Pam Whytcross (born 25 November 1953) is a 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 and current tennis official from Australia. Playing internationally from 1973 to 1996, Whytcross won 3 WTA doubles titles and was runner-up with Naoko Satō at the 1978 Australian Open. In singles, she achieved her best Grand Slam result at Roland Garros in 1977, where she reached the third round. Whytcross reached a career-high singles ranking of 75 and ranked among the Top 30 in doubles.

Career

Whytcross began competing in tournaments in 1970 and was also one of the original members of the WTA, which was formed in 1973. She reached her first WTA doubles final in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in January 1974 but had to wait four years before reaching her second at Mahwah, New Jersey in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

with partner

Barbara Potter Barbara Potter (born October 22, 1961) is a former tennis player from the United States, who competed professionally on the WTA Tour between 1978 and 1989, winning six singles titles and 19 doubles titles. Her highest singles ranking was No. 7 ...

.. Also in 1978, she achieved her best Grand Slam result, advancing to the final 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 ...

with partner Naoko Satō, where they lost to Betsy Nagelsen and

Renáta Tomanová Renáta Tomanová (born 9 December 1954) is a former professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia. Career Tomanová won the girls' singles title at the 1972 French Open. In 1975, she and Martina Navratilova represented Czechoslovakia in the ...

. Whytcross subsequently won three WTA doubles titles in 1983, taking titles at the Head Cup in Kitzbühel, Austria in July 1983(with Chris Newton), and in successive weeks in October at two tournaments in Tokyo: the Japan Open and the Borden Classic, (both with Chris O'Neil) and qualified for the year-ending WTA Doubles championships in that year. Whytcross reached at least the second round at all four Grand Slam singles tournaments with her best result being achieved at

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

, where she advanced to the third round (last 16) before losing to eventual champion Mima Jausovec. In 1982, Whytcross reached the mixed doubles semifinals (with Chris Johnstone) at

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

Wimbledon. At the lower level satellite circuit, Whytcross won a number of singles titles including the Irish Open in 1979 & 1980 and the New Zealand Open in 1979 and 1981 She retired in 1986 at the age of 33.

Post-tennis career

After retiring from playing, Whytcross began a career in officiating with the

Women's Tennis Association The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. The association governs the WTA Tour, which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women, and was founded to create a better future fo ...

Women's Tennis Association (WTA), a position she has held for over 35 years. She also was involved with mentoring Australian player

Jelena Dokić Jelena Dokic (; ; born 12 April 1983) is an Australian tennis commentator, sports analyst, former professional player and public speaker. Her highest ranking as a tennis player was world No. 4, in August 2002. She won WTA Tour events on all su ...

as part of the

(WTA) mentoring scheme. She was appointed Technical Operations Manager for Tennis at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

and Competition Manager for the

2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was the last time that the Summer Paralympics were organized by two different Organ ...

In December 2024 in recognition of her outstanding tennis career, Whytcross was awarded the Spirit of Tennis Award by Tennis Australia. The award recognises an individual who personifies leadership, sportsmanship and goodwill while making a major contribution to the stature of tennis.

Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 1 (0–1)

WTA finals

Doubles (3 wins, 3 losses)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Whytcross, Pam 1953 births Australian female tennis players Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Australian sportswomen