Jo Durie

Jo Durie is a former world No. 5 tennis player from the United Kingdom. During her career, she reached No. 9 in doubles, and won two Grand Slam titles, both in the mixed doubles with Jeremy Bates. Jo Durie turned professional in 1977, and played her first match at Wimbledon that year against the eventual champion Virginia Wade. Her most successful year as a singles player was 1983, ending the season at No. 6 in the world rankings and on the prize money leader board. As an unseeded player Durie reached the semifinals of the French Open, beating both Pam Shriver and Tracy Austin along the way. Later that year she made another Grand Slam singles semifinal appearance at the US Open, where she lost to Chris Evert in straight sets. Her dramatic rise up the singles rankings that year ended with a quarterfinal at the Australian Open in December. Her most successful year at Wimbledon as a singles player came in 1984 when she reached the quarterfinals, beating a 15-year-old Steffi Graf in a memorable fourth-round match. It was just after Wimbledon that she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 5. Durie was ranked the No. 1 British player for most of her career. She won the British National Singles title a record seven times. She won the British National Doubles title a record nine times.Durie was the youngest member of the British Federation Cup team, alongside Virginia Wade and Sue Barker, which reached the team final in 1981. Durie led the British team to victory in the European Championship in Prague in 1992. Durie was the last British woman to reach the semifinal of a Grand Slam tournament until Johanna Konta reached the semifinal of the 2016 Australian Open.