Carling Kathrin Bassett-Seguso (born 9 October 1967) is a former Canadian professional

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player, fashion model and actress. Bassett is the daughter of John F. Bassett and Susan Carling, and the granddaughter of media baron John W. H. Bassett and politician and brewery executive

John Carling Sir John Carling, (January 23, 1828 – November 6, 1911) was a Canadian politician and prominent businessman who was associated with the Carling Brewery in London, Ontario. The Carling family and its descendants later resided in Ottawa, M ...

. She was inducted into the

Ontario Sports Hall of Fame The Ontario Sports Hall of Fame is an association dedicated to honouring athletes and personalities with outstanding achievement in sports in Ontario, Canada. The hall of fame was established in 1994 by Bruce Prentice, following his 15-year tenure ...

in 2003.

Tennis career

In 1981, Bassett won the Canadian junior indoor tennis title. In 1982, she was ranked No. 2 junior player in the world, after winning events in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

and

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

. That year, she also became the youngest winner of the Canadian closed championship at the age of 14. She won the title again in 1983 and in 1986. By age 16, Bassett was Canada's top tennis player. At the same time, she had a successful second career as a

fashion model A model is a person with a role either to display commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as an artist's model. Modelling ("modeling" in American English) entails using one's body to represent someone ...

, working for the world-famous Ford modeling agency. She also dabbled in acting, being promoted as one of the stars of a 1982 teen comedy film '' Spring Fever'', and later appearing in a 1984 episode of ''

The Littlest Hobo ''The Littlest Hobo'' () is the Canadian television series based upon a 1958 American film of the same name directed by Charles R. Rondeau. The series first aired from 1963 to 1965 in syndication, and was revived for a popular second run on C ...

''. In 1983, Bassett advanced to the quarter-finals of the

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

and won her first top-level singles titles in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. In 1984, she reached the quarterfinals at the

French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...

and, in her best performance at a Grand Slam, the semi-finals at the US Open where she defeated

Elizabeth Smylie Elizabeth Smylie (née Sayers, born 11 April 1963), sometimes known as Liz Smylie, is a retired Australian tennis player. During her career, she won four Grand Slam titles, one in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles. She also won three ...

Pascale Paradis Pascale Paradis-Mangon (born 24 April 1966) is a former professional tennis player from France. Paradis was the World Junior Champion in women's singles in 1983. Although she failed to reach the heights predicted for her at that time, she did ...

Mima Jaušovec Mima Jaušovec (; born 20 July 1956) is a Slovenian former professional tennis player. Competing for Yugoslavia, she won the 1977 French Open singles championship. Early life Jaušovec was born in Maribor, in present-day Slovenia, when it was p ...

, Petra Delhees and

Hana Mandlíková Hana Mandlíková (born 19 February 1962) is a Czech–Australian former professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 3 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) in the mid-1980s. Mandíková won 27 WTA Tour-level sin ...

before losing to

Chris Evert Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954) is an American former professional tennis player. One of the most successful players of all time, she was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 2 ...

. She reached the French Open quarterfinals again in 1986. Bassett won her second top-level singles title in 1987 at

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. Bassett was named the WTA's Most Impressive Newcomer in 1983, and Canada's Female Athlete of the Year in 1983 and 1985. During her career, Bassett won a total of two top-level singles titles and two doubles titles.

Personal life

Following her tennis career, Bassett admitted she had struggled for years with the eating disorder

bulimia Bulimia nervosa, also known simply as bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating (eating large quantities of food in a short period of time, often feeling out of control) followed by compensatory behaviors, such as self-induc ...

. "It becomes part of your life, like smoking," she told

People Magazine ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC (company), IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''Peopl ...

in 1992. "Or it's like being an alcoholic. It's so easy to get into and so hard to get out of. I hated myself that I couldn't stop." Bassett married American tennis player

Robert Seguso Robert Arthur Seguso (born May 1, 1963) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. A doubles specialist, he won four Grand Slam men's doubles titles (two Wimbledon, one French Open and one US Open). He also won the men's d ...

in 1987. The couple have two sons and three daughters – Holden John Seguso, born 14 March 1988, daughter Carling Jr., born in 1990, Ridley Jack, born in 1993, Lennon Shy on 10 April 2010 and the youngest, Theodora. Holden has played in a handful of

Futures tennis tournaments The ITF Men's World Tennis Tour (formerly ''ITF Men's Circuit'') is a series of professional tennis tournaments held around the world that are organized by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The tour represents the lowest rung of the me ...

, off and on, since 2005. On Monday, 13 August 2007, during the Canadian Open Tennis Championships at the

Rexall Centre Sobeys Stadium, formerly Rexall Centre and Aviva Centre, is a tennis stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds of York University's Keele Campus. The 12,500-capacity Stadium Court is the largest stadium at the tennis complex. S ...

in Toronto, Bassett, along with

John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...

, was inducted into the Canadian Tennis Hall of Fame. After the ceremony, Bassett teamed up with US tennis great

Jim Courier James Spencer Courier (born August 17, 1970) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 58 ...

for a friendly doubles match against McEnroe and

Anna Kournikova Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova Iglesias (née Kournikova; ; ; born 7 June 1981) is a Russian model and television personality, and former professional tennis player. Her appearance and celebrity status made her one of the best known tennis stars ...

WTA career finals

Singles: 6 (2 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Doubles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

References

External links

* * * *
Carling Bassett article

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bassett-Seguso, Carling 1967 births Living people Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian female tennis players Tennis players from Boca Raton, Florida Tennis players from Toronto Tennis players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic tennis players for Canada 20th-century Canadian sportswomen