Barbara Potter (born October 22, 1961) is a former

tennis player 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 co ...

from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, who competed professionally on 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 ...

between 1978 and 1989, winning six singles titles and 19 doubles titles. Her highest singles ranking was No. 7 in December 1982.

Career

Potter started playing tennis when she was eight years old. After graduating from

Taft School The Taft School is a private, coeducational school located in Watertown, Connecticut, United States. It teaches students in 9th through 12th grades and post-graduates. About three-quarters of Taft's roughly 600 students live on the school's ...

Watertown, Connecticut Watertown is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 22,105 at the 2020 census. The ZIP codes for Watertown are 06795 (for most of the town) and 06779 (for the Oakville section). It is a suburb of Waterbury. ...

in 1978 Potter elected to turn professional instead of accepting an offer of admission at

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

. A left-hander, she reached the semifinals at the U.S. Open in 1981 as well as the quarterfinals at the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...

in 1984, and Wimbledon in 1982, 1983 and 1985. At the

WTA Tour Championships WTA may refer to: Organizations * Washington Trails Association *Whatcom Transportation Authority *Waskahegan Trail Association, the management board for the Waskahegan Trail *Water Transit Authority, former name of the San Francisco Bay Area Wat ...

, she reached the semifinals in singles in 1984 and was a runner-up in doubles with

Sharon Walsh Sharon Walsh-Arnold (née Walsh; born February 24, 1952) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. Walsh enjoyed a long career, playing her first Grand Slam singles event in 1969 and her last Grand Slam doubles match in 199 ...

in 1981. Potter reached a career high ranking of No. 7 in 1982 and that year won the singles titles at the Avon Championships of Cincinnati and the

US Indoor Championships The U.S. Women's Indoor Championships, was a national tennis championship for women that was sanctioned by the United States Tennis Association and held 79 times from 1907 through 2001 at various locations and on various surfaces. The event was af ...

. She also played in three Grand Slam doubles finals, the 1982 US Open women's doubles with Sharon Walsh as well as the 1982 and 1983 US Open mixed doubles with

Ferdi Taygan Ferdi Taygan (born December 5, 1956) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. He is of Turkish descent. Taygan enjoyed most of his tennis success while playing doubles. During his career, he won 19 doubles titles and finish ...

. In 1986, Potter suffered two herniated disks in her back at a tournament in England and was forced off the tour several times. After a grueling exercise and fitness program, she successfully returned to the tour. She was a member of the 1982 and 1984 U.S.

Wightman Cup The Wightman Cup was an annual team tennis competition for women contested from 1923 through 1989 (except during World War II) between teams from the United States and Great Britain. History U.S. player Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman wanted to gen ...

teams and the 1988 United States Fed Cup team. In 1989, she re-aggravated a persistent back condition at the beginning season when she was involved in an automobile accident. She retired in November 1989 due to deteriorating hip cartilage. Potter currently resides in

Harlem, Georgia Harlem is a city in Columbia County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Augusta metropolitan area. The population was 2,666 at the 2010 census, up from 1,814 in 2000. This city was named after the neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan ...

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Women's doubles (1 runner–up)

Mixed doubles (2 runners-up)

Year-End Championships finals

Doubles: (1 runner–up)

WTA career finals

Singles: 14 (6–8)

Doubles: 41 (19–22)

Grand Slam performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Barbara 1961 births Taft School alumni Living people American female tennis players People from Columbia County, Georgia Sportspeople from Waterbury, Connecticut Tennis people from Connecticut 21st-century American women