with an Eastern forehand grip and her index finger extended up the handle. She is also noted for having an unorthodox serve that "might not have registered on a radar gun" according to her official Tennis Hall of Fame biography. According to Lance Tingay, Bud Collins, and the Women's Tennis Association, Dürr was ranked in the world top ten from 1965 through 1967, from 1970 through 1972, and from 1974 through 1976, reaching a career high of world No. 3 in those rankings in 1967. She finished second to
Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943), also known as BJK, is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in w ...
in prize money earnings in 1971. Dürr reached a total of 27 Grand Slam finals – one in singles, 18 in women's doubles, and eight in mixed doubles. She won twelve of them.


Personal life

Françoise Dürr married Boyd Browning, an American radio executive, in 1975 and later moved to the United States where she stayed for 10 years. Her son Nicholas was born in 1980, her daughter Jessica in 1985. In 1992 she returned to live near Paris.


Career

Dürr is best known for winning the singles title at the 1967 French Championships. She defeated
Maria Bueno Maria Esther Andion Bueno (11 October 1939 – 8 June 2018) was a Brazilian professional tennis player. During her 11-year career in the 1950s and 1960s, she won 19 Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles (seven in women's singles, 11 in w ...
in a quarterfinal and Lesley Turner in the final. In addition to her singles championship, Dürr won seven Grand Slam women's doubles titles and four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. She was the runner-up in 11 Grand Slam women's doubles events and four Grand Slam mixed doubles events. Dürr won eight doubles titles at the French Championships. The first of her record-tying five consecutive women's doubles titles was in 1967. This record is shared with
Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova (, ; ; born October18, 1956) is a Czech-American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, singles for 332 weeks (List of WTA number ...
and
Gigi Fernández Beatriz "Gigi" Fernández (born February 22, 1964) is a Puerto Rican former professional tennis player. Fernández won 17 Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major doubles titles and two Olympic gold medals representing the United States, and reach ...
, who, like Dürr, achieved it with separate partners. Dürr teamed with Ann Haydon-Jones to win the titles in
1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...
and 1969 and with Gail Sherriff Chanfreau in
1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...
,
1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
, and
1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
. She was the runner-up in women's doubles in
1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...
with
Janine Lieffrig Janine Lieffrig (born 12 April 1938) is a French former tennis player. Lieffrig reached the doubles final at the 1965 Wimbledon Championships and the 1965 French Championships with compatriot Françoise Dürr. At the French, they were defeate ...
, in
1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...
with Betty Stöve, and in
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
with Virginia Wade. Dürr teamed with
Jean-Claude Barclay Jean-Claude Barclay (born 30 December 1942) is a former French international tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two tea ...
to win the mixed doubles title in 1968, 1971, and 1973. They were runners-up in 1969, 1970, and 1972. In total, Dürr reached 15 finals at the French Open, winning 9 of them. She won two doubles titles at the US Open. She won the women's doubles title in 1969 with Darlene Hard and in
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
with Stöve. Dürr was the runner-up in that event in
1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
with Chanfreau and in 1974 with Stöve. Dürr was the runner-up in mixed doubles in 1969, teaming with
Dennis Ralston Richard Dennis Ralston (July 27, 1942 – December 6, 2020) was an American professional tennis player whose active career spanned the 1960s and 1970s. As a young player, he was coached by tennis pro Pancho Gonzales. He attended the University ...
. She won the
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
mixed doubles title in
1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...
with
Tony Roche Anthony Dalton Roche Order of Australia, AO Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 17 May 1945) is an Australian former professional tennis player. A native of Tarcutta, Roche played junior tennis in the New South Wales regional city of Wagga ...
. She was the runner-up in women's doubles at Wimbledon in
1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...
with Lieffrig,
1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...
with Jones,
1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
with Wade,
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
with Judy Tegart Dalton, and
1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...
and
1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
with Stöve. Additionally, Dürr was a singles semifinalist at the Championships in 1970. Dürr was rarely a participant at the Australian Championships and Australian Open, as she appeared there three times, in
1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...
,
1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...
, and 1969. She reached the singles quarterfinals in 1965 and 1967 and the doubles semifinals with Jones in 1969. Dürr and Betty Stöve won the 1979 WTA Tour Championships in doubles against Sue Barker and Ann Kiyomura, beating them 7–6, 7–6 in the final. She played the French Open ladies doubles event a last time in 1984, reaching the second round and then retired from Grand Slam competition. She played for the France Fed Cup team 14 times, finishing her career with a 31–17 record. She played 27 ties, with a 16–8 singles record and a 15–9 doubles record. Dürr played her last official match in 1984 at the French Open, and was inducted into the
International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, 13 grass tennis courts, an ...
in 2003 for her extraordinary career in doubles and for winning the French Championships in singles.


