The Open Era
Great Britain · born Bristol, 1960 · right-handed · world No. 5 in 1984 and Wimbledon mixed doubles champion 1987 with Jeremy Bates
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1987
Wimbledon mixed doubles title with Jeremy Bates, unseeded
1984
Wimbledon singles quarter-final, her best result there
No. 5
World singles ranking, July 1984
1983
Sydney grass title, beating Kathy Jordan 6-3, 7-5
30
Years as a commentator, ending on Centre Court in 2026
Joanna Mary Durie was born in Bristol on 27 July 1960. Six feet tall, she turned professional at 17; her first Wimbledon match, in 1977, was against Virginia Wade, the eventual champion. A back injury kept her out for about eight months in 1980.
Her breakthrough came in 1983, when she reached the semi-finals of the French Open as an unseeded player and then the US Open semi-finals, losing to Chris Evert. She won singles titles at Mahwah and on grass at Sydney that year, and in July 1984 reached No. 5 in the world after a Wimbledon quarter-final. She was Britain's leading woman for most of her career and played the Wightman Cup for a decade.
With Jeremy Bates she won the Wimbledon mixed doubles in 1987 and the Australian Open mixed in 1991. Knee trouble from about 1991 wore her down, and she played her last Wimbledon in 1995 on a wildcard. She then coached, among others, Elena Baltacha and Anne Keothavong as teenagers, and commentated for the BBC and Eurosport until July 2026.
| Wimbledon mixed 1987 final | With Jeremy Bates, unseeded, beat Darren Cahill and Nicole Provis 7-6 (12-10), 6-3 in 71 minutes on Centre Court; the 22-point tie-break is the longest in a Wimbledon mixed final |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon 1982 | Lost in the first round to Virginia Wade 3-6, 7-6 (15-13), 6-2; the 28-point tie-break is listed by the AELTC among the longest in Wimbledon ladies' singles |
| Birmingham 1982 | Doubles title with Anne Hobbs, beating Rosie Casals and Wendy Turnbull 6-3, 6-2 |
| Wimbledon 1984 | Quarter-final, after beating the 15-year-old Steffi Graf in the fourth round |
| Invitation doubles | 35 and over ladies' title at Wimbledon in 1996 and 1997 with Anne Smith; runner-up 1998, 2001, 2003 and 2004 |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Mixed doubles | with Jeremy Bates |
| Birmingham | ||
| 1982 | Women's doubles | with Anne Hobbs |
| New South Wales Championships | ||
| 1983 | Women's singles New South Wales Open | |
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
"I think that was the most nervous I have ever been on court"
The person behind the player.
Centre Court, 1987
On match point Bates served to Darren Cahill, and she was sure the return would come at her. "Sure enough he hit it at me and somehow I managed to get the racket on it and it squirted over the net. It was a terrible volley but it was enough and it was the most incredible feeling to win in front of a British crowd at Wimbledon."
Source: Jo Carter, ESPN, January 2011New York, 1983
Her US Open semi-final against Chris Evert was her first match on the stadium court. She spent the whole warm-up searching the crowd for her coach, Alan Jones: "it took me the whole of the warm-up to find him. That really helped me relax and after that I loved every minute of the match."
Source: Jo Carter, ESPN, January 2011Wimbledon, 1995
Ranked outside the top 300 after knee operations, she had a wildcard and was determined to win a match. She beat Alexia Dechaume-Balleret, then asked to play Jana Novotná on the old Court One so she could go over and hug Jones afterwards. "The press said it was disgraceful that I wasn't playing on Centre but it was my decision."
Source: Jo Carter, ESPN, January 2011Centre Court, July 2026
After commentating on Iga Świątek's defeat on 4 July 2026 she announced her retirement on X: "Well, after 30 years of commentating, today was my last match. Great way to finish on Centre Court."
Source: Awful Announcing, July 2026Free membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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