Darlene Hard


Darlene Ruth Hard is a former professional tennis player from the U.S. Known for her volleying ability and strong serves, she captured singles titles at the French Championships in 1960 and the U.S. Championships in 1960 and 1961.
With eight different partners, she won a total of 13 women's doubles titles in Grand Slam tournaments. Her last doubles title, at the age of 33 at the 1969 US Open, came six years after she had retired from serious competition to become a tennis instructor. She also played the US Open singles tournament in 1969, losing in the second round to Françoise Dürr, 3–6, 3–6.

Career

According to Lance Tingay of the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Hard was ranked among the top 10 in the world from 1957 through 1963, reaching a career high of No. 2 in those rankings in 1957, 1960, and 1961. Hard was included in the year-end top-10 rankings issued by the United States Lawn Tennis Association from 1954 through 1963. She was the top-ranked U.S. player from 1960 through 1963.
In 1964, Hard won the singles title at the South African Championships, defeating Ann Haydon-Jones in the final, and soon afterwards turned professional when she became a teaching pro. She later owned two tennis stores.
Hard was enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1973.
According to a 2007 published report, she had been working for the University of Southern California since 1981.

Grand Slam finals

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

Doubles: 18 (13 titles, 5 runner-ups)

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Tournament195319541955195619571958195919601961196219631964 – 196819691970Career SR
Australian ChampionshipsAAAAAAAAAQFAAAA0 / 1
French ChampionshipsAA2R3RQFAAW4RA2RAAA1 / 6
WimbledonAASF3RFAFQFAQFSFAAA0 / 7
U.S. Championships/US Open2RSF3RQFSFFSFWWFQFA2R2R2 / 13
Strike Rate0 / 10 / 10 / 30 / 30 / 30 / 10 / 22 / 31 / 20 / 30 / 30 / 00 / 10 / 13 / 27

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.