Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat (née Fromholtz; born 10 August 1956) is an Australian former 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 who reached a highest singles ranking of world No. 4 in 1979. Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat inducted into Australian Tennis Hall of Fame

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 (also known as the Hologic WTA Tour for sponsorship reasons) is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women and organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125 series, and third-tier is the ITF Wome ...

. At the age of 17, she 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 an Australian former professional tennis player. During her 17-year career, Reid won a major singles title and 26 other singles titles, and was the runner-up in 40 singles tournaments. ...

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. Dianne Fromholtz 1985

Fromholtz won eight 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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Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943), also known as BJK, is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in w ...

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Pam Shriver Pamela Howard Shriver (born July 4, 1962) is an American former professional tennis player and current tennis broadcaster, pundit, and coach. She was ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and List of W ...

, and

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. 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, off ...

for her commitment to tennis. In 2019, Fromholtz was inducted into the

Australian Tennis Hall of Fame The Australian Tennis Hall of Fame was established in 1993 by Tennis Australia under the leadership of then-president Geoff Pollard. Described by Tennis Australia as "one of the highest honours Australian tennis players can receive", inductees ar ...

, commemorated by a bronze bust located in Garden Square, within

Melbourne Park Melbourne Park is a sports venue in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Since 1988, Australia's bicentenary, Melbourne Park has been home of the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament play ...

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 20th-century Australian sportswomen