Grand Slam tournament finals


Singles: 1 (title)


Women's doubles: 18 (7 titles, 11 runner-ups)


Mixed doubles: 8 (4 titles, 4 runner-ups)


Other tournaments and team competitions


1959–1970

* Junior Singles Champion of France, 1959 and 1960. * French Singles Champion in the National (closed) Championship, 1962, 1964, 1965 and 1966. * French National Champion in ladies doubles eight times between 1961 and 1970, with various partners. * French National Champion five times in mixed doubles between 1964 and 1970, mainly partnered by
Jean-Claude Barclay Jean-Claude Barclay (born 30 December 1942) is a former French international tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two tea ...
. * Winner of the Wimbledon Ladies Plate in 1963. * South African (East London) singles champion, 1965; other singles titles in 1965 were the Dutch Open, the Turkish in Istanbul, Saint-Moritz, Swiss Open, Caracas, Colombia and Monte Carlo. * Dürr defeated Judy Tegart in the final to win the 1966 British Grass Court Championship at Queens Club London; other singles titles in 1966 were the Dutch Open (defended), Swiss Open (defended) and Perth, Western Australia. * German Open singles champion, 1967; other singles titles in 1967 were the Pacific Southwest, Kitzbuehel, Canberra, New Zealand Open, Kingston and
Båstad Båstad () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Båstad Municipality, Scania County, Sweden, with approximately 5,000 permanent residents. It is however one of Sweden's most typical summer resorts. The population is presumably mor ...
. * Swiss Open singles champion, 1969. * Italian Open doubles champion with Ann Jones, 1969. * Losing finalist with Ann Jones in the 1969 Pacific Southwest Doubles Championship to King and Casals, 6–8, 8–6, 11–9. * Italian Open doubles losing finalist with Virginia Wade 1970, winners King and Casals, 6–2, 3–6, 9–7. * Losing finalist in the Swiss Open in Gstaad in 1970, 6–2, 5–7, 6–2 to Rosemary Casals. * Doubles champion with Rosemary Casals in Gstaad 1970, defeated Helga Niessen and Betty Stöve, 6–2, 6–2. * British Indoor singles champion at the Albert Hall, London, 1970.


