Kerry Melville

Career

Melville won 27 singles tournaments and was runner-up in 37 more between 1963 and 1979. Against Hall of Fame players, Melville beat Margaret Court three times, Billie Jean King eight times, Evonne Goolagong six times, Chris Evert twice, Martina Navratilova once, Rosie Casals 20 times, Francoise Durr 14 times, Nancy Richey eight times, Virginia Wade four times, Tracy Austin three times, and Hana Mandlikova twice. Overall, Reid played 1,047 matches from 1962 to 1985, with a win-loss record of 737 to 310 (70.4% winning ratio).

In January 1977, Reid won her sole Grand Slam singles title when she defeated fellow Australian Dianne Fromholtz in the final of the Australian Open in two sets. Reid and Fromholtz were the only top-ten players who played the tournament. The previous week, Reid also defeated Fromholtz in the final of the New South Wales Open, where Reid and Fromholtz again were the only top-ten players who entered.

Melville began her Grand Slam tennis career in 1963 when she reached the third round of the Australian Championships. In 1966, she reached the semifinals of both the Australian Championships and the U.S. Championships, defeating Billie Jean King in the second round of the latter tournament. In 1967, Melville again reached the semifinals of the Australian Championships and reached the semifinals of the French Championships for the first and only time.

Melville was the women's singles runner-up at the 1970 Australian Open, losing to Margaret Court in the final in straight sets. However, the Australian Tennis Federation banned Melville and fellow Australian Judy Tegart from playing the Australian Open in 1971 and 1972, owing to their roles in having started the Virginia Slims circuit. Melville was the singles runner-up at the US Open in 1972, losing to King after defeating Chris Evert in the semifinal in straight sets.

In 1972, Melville reached the final of the inaugural WTA Tour Championships, where she lost to Evert in two sets. Reid reached the semi's at the 1973 season-ending Virginia Slims Championship. In 1977, Reid played in both season-ending championships, the Virginia Slims Championships and the Colgate Series Championships, respectively, each limited to the top eight players. In 1978 and 1979, Reid was again among the eight who played in the year-end Colgate Series Championships.

Reid capped her last year on the professional tour in 1979 by beating Navratilova for the first time in tournament play. Reid defeated Navratilova in a Family Circle Cup semifinal in two sets, then lost to Tracy Austin in the final. Reid also competed in the year-ending WTA Championships (limited to the year's top 8 players).

Melville Reid won the Australian Open women's doubles title twice, outright in 1968 and shared in December 1977. With Wendy Turnbull in 1978, Reid won the women's doubles title at Wimbledon, was the doubles runner-up at the US Open and the year-ending Colgate Series Championship, and won the doubles titles at the Virginia Slims of Seattle, the Virginia Slims of Philadelphia, the U.S. Indoor Championships, and the New South Wales Open.

Melville was a member of the Australian team that won the Federation Cup in 1968. She also helped Australia reach four consecutive Federation Cup finals from 1976 through 1979 on a variety of court surfaces. During that run, she beat several top players, including Rosemary Casals (1976 final on carpet), Wade (1977 semifinal on grass in Eastbourne just weeks before Wade's Wimbledon victory), Austin (1978 final in Melbourne on grass) and Hana Mandlíková (1979 semifinal on clay).

Reid was a member of the "Houston 9", the breakaway group led by Gladys Heldman in 1971 that formed the nucleus of the women's professional tennis tour.

World TeamTennis

Reid anchored a World TeamTennis team for each season of its inaugural incarnation (Boston Lobsters 1974–1976 and San Diego Friars 1977–1978). In 1977, Reid was undefeated in singles against both Martina Navratilova and Virginia Wade, defeating each three times. As of 20 July 1978, Reid had "won the most games of any woman ever in WTT in women's singles. ... I think part of it is she's always been on teams where she's had the sole singles role. ... it's a longevity record." (Julie Heldman commentary with Vic Braden, HBO "Phoenix Racquets vs. San Diego Friars (20 July 1978)," 0.3:40 - 0:4:10 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcZebskRl3M)

Personal life

She married Grover "Raz" Reid, a Boston Lobsters teammate, on 27 April 1975 in Greenville, South Carolina. Raz retired as a player in 1977 and coached Kerry during the remaining three years of her playing career. The Reids then retired to Raz's home state of South Carolina and raised two daughters.

Honours and awards

Reid was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1979. In 2014, she was inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame. Reid was among the "Original Nine" inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on 17 July 2021.

Grand Slam tournament finals

Singles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)

Doubles: 8 (3 titles, 5 runner-ups)

Grand Slam singles timeline

1 The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

2,3 Melville did not play. Her opponent got a walkover.

References

References

1. (1979). "USTA Player Records 1978". [[United States Tennis Association]] (USTA).
2. (28 January 1970). "Ashe wins Open". [[The Canberra Times]].
3. (16 October 1972). "Chris Saves Money For Slims Promoters". The Ledger.
4. (29 October 1977). "Evert seeded tops in Colgate". The Desert Sun.
5. "1978 Palm Springs – Singles draw". International Tennis Federation (ITF).
6. (30 December 1979). "Colgate tennis draws spotlight with cross-country move". The Washington Post.
7. (8 March 2016). "IWD: A Tribute to the Aussie trailblazers". [[Tennis Australia]].
8. (28 May 1975). "For Evonne and Kerry a couple of love matches". [[The Australian Women's Weekly]].
9. "Player profiles – Kery Reid". [[Tennis Australia]].
10. "Original 9".
11. Pantic, Nina. (2021-07-17). "Original 9, Van der Meer, Ivanišević, and Martínez Inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame".