Virginia Ruzici

Romanian Born 1955 173 cm Right handed
Head to heads vs Chris Evert (24)vs Joanne Russell (13)vs Wendy Turnbull (13)vs Mima Jausovec (13)vs Tracy Austin (13)vs Hana Mandlikova (12)

Match log

1987

Zurich, qualifyingCarpet, October
Q1LGabrielle Villiger6-2 3-6 3-6
FilderstadtCarpet, October
R32LNathalie Tauziat5-7 1-6
AthensClay, October
R32LAlexia Dechaume Balleret6-2 4-6 3-6
ITF Neumunster, challengerClay, July
R16LHeidi Sprung6-3 5-7 2-6
R32WCornelia Lechner5-7 6-2 6-2
BastadClay, July
R16LTine Scheuer Larsen1-6 6-2 5-7
R32WSusan Mascarin6-3 6-3
Roland GarrosClay, May
R64LEva Krapl5-7 7-5 4-6
R128WKaterina Bohmova6-3 6-2
StrasbourgClay, May
QFLCarling Bassett Seguso4-6 5-7
R16WJudith Wiesner6-2 6-1
R32WCarin Bakkum6-4 6-4
RomeClay, May
R32LBettina Fulco1-6 1-6
R64WMariana Perez Roldan6-4 6-7 7-6
ITF Limoges, challengerClay, March
SFLRegina Rajchrtova6-7 2-6
QFWEva Krapl5-7 7-6 7-5
R16WAlexia Dechaume Balleret6-4 7-5
R32WHana Fukarkova6-2 6-1
Key BiscayneHard, February
R128LHalle Cioffi5-7 3-6
ITF Bayonne, challengerCarpet, January
QFLEmmanuelle Derly4-6 1-6
R16WVera Carina Elter6-2 6-7 6-4
R32WCatherine Bonnet7-5 6-4

1986

OklahomaCarpet, February
R32LBarbara Gerken1-6 0-6
Boca RatonHard, February
R128LJulie Richardson4-6 6-4 2-6

1985

HilversumCarpet, November
QFLKaterina Maleeva5-7 5-7
R16WPetra Keppeler6-2 6-4
ZurichHard, October
R32LBarbara Potter2-6 6-7
BrightonCarpet, October
R16LManuela Maleeva Fragniere2-6 0-6
R32WJoanne Russell6-2 6-3
FilderstadtCarpet, October
R32LTerry Phelps3-6 2-6
US OpenHard, August
R128LWendy Turnbull4-6 1-6
MonticelloHard, August
QFLHelen Kelesi6-1 2-6 4-6
R16WRegina Marsikova6-1 6-3
R32WAnn Henricksson6-4 6-2
TorontoHard, August
R16LHelena Sukova1-6 5-7
R32WJenny Klitch6-2 6-0
R64WWendy White6-1 6-3
BregenzWon the titleClay, July
FWMima Jausovec6-2 6-3Won the title
SFWPetra Keppeler6-2 6-4
QFWRegina Marsikova1-6 7-5 6-4
R16WMarie Christine Calleja6-0 6-3
R32WMonica Weber3-6 7-6 6-3
WimbledonGrass, June
R64LHelena Sukova1-6 4-6
R128WAmy Holton4-6 6-4 7-5
BirminghamGrass, June
R32LLilian Drescher1-3 RET
Roland GarrosClay, May
R128LKathy Horvath4-6 6-2 3-6
BerlinClay, May
R64LSusan Mascarin3-6 5-7
BarcelonaClay, May
QFLSandra Cecchini4-6 6-2 5-7
R16WRenata Tomanova6-0 6-0
R32WMarie Christine Calleja6-3 6-3

Virginia Ruzici

Paris made Virginia Ruzici in a single weekend. At the 1978 French Open the 23-year-old from Câmpia Turzii beat defending champion Mima Jausovec 6-2, 6-2 for the singles title, then won the doubles alongside the same Jausovec, with a mixed doubles final thrown in: three finals in one weekend, and the first Grand Slam singles title ever won by a Romanian. An attacking player with a powerful forehand made for clay, she reached three Roland Garros semifinals and returned to the 1980 final, where Chris Evert allowed her just three games. Her ranking peaked at world No. 8 in May 1979.

Her 1 major sits inside 20 career titles, but the second act carries the tale on. In 2008 she watched a sixteen-year-old Simona Halep win the Roland Garros girls' title, then managed her career for the next fourteen years. When Halep lifted the senior trophy in 2018, forty years after Ruzici's own win, she became only the second Romanian woman with a major, guided by the first.