Darlene Hard

Darlene Hard
Personal information
Date of birth
Place of birth	Los Angeles, CA

Darlene Hard (born January 6, 1936 in Los Angeles, California, United States) was a tennis player known for her volleying ability and strong serves. She captured singles titles at the French Championships in 1960 and the U.S. Championships in 1960 and 1961.

With eight different partners, she won a total of 13 women's doubles titles in Grand Slam tournaments. Her last doubles title, at the age of 33 at the 1969 U.S. Open, came six years after she had retired from serious competition to become a tennis instructor. She also played the U.S. Open singles tournament in 1969, losing in the second round to Francoise Durr 6–3, 6–3.

Hard was enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1973.

Hard once said, "I was the last of the amateurs. In our day, I won Forest Hills and got my airfare from New York to Los Angeles. Whoopee." But, she added, "I was happy. I loved it. I loved tennis."

She has worked for the University of Southern California since 1981.

Grand Slam record

Australian Championships

Women's Doubles finalist: 1962
Mixed Doubles finalist: 1962

French Championships

Singles champion: 1960
Women's Doubles champion: 1955, 1957, 1960
Women's Doubles finalist: 1956, 1961
Mixed Doubles champion: 1955, 1961
Mixed Doubles runner-up: 1956

Wimbledon

Singles finalist: 1957, 1959
Women's Doubles champion: 1957, 1959, 1960, 1963
Mixed Doubles champion: 1957, 1959, 1960
Mixed Doubles finalist: 1963

U.S. Championships/Open

Singles champion: 1960, 1961
Singles finalist: 1958, 1962
Women's Doubles champion: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1969
Women's Doubles finalist: 1957, 1963
Mixed Doubles finalist: 1956, 1957, 1961

Grand Slam singles finals

Wins (3)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1960	French Championships	Yola Ramírez Ochoa	6–3, 6–4
1960	U.S. Championships	Maria Bueno	6–4, 10-12, 6–4
1961	U.S. Championships	Ann Haydon Jones	6–3, 6–4

Runner-ups (4)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1957	Wimbledon	Althea Gibson	6–3, 6–2
1958	U.S. Championships	Althea Gibson	3–6, 6–1, 6–2
1959	Wimbledon	Maria Bueno	6–4, 6–3
1962	U.S. Championships	Margaret Court	9–7, 6–4

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Tournament	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964 - 1968	1969	1970	Career SR
Australian Championships	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	QF	A	A	A	A	0 / 1
French Championships	A	A	2R	3R	QF	A	A	W	4R	A	2R	A	A	A	1 / 6
Wimbledon	A	A	SF	3R	F	A	F	QF	A	QF	SF	A	A	A	0 / 7
United States	2R	SF	3R	QF	SF	F	SF	W	W	F	QF	A	2R	2R	2 / 13
SR	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 1	0 / 2	2 / 3	1 / 2	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 0	0 / 1	0 / 1	3 / 27