The Open Era

Wendy Turnbull

Australia · born Brisbane, 1952 · right-handed · Wimbledon doubles champion 1978 and mixed champion 1983 and 1984

Australian Tennis Hall of Fame 2009
A painted still life of a grass court in the open era, not a portrait of the player
A period scene. No freely licensed photograph of this player has been found yet.

All players

3

Wimbledon titles: doubles 1978, mixed 1983 and 1984

8

Wimbledon finals in doubles and mixed, 1978 to 1986

1980

Australian Open singles final, then played on grass

No. 3

Career-high singles ranking, January 1985

55

WTA doubles titles

Playing career

Wendy Turnbull was born in Brisbane on 26 November 1952 and turned professional in 1975. Her peers called her Rabbit for her speed about the court. She reached three major singles finals and lost all three: the 1977 US Open and the 1979 French Open to Chris Evert, and the 1980 Australian Open, on grass, to Hana Mandlíková. She finished in the world's top ten for eight years running, from 1977 to 1984, and reached No. 3 in January 1985.

Her nine major titles all came in doubles: the 1978 Wimbledon with Kerry Reid, the French and US Opens of 1979 with Betty Stöve and the 1982 US Open with Rosie Casals, plus five mixed titles, three of them with John Lloyd, including Wimbledon in 1983 and 1984. She lost eleven more major women's doubles finals, nine of them to teams including Martina Navratilova.

She played Fed Cup for Australia from 1977 and captained the team from 1985 to 1993, and won a bronze medal in doubles with Elizabeth Smylie at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. She retired in 1989. She was appointed MBE in 1984 and entered the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in 2009.

On grass

Wimbledon 1978With Kerry Reid, beat Mima Jaušovec and Virginia Ruzici 4-6, 9-8, 6-3 in the final, after saving two match points in the second-set tie-break, which was then played at eight games all
Wimbledon doubles finals lost1979 with Betty Stöve, to Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. 1980 with Rosie Casals, to Kathy Jordan and Anne Smith 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. 1983 with Casals, to Navratilova and Pam Shriver 6-2, 6-2. 1986 with Hana Mandlíková, to Navratilova and Shriver 6-1, 6-3, in 42 minutes, the shortest ladies' doubles final on record
Wimbledon mixed with John Lloyd1982: lost the final to Kevin Curren and Anne Smith 2-6, 6-3, 7-5. 1983: beat Steve Denton and Billie Jean King 6-7, 7-6, 7-5 in 100 minutes. 1984: beat Denton and Kathy Jordan 6-3, 6-3
Australian grass1980 Australian Open: lost the final to Hana Mandlíková 6-0, 7-5. Won the New South Wales Open singles in Sydney in 1980, beating Pam Shriver 3-6, 6-4, 7-6, and the Brisbane singles in 1982, beating Shriver 6-3, 6-1
Wimbledon after retirementWon the 35 and over ladies' invitation doubles three years running, 1990 to 1992, with Virginia Wade

Every grass title: 15

Show every title, tournament by tournament
Wimbledon
1978 Women's doubles with Kerry Melville Reid
1983 Mixed doubles with John Lloyd
1984 Mixed doubles with John Lloyd
New South Wales Championships
1980 Women's singles† New South Wales Open
1983 Women's doubles New South Wales Open with Anne Hobbs
1985 Women's doubles New South Wales Open with Hana Mandlíková
Toyota Classic (Melbourne)
1978 Women's doubles† with Kerry Melville Reid
1979 Women's doubles† with Billie Jean King
National Panasonic Open
1982 Women's singles
1983 Women's doubles with Anne Hobbs
Chichester
1979 Women's doubles† with Greer Stevens
Eastbourne
1979 Women's doubles† with Betty Stöve
NSW Building Society Women's Classic
1979 Women's doubles† with Billie Jean King
Newport, Rhode Island
1985 Women's doubles Virginia Slims of Newport with Chris Evert
Brisbane Women's Classic
1987 Women's doubles with Hana Mandlíková

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

Anecdotes

The person behind the player.

Brisbane

Rabbit

Turnbull stood about 1.64 m and was nicknamed Rabbit by the other players for her speed around the court. Tennis Australia notes she reached the final of every major except Wimbledon in singles.

Source: Tennis Australia

Wimbledon 1983

Lloyd's little bit of history

John Lloyd's singles ranking had fallen to 362nd when he and Turnbull won the 1983 mixed. The Christian Science Monitor noted his wife, Chris Evert Lloyd, watching as her husband "deservedly made his little bit of history": the first title won by a British man at Wimbledon since Fred Perry, 47 years earlier.

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

Wimbledon 1979

On the wrong side of a record

Turnbull and Betty Stöve, the French and later US Open champions that year, lost the 1979 Wimbledon doubles final to Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova. The win gave King her 20th Wimbledon title, a record.

Source: Wimbledon Compendium 2025 (AELTC)

Roland Garros 1979

Three finals in Paris

At the 1979 French Open Turnbull reached the singles, doubles and mixed finals, which Queensland Sport called a rare feat. She lost the singles to Chris Evert and won both the doubles, with Betty Stöve, and the mixed, with Bob Hewitt.

Source: Queensland Sport Hall of Fame

Seoul 1988

Bronze without a play-off

Turnbull and Elizabeth Smylie lost the 1988 Olympic doubles semi-final to Pam Shriver and Zina Garrison. There was no bronze medal match in Seoul, so both beaten semi-final pairs received bronze.

Source: Olympedia

Sandgate, Queensland

A park of her own

Turnbull was named Australia's Sportswoman of the Year in 1983 and received her MBE from the Queen at Buckingham Palace. A park in her home suburb of Sandgate, Brisbane, was dedicated to her.

Source: Queensland Sport Hall of Fame

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Where they won on grass

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Sources

Page updated 4 November 2026. Spotted an error? Send a correction.

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