Chris Oneil

Australian Born 1956 175 cm Right handed

Match log

1985

Wimbledon, qualifyingGrass, June
Q2LHu Na4-6 1-6
Q1WCarin Anderholm6-1 6-1

1983

Australian Open, qualifyingGrass, November
Q2LSophie Amiach6-3 0-6 3-6
Q1WAnnette Gulley6-1 3-6 6-0
SydneyGrass, November
R64LSherry Acker6-7 6-7
BrisbaneGrass, November
R16LEva Pfaff4-6 2-6
R32WIva Budarova6-1 3-6 6-2
R64WAnnabel Croft6-2 5-7 6-2
Tokyo Japan OpenOctober
R16LBetsy Nagelsen6-7 3-6
R32WAkiko Kijimuta7-5 6-3
Tokyo BordenHard, October
R32LStacy Margolin3-6 2-6
BakersfieldHard, September
R32LLena Sandin3-6 4-6
Kansas CityHard, September
QFLBarbara Gerken1-6 2-6
R16WAmanda Brown6-4 7-5
R32WKim Steinmetz6-4 6-2
Salt Lake City, qualifyingHard, September
Q3LKathy Obrien2-6 4-6
Q2WLori Mcneil6-4 6-4
US Open, qualifyingHard, August
Q2LJane Forman4-6 4-6
Q1WEileen Tell6-2 4-6 6-1
Wimbledon PlateGrass, June
R16LRene Uys6-4 3-6 2-6
R32WClaudia Monteiro6-2 1-6 10-8
WimbledonGrass, June
R128LBarbara Jordan3-6 3-6
Eastbourne, qualifyingGrass, June
Q1LCathy Drury5-7 5-7
BirminghamGrass, June
R64LBarbara Jordan3-6 2-6
Q2WCarina Karlsson6-2 6-3
Q1WMarsha Bladel6-2 6-3
Roland GarrosClay, May
R128LAnne White3-6 7-5 2-6
BerlinClay, May
R64LClaudia Pasquale2-6 6-7
Q2WAnn Gabriel6-3 6-1
Q1WJulie Filkoff6-1 6-1
LuganoClay, May
R64LCatherine Tanvier3-6 1-6
AtlantaHard, April
R32LAnne White6-7 2-6
Q3LKim Steinmetz3-6 6-4 3-6
Q2WShelley Aguero6-0 6-4
Q1WKaren Seguso6-4 1-6 6-3
Amelia Island, qualifyingClay, April
Q1LRenata Tomanova0-6 1-6
Hilton Head, qualifyingClay, April
Q1LLaura Arraya3-6 4-6
Pittsburgh, qualifyingCarpet, March
Q2LDebbie RobbW/O
NashvilleHard, February
R32LCatherine Suire6-4 4-6 1-6
RidgewoodHard, February
R32LMarcella Mesker4-6 2-6
Q4WJean Hepner6-2 6-2
Q3WLea Plchova6-2 6-3
Q2WAnnabel Croft4-6 6-1 6-4
Q1WElisabeth EkblomW/O
Hershey, qualifyingHard, February
Q2LStacy Margolin4-6 6-2 5-7
Q1WMary Haverstick6-0 6-1
Indianapolis Indoors, qualifyingHard, February
Q2LRaffaella Reggi Concato2-6 6-7
Q1WBarbara Rossi7-6 6-4
Palm BeachClay, January
R64LRosie Casals2-6 5-7
Q2LLea Antonoplis6-7 3-6
Q1WLele Forood6-3 6-3

Chris Oneil

The 1978 Australian Open drew a field of just 32, with nobody from the world's top 20; Evonne Goolagong and Wendy Turnbull were among the absentees. Chris O'Neil, a 22-year-old from Newcastle ranked No. 111, seized the opening: unseeded, she beat Betsy Nagelsen 6-3, 7-6 in the final and collected 6,000 dollars, the first unseeded woman to win the title in the Open era. Bud Collins called her the longest shot ever to win a women's major.

O'Neil never dressed it up, later calling it probably the weakest Australian championship of its era, but Kooyong suited her: she had won the junior title there in 1973. Her ranking peaked at No. 80, with 9 career titles around the 1 major, and after retiring she coached back in New South Wales, running the O'Neil School of Tennis with her brothers and later teaching in Port Macquarie. For 44 years she remained the last Australian woman to win her home major, until Ashleigh Barty ended the wait in 2022.