Kerry Reid

Kerry Reid

Consistency was Kerry Reid's signature. Born Kerry Melville in Sydney in 1947, she finished in the world's top ten for twelve straight years from 1968 to 1979, peaking at No. 5, while Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong took the headlines at home. At 23 she risked her career as one of the Original 9, the players who broke away at Houston in 1970 to found the women's professional tour; she and Judy Dalton, the group's two Australians, were banned from home events for a time.

The near misses came first. Court beat her 6-3, 6-1 in the 1970 Australian final, and Billie Jean King edged her 6-3, 7-5 in the 1972 US Open final after Reid had knocked out Chris Evert in the semifinal, one of nine open-era major semifinals she reached. The reward arrived in January 1977: at 29 she beat Dianne Fromholtz 7-5, 6-2 in Melbourne for her 1 major, the centrepiece of 22 career titles. She retired in 1979.