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Kerry Reid
Kerry Reid is a former professional tennis player from Australia.
She is best remembered for winning the women's singles title at the Australian
Open in 1977.
Reid was a Top 10 player for 12 consecutive years (1968 -
1979). She began her international career in 1966 by beating defending champ
Billie Jean King in an early round at U.S. Championships and capped her last
year in 1979 by beating Navratilova for first time (Family Circle Cup semis,
6-3, 7-6) and qualifying for season ending Grand Prix (Top 8 players). Reid
won 22 singles tournaments over the course of her career.
She was born Kerry Melville on August 7, 1947, in Mosman,
New South Wales. The youngest of four girls, her mother was a regional tennis
player in Australia.
The crowning moment of Reid's career came in 1977, when she
defeated fellow-Australian Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat 7-5, 6-2 in the final
to win Australian Open women's singles title.
Reid also won the Australian Open women's doubles title twice
(in 1968 and 1977), and the Wimbledon women's doubles title once (in 1978).
Reid was the women's singles runner-up at the Australian
Open in 1970 (where she lost to Margaret Court in the final 6-1, 6-3), and
at the US Open in 1972 (lost to Billie Jean King 6-3, 7-5). In 1972, Reid
reached the final of the inaugural WTA Tour Championships, where she lost
7-5, 6-4 to Chris Evert.
Reid was a member of the Australian team which won the Fed
Cup in 1968. Reid also led Australia to 4 consecutive Fed Cup finals in 1976
- 1979. During that run, she beat: Rosie Casals (1976 final in Philadelphia,
1-6, 6-3, 7-5); Virginia Wade (1977 semifinal on English grass, 6-4, 6-4);
and Tracy Austin (1978 final on Australian grass, 6-3, 6-2).
Reid was a member of the "Houston 9", the breakaway
group led by Galdys Heldman in 1971 that formed the nucleus of the women's
professional tennis tour. She also anchored a World Team Tennis Team for
each year of its inaugural incarnation (Boston Lobsters 1974 - 1976 &
San Diego Friars 1977 - 1978).
Reid married Grover "Raz" Reid, a Boston Lobsters
teammate, in 1976. They each continued playing professional tennis until
1977, when he retired to coach her for the remaining three years of her career.
The Reids retired to South Carolina and raised two daughters.
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