Jo Durie - Singles Career

Singles Career

After a successful junior career Durie turned professional in 1977, playing her first match at Wimbledon that year against the eventual champion Virginia Wade. In 1980 Durie suffered a major back injury which kept her out of the game for eight months. However she made a successful return to the woman's tennis circuit in 1981, reaching the 4th round of the singles at Wimbledon and the US Open and climbing to her highest singles ranking so far of 35.

1983 proved to be her most successful year as a singles player, ending the season at number 6 in the world rankings and on the prize money leader board. At the Australian Open she reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final. As an unseeded player Durie then went onto reach the semi-finals of the French Open, beating both Pam Shriver and Tracy Austin along the way. Her dramatic rise up the singles rankings that year ended with another Grand Slam singles semi-final appearance at the US Open, where she eventually lost to Chris Evert in straight sets. Durie's success as a singles player during 1983 gained her a coveted place at the 1984 WTA Tour Championship as the 5th seed.

Her most successful year at Wimbledon as a singles player came in 1984 when she reached the quarter-finals, beating a 15-year old Steffi Graf in a memorable fourth round match. It was just after Wimbledon in 1984 that she reached a career high singles ranking of World No. 5.

She won two top-level singles titles (both in 1983) at Mahwah, New Jersey and Sydney, and had career wins over Steffi Graf, Zina Garrison, Pam Shriver, Hana Mandlíková, and Tracy Austin. Further back injuries in 1989 led to a remodeling of her service action. Durie made her last appearance in a WTA tour singles final at the Virginia Slims of Newport tournament in 1990. In 1991 at the age of 30, and one of the oldest singles competitors that year, she had another successful run to the 4th round of the US Open.

She was ranked the No. 1 British player for most of her career. She won the British National Singles title a record seven times. She was the second British woman player after Virginia Wade to win $1 million in prize money.