Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat (née Fromholtz; born 10 August 1956) is an Australian former professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

player who reached a highest singles ranking of world No. 4 in 1979. Dianne Fromholtz 1985

Career

Fromholtz began playing tennis at the age of seven. She left school at the age of 16 to play in international tournaments. She turned pro in 1973 and joined the

WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour. WTA Tour tou ...

. At the age of 17, she actively participated in the professional tennis circuit, winning the singles title at a dozen tournaments in 1973, but the rules at the time did not permit prize money to be paid to participants under 18 years of age. She reached the finals of the Australian Open in January 1977, losing to fellow Australian

Kerry Melville Reid Kerry Melville Reid (née Melville; born 7 August 1947) is a former professional tennis player from Australia. During her 17-year career, Reid won one Grand Slam singles title and 26 other singles titles and was the runner-up in 40 singles to ...

in two sets. She was a semifinalist at the French Open in 1979 and 1980. She also reached the semifinals of the US Open in 1976. Fromholtz won 8 WTA Tour singles titles and reached a career-high ranking of World No. 4 in 1979. Partnering with Helen Gourlay Cawley, she won the Australian Open women's doubles in January 1977. She had career wins over

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, and

Gabriela Sabatini Gabriela Beatriz Sabatini (; born 16 May 1970) is an Argentine-Italian former professional tennis player. A former world No. 3 in both singles and doubles, Sabatini was one of the leading players from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, amassing 41 ...

. She holds an 8–7 career record over King. Fromholtz met French businessman Claude Balestrat at a New Year's Eve party in 1981, and the couple wed in Dural on 26 December 1982. On 30 August 2000, Fromholtz was awarded the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

for her commitment to tennis.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: (1 runners-up)

Doubles: (1 title)

Mixed doubles: (1 runner-up)

WTA career finals

Singles: 24 (8–16)

Doubles: 12 (5-1–6)

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

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

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fromholtz, Dianne 1956 births Living people Australian female tennis players Australian Open (tennis) champions Sportspeople from Albury Sportswomen from New South Wales Tennis players from Sydney Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles