Kerry Harris (born 19 September 1949) 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, active from 1967 to 1975, who reached the semi-final of the 1972 Australian Open, and reached four Grand Slam doubles finals, of which she won one, in the 1972 Australian Open.

Career

Kerry’s early years were spent under the guidance of John Hildebrand (Snr), before being coached by

Harry Hopman Henry Christian Hopman Order of the British Empire, CBE (12 August 1906 – 27 December 1985) was an Australian tennis player and coach. Early life Harry Hopman was born on 12 August 1906 in Glebe, New South Wales, Glebe, Sydney as the third c ...

and trained by Stan Nicholes. In 1968, the first year of the open era, she was selected to be part of the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia’s Touring Team with

as manager. Merv Rose was Kerry’s coach in the later years of her career. Kerry first reached a Grand Slam final in the 1971 French Open Women's Doubles, partnering Helen Gourlay, They lost in two sets to defending champions Francoise Durr and Gail Chanfreau. Kerry won the final of the 1971 French Open Women's Doubles, partnering Helen Gourlay, beating Patricia Coleman-Clegg and Karen Krantzcke. In the women’s singles, seeded number 6, she reached the semifinals, losing to eventual champion

Virginia Wade Sarah Virginia Wade (born 10 July 1945) is a British former professional tennis player. She won three major tennis singles championships and four major doubles championships, and is the only British woman in history to have won titles at all fo ...

in three sets. Kerry represented Australia in the 1973 Bonne Bell Cup Team against the USA played in Sydney. When the WTA was formed in 1973 she was a Foundation Member. She reached the women’s doubles final of the 1973 Australian Open and the

1974 Australian Open The 1974 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts at the Kooyong Stadium, Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Melbourne in Australia and was held from 26 December 1973 to 1 January 1974. It was the 62nd edition of the Austr ...

partnering Kerry Melville on both occasions. In 1973,

Margaret Court Margaret Court (''née'' Smith; born 16 July 1942), also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian former world number 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Her 24 women's singles major titles and total of 64 major titles (includi ...

and Virginia Wade won the final, and in 1974,

Evonne Goolagong Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley (née Goolagong; born 31 July 1951) is an Australian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and was one of the world's leadi ...

and Peggy Michel won. Kerry had wins in her career over

Nancy Richey, Kerry Melville, Judy Dalton,

Wendy Turnbull Wendy Turnbull, (born 26 November 1952) is an Australian retired tennis player. During her career, she won nine Grand Slam titles, four of them in women's doubles and five of them in mixed doubles. She also was a three-time Grand Slam runner-u ...

, Betty Stöve and Francoise Durr. She was described as an athletic player, with a very powerful serve and volley game. She was praised for her good temperament on and off the court. After her tennis career ended, she became a tennis coach.

Grand Slam finals

Doubles (1 title, 3 runner-ups)

External links

* * 1949 births Living people Australian Open (tennis) champions Australian female tennis players Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Tennis players from Melbourne Sportswomen from Victoria (state) 20th-century Australian sportswomen {{Australia-tennis-bio-stub