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Pam Whytcross

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Pam Whytcross
Country (sports) Australia
Born (1953-11-25) 25 November 1953 (age 71)
Turned pro1970
Retired1986
Prize moneyUS$ 126,973
Singles
Career record6–31
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 75 (1978)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (1977 Jan)
French Open3R (1977)
Wimbledon2R (1978)
US Open2R (1977)
Doubles
Career record23–40
Career titles3
Highest rankingTop 30 (1983)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenF (1978)
French OpenQF (1977, 1978, 1980)
Wimbledon3R(1977, 1980)
US Open3R (1976, 1977, 1978)

Pam Whytcross (born 25 November 1953) is a former professional tennis player and current tennis official from Australia. Playing internationally from 1973 to 1996, Whytcross won 3 WTA doubles titles and was runner-up with Naoko Satō at the 1978 Australian Open. In singles, she achieved her best Grand Slam result at Roland Garros in 1977, where she reached the third round. Whytcross reached a career-high singles ranking of 75 and ranked among the Top 30 in doubles.

Career

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Whytcross began competing in tournaments in 1970 and was also one of the original members of the WTA, which was formed in 1973. She reached her first WTA doubles final in Sydney in January 1974 but had to wait four years before reaching her second at Mahwah, New Jersey in 1978 with partner Barbara Potter.. Also in 1978, she acheived her best Grand Slam result, advancing to the final of the Australian Open in 1978 with partner Naoko Satō, where they lost to Betsy Nagelsen and Renáta Tomanová.

Whytcross subsequently won three WTA doubles titles in 1983, taking titles at the Head Cup in Kitzbühel, Austria in July 1983(with Chris Newton), and in successive weeks in October at two tournaments in Tokyo: the Japan Open and the Borden Classic, (both with Chris O'Neil) and qualified for the year-ending WTA Doubles championships in that year.

Whytcross reached at least the second round at all four Grand Slam singles tournaments with her best result being achieved at 1977, where she advanced to the third round (last 16) before losing to eventual champion Mima Jausovec.

In 1982, Whytcross reached the mixed doubles semifinals (with Chris Johnstone) at 1982 Wimbledon.

At the lower level satellite circuit, Whytcross won a number of singles titles including the Irish Open in 1979 & 1980 and the New Zealand Open in 1979 and 1981

She retired in 1986 at the age of 33.

Post-tennis career

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After retiring from playing, Whytcross began a career in officiating with the Women's Tennis Association Women's Tennis Association (WTA), a position she has held for over 35 years. She also was involved with mentoring Australian player Jelena Dokić as part of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) mentoring scheme.[1] She was appointed Technical Operations Manager for Tennis at the 2000 Summer Olympics and Competition Manager for the 2000 Summer Paralympics


In December 2024 in recognition of her outstanding tennis career, Whytcross was awarded the Spirit of Tennis Award by Tennis Australia. The award recognises an individual who personifies leadership, sportsmanship and goodwill while making a major contribution to the stature of tennis.

Grand Slam finals

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Doubles: 1 (0–1)

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Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1978 Australian Open Hard Japan Naoko Satō United States Betsy Nagelsen
Czechoslovakia Renáta Tomanová
5–7, 2–6

WTA finals

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Doubles (3 wins, 3 losses)

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Result W/L Date Tournament Location Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Jan 1974 New South Wales Open Sydney, Australia Hard Australia Janet Fallis United States Ann Kiyomura
Japan Kazuko Sawamatsu
3–6, 3–6
Loss 0–2 Aug 1978 Bergen County Classic Mahwah, U.S. Hard United States Barbara Potter South Africa Ilana Kloss
South Africa Marise Kruger
1–6, 3–6
Loss 0–3 Dec 1978 Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Hard Japan Naoko Satō United States Betsy Nagelsen
Czechoslovakia Renáta Tomanová
5–7, 2–6
Win 1–3 Jul 1983 Head Cup Kitzbühel, Austria Clay New Zealand Chris Newton France Nathalie Herreman
France Pascale Paradis
2–6, 6–4, 7–6
Win 2–3 Oct 1983 Borden Classic Tokyo, Japan Hard Australia Chris O'Neil Australia Brenda Remilton
Japan Naoko Satō
5–7, 7–6, 6–3
Win 3–3 Oct 1983 Japan Open Tokyo, Japan Hard New Zealand Chris O'Neil United States Helena Manset
United States Micki Schillig
6–3, 7–5

References

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  1. ^ McDonald, Margie (27 January 2009). "Jelena Dokić is happy and relieved according to former tour player Pam Whytcross". The Australian. News Limited. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
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