Barbara Jordan

Barbara Jordan was a professional tennis player who hails from the United States. She was born on April 2, 1957 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. She's best remembered for winning the singles title in the 1979 Australian Open (opponent in finals was Sharon Walsh, score in Finals 6-3 6-3).

She is known to have started off strong on the collegiate level. However, when she entered the tour, she failed to achieve success on a grand scale. But nonetheless, she had a career which brought her two Grand Slam trophies and a career high singles ranking of 37.

Notably she also won the mixed doubles title with her partner being Eliot Tetshcer in the French Open of 1983. She was a three time All-American at Stanford (the years being 1976, '77 and '78). She got her Juris Doctorate from UCLA.

She achieved her best feat in 1979 Australian Open, where she won the tournament and her very first (and last) singles trophy. Despite never making it to the final of such a grand occasion, Barbara was confident enough about herself to go the distance. In fact, she did so by dropping only one set on her path to the final. Once in the final, she met her compatriot Sharon Walsh, whom she defeated in straight sets. She also became the first American to win the Australian Open in the 70s.

She got her degree in economics from the University of Stanford. During her time, along with her sister Kathy Jordan (who had a lot more success on the tour), she moved on win the 1978 AIAW College National doubles. In the very same year, she also won the USTA under 21 National Championships in singles and doubles.

She also won a mixed doubles title in 1983 French Open with the partner Eliot Teltscher.

After her professional career, she still stayed on the circuit, but on the management level. She has been a member of the WTA Board of Directors, and has been given several accolades such as getting inducted in the ITA Women's Hall of Fame, USTA Hall of Fame and many more.

Her professional career showed some really interesting sights. She was a very dominant force, even before arriving on The Farm. She did not do a singles match in her age group, that was in USTA and Middle State Selections between ages 13 to 18. She ranked No. 37 at the WTA rankings in 1979, as a professional tennis player. She was the only American woman during the 1970's to have won an Australian Open Singles title. She has her share of serving the WTA Board of Directors, and was given the honor with WTA's Player Service Award.

It was in 2004, that Barbara Jordan together with her sister Kathy Jordan, was given recognition by The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) and was included into the Women's Hall of Fame. They were a team upon winning the AIAW doubles title in 1978. They were also the first sisters to reach a Grand Slam singles final ( in different tournaments) at the Open Era, they were also first who played in the Wimbledon women's title in 1984 since Maud and Lillian Watson.