1971–1979

* Winner in singles against
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
and French Open champion Evonne Goolagong at the Canada Masters, 1971. * Dürr and Casals defeated Goolagong and Bowrey 6–3, 6–3 to win the Canadian Open Doubles Championships of 1971. * Winner against Billie Jean King in the 1971 U.S. Clay Court International Tennis Championships at Fort Lauderdale, Florida. * Winner against Lesley Hunt in the 1971 Swiss Open in Gstaad (the last of her four Swiss Open wins). * Winner against Billie Jean King in the 1971 Benson and Hedges New Zealand International Grass Court Championships in Christchurch. * Winner against Billie Jean King in the 1971 Clay Court International Championship at Lake Bluff, Chicago, Illinois. * Losing finalist to Billie Jean King in the 1971 Embassy British Indoor Championship at Wembley, London. * Losing finalist to Rosemary Casals in the 1971 Philadelphia Indoor Singles Championship. * Losing finalist to Virginia Wade in the 1972 USA Indoor Championship in Boston, Massachusetts. * Losing finalist to Rosemary Casals in the 1972 Longbeach CA Singles Championship. * Losing finalist to Rosemary Casals in the 1972 Virginia Slims Columbus Ohio Singles Championship. * Winner against Rosemary Casals in the 1973 Virginia Slims Championship, Houston. * Member of 1974 World Team Tennis champion Denver Racquets. * Losing finalist in the 1975 Swedish Open in Stockholm to Virginia Wade. * Dürr and Stöve defeated Wade and Goolagong to win the 1975 Swedish Open Doubles Championship. * Dürr and Casals defeated Evert and Navratilova to win the 1976 Virginia Slims of Houston Doubles Championship. * Dürr and Casals defeated Wade and Stöve to win the 1976 U.S. Indoor Doubles Championships held in Atlanta. * Losing finalist against Chris Evert at Palm Springs in the Colgate Inaugural Singles Championships 1976. In the semifinal she had beaten Martina Navratilova (who was then ranked number 2 in the world) 6–1, 6–1; four months earlier at Wimbledon Dürr had lost to Navratilova in the fourth round of the singles having held match points. * Dürr and Wade won the 1977 Colgate Series Championship Doubles at Palm Springs defeating Helen Gourlay-Cawley and Joanne Russell in the final. * Dürr and Wade were runners up in the 1977 Family Circle Hiltonhead Doubles won by Casals and Evert. * Dürr and Navratilova were runners up in the 1977 Virginia Slims of Seattle Doubles, won by Casals and Evert. * Losing finalist with Virginia Wade in the 1978 Virginia Slims of Hollywood Doubles, won by Casals and Turnbull. * Dürr lost in the final of the 1978 World Tennis Classic in Montreal to Caroline Stoll. * Dürr and Stöve won the 1979 Avon Masters in New York defeating Barker and Kiyomura. * Dürr and Stöve won the 1979 Bridgestone World Doubles Championship defeating Barker and Kiyomura. * Dürr and Stöve were WTA year end Doubles Champions in 1979. Dürr won over 60 major doubles titles in her career with various partners and featured in many more finals and semifinals. She featured in many major singles finals and semifinals in a career spanning over 20 years. She was French No. 1 for almost all that time. Dürr was an integral member of France's
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
team in 1963–1967, 1970, 1972, and 1977–1979. Her career win–loss record was 16–8 in singles and 15–9 in doubles. Dürr, Ann Jones, Billie Jean King and Rosemary Casals were the first women to sign professional contracts and organise their own tours at the start of the open era in 1968. In 1970, Dürr had a commitment to play her French Tennis Nationals and went back to France, which prevented her from signing up with Gladys Heldman's Original 9 like Stöve too. Dürr was a founding member of the Women's Tennis Association in 1973 and became the WTA's secretary with
Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943), also known as BJK, is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in w ...
elected as president. Dürr was the first woman to play 100 events on the Virginia Slims Tour (1978). Dürr played consistently on the World Team Tennis circuit from 1974 to 1978. Dürr was the first female player to travel the tennis circuit with her dog named Topspin. The dog also became a star because she carried Dürr's racquet onto the tennis court and was the mascot for the World Team Tennis Denver Racquets.


Career and awards after retiring from the tour

In 1993, Dürr was appointed the first Technical Director of Women's Tennis for the French Tennis Federation (FFT). She was the captain of the French
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
team from 1993 through 1996 and the co-captain of the team with
Yannick Noah Yannick Noah (; born 18 May 1960) is a French former professional tennis player and singer, who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005. Noah won the French Open in 1983 French Open – Men's singles, 1983, and is a forme ...
in 1997 when they won the first Fed Cup for France. She retired from the FFT in February 2002. She received the
WTA Tour The WTA Tour (also known as the Hologic WTA Tour for sponsorship reasons) is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women and organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125 series, and third-tier is the ITF Wome ...
's Honorary Membership Award in 1988 for her contributions to the founding, development, and direction of women's professional tennis. In 2003, Dürr was inducted into the
International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, 13 grass tennis courts, an ...
. She received the Fed Cup Award of Excellence in 2005, presented jointly by the International Tennis Federation and the International Tennis Hall of Fame. In April 2010 a French national honour was presented to Françoise Dürr in recognition of her contribution to sport and the advancement of women in sport. She received the Medal and title of Officer of the National Order of Merit (''Officier de l'
Ordre national du Mérite The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...
, France''). In 2024 Francoise Dürr was the awarded the highest civilian honour that can be bestowed that of Legion of Honour which was presented to her by President Macron .


Grand Slam performance timelines


Singles

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.


Doubles

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.


Mixed doubles

Note: no mixed-doubles tournament was held at the Australian Open from 1970 to 1986


See also

* Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Durr, Francoise French Championships (tennis) champions French female tennis players French Open champions French tennis coaches International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Pieds-noirs Tennis players from Algiers French people of German descent US Open (tennis) champions Wimbledon champions 1942 births Living people Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's singles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in girls' singles Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite French Open junior champions 20th-century French sportswomen