Gail Chanfreau (née Sherriff; born 3 April 1945), also known as Gail Lovera and Gail Benedetti, is a French former amateur and 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.

Tennis career

Chanfreau was born in Australia, but moved to France in 1968. Chanfreau made her first appearance in the Federation Cup for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. She played for France Fed Cup team from 1969 to 1980. When Gail beat her sister Carol Sherriff, who reached the third round of the Australian Open on five occasions, 8–10, 6–3, 6–3 in the 1966 Wimbledon Championships second round, that was the second match between sisters at Wimbledon, the first being in the 1884 Wimbledon Championships when

Maud Watson Maud Edith Eleanor Watson, Order of the British Empire, MBE (9 October 1864 – 5 June 1946) was a British tennis player and the first female Wimbledon Championships, Wimbledon champion. Biography Born in Harrow, London, Harrow, Middlesex, the ...

beat Lillian. The next Wimbledon match between sisters was in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

between Serena and Venus Williams. Chanfreau reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in 1967 and 1972, and the quarterfinals of the French Open in 1968 and 1971. She won the French Open doubles in 1967, 1970 and 1971 with Françoise Dürr and 1976 with Fiorella Bonicelli. At the Cincinnati Masters, she reached the singles final in 1969, only to fall to future International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee Lesley Turner Bowrey, 1–6, 7–5, 10–10 ret. She was international veterans mixed-doubles champion in 1968 and 1975 with Pierre Darmon.

Personal life

She married French tennis player Jean-Baptiste Chanfreau in 1968 and moved to France. Her second marriage was to another French tennis player, Jean Lovera.

Grand Slam tournament finals

Doubles: 7 (4 titles, 3 runner-ups)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chanfreau, Gail 1945 births Australian female tennis players Australian emigrants to France French Championships (tennis) champions French female tennis players French Open champions French people of Australian descent Living people Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Tennis players from Sydney Sportswomen from New South Wales 20th-century French sportswomen