Beth Herr

Beth Herr (born 28 May 1964) is an American tennis player from Centerville, Ohio, who won four Junior Grand Slam titles, the NCAA singles and team titles and one professional tennis tournament. In her home state of Ohio, she was a two-time high school singles state champion (1980-1981). Her NCAA singles title came in 1983.[1]

Beth Herr
Country (sports) United States
Born (1964-05-28) 28 May 1964
Turned pro1981
Retired1990
Prize moneyUS$263,069
Singles
Career record71–92
Highest rankingNo. 31 (15 August 1983)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open1R (1983, 1984, 1989)
French Open3R (1982)
Wimbledon3R (1987)
US Open3R (1982)
Doubles
Career record102–82
Highest rankingNo. 26 (10 October 1988)
Grand Slam Doubles results
US OpenQF (1982)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
French OpenSF (1986)
WimbledonQF (1988)

College

Beth Herr became the number 1 junior tennis player in the world at age 16. Upon graduation from Centerville High School, she was the #1 college recruit in 1982 and played for the University of Southern California, where she won the NCAA singles title and team title in her first year. She beat Clemson University's Gigi Fernández 7–6 in the third set after being down a match point to win the NCAA singles final.[2]

Junior grand slams

In 1982, Beth Herr won the 1982 French Open girls' doubles championship with Janet Lagasse.,[3] Beth Herr also Wimbledon girls' doubles and US Open girls' doubles with Penny Barg. She also won the US Open girls' singles in the same year.

Professional career

Beth Herr cut short college and went directly into professional tennis after the NCAA Championship and played on tour for 11 years with wins over Pam Shriver, Hana Mandlíková, Martina Navratilova, Virginia Wade, and Mary Joe Fernandez. She lost a match to Billie Jean King at Wimbledon 8–6 in the third round.[4] Commentators on HBO mentioned her ability to hit numerous swinging volleys out of the air for winners, something that had not been done before especially by a female.

WTA career finals
Legend
Grand Slam0–00–0
WTA Championships0–00–0
Tier I0–00–0
Tier II0–00–0
Tier III0–02–0
Tier IV & V1–00–3

Singles (1 runners-up)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Mar 1986 Virginia Slims of Arizona, US Clay Ann Henricksson 6–0, 3–6, 7–5

Personal life

After tennis, she finished her undergraduate degree at UCLA and then went to law school at UCLA. She married Tennis Channel founder Steve Bellamy[5] and after a short stint as a lawyer at Manatt, Phelps and Phillips.

She later won the US Open and World Championships of paddle tennis and teamed with Scotty Freedman to become the greatest mixed doubles team in the sports' 112-year history as they were undefeated as a team from 2000 to 2007.

References
  1. http://www.ohsaa.org/sports/records/gterecrd.pdf
  2. "Beth Herr Wins". The New York Times. 23 May 1983. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  3. UBItennis Tomorrow’s Stars Archived 28 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Miller, Geoffrey (23 June 1983). "King survives scare from Herr". The Daily Collegian. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2009.
  5. Associated Press (22 July 2008). "Several tennis pros to play in unisex tourney". ESPN.com. Retrieved 7 February 2009.
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