The Open Era
South Africa · born Pietermaritzburg, 1957 · right-handed · twice Wimbledon mixed doubles champion · world No. 7 in 1980
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2
Wimbledon mixed doubles titles, 1977 and 1979
3
Grand Slam mixed titles, with the 1979 US Open
7
Career-high singles ranking, 1980
1980
Wimbledon singles and doubles quarter-finals
23
Her age when she retired in December 1980
Greer Ruth Stevens was born in Pietermaritzburg, Natal, in 1957. With Bob Hewitt, 17 years her senior, she won the Wimbledon mixed doubles in 1977 as an unseeded pair and again in 1979, and the US Open mixed in 1979.
Her singles peaked in 1980, when she rose to No. 7 in the world and reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in both singles and doubles. She also played World TeamTennis for the Boston Lobsters. She retired in December 1980, aged 23, after the New South Wales Open, at the end of the best year of her career. She later married and is now Greer Leo-Smith.
| Wimbledon mixed finals | 1977: unseeded with Bob Hewitt, beat the top seeds Frew McMillan and Betty Stove 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. 1979: seeded second, beat McMillan and Stove again 7-5, 7-6 (9-7) |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon 1980 | Reached her first singles quarter-final and lost to Tracy Austin; also reached the doubles quarter-finals |
| Chichester 1979 | Won the women's doubles with Wendy Turnbull |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Mixed doubles | with Bob Hewitt |
| 1979 | Mixed doubles | with Bob Hewitt |
| Chichester | ||
| 1979 | Women's doubles†| with Wendy Turnbull |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
The person behind the player.
Wimbledon 1980
In 1980 The Christian Science Monitor listed the women's quarter-finals: Billie Jean King against Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert Lloyd against Andrea Jaeger, Evonne Goolagong against Wendy Turnbull, and Tracy Austin against Greer Stevens, reaching the last eight for the first time.
Source: The Christian Science Monitor, 2 July 1980Family
Her mother, Ruth Stevens, a Holy Family Convent old girl, was still playing tennis with Greer's two sons, Dylan and Brent, while they were at Hilton College in KwaZulu-Natal.
Source: Hilton Village newsWimbledon 1977
Stevens was 20 when she and Hewitt, playing unseeded, beat the top seeds McMillan and Stove from a set down in the 1977 final on Centre Court.
Source: Wimbledon Compendium 2025 (AELTC)Free membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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