Laura DuPont
University of North Carolina
|
2002
The U.S. Collegiate singles champion in 1970, Laura DuPont (b. 1949) became the first woman to win a national title in any sport for the University of North Carolina. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, where she learned tennis on public courts, DuPont moved to North Carolina as a teenager and quickly dominated the state’s junior championships.
Named North Carolina AAU Athlete of the Year in 1970, DuPont lettered in both tennis and basketball at UNC and was a three-time Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Singles Champion. DuPont joined the inter-national circuit immediately after her graduation in 1972, taking the German, Canadian and Argentine Open singles titles and rising to a No. 10 world ranking in 1977.
A board member for the Women’s Tennis Association in its founding years, she served as WTA treasurer and vice president between 1975 and 1981. A longtime teaching pro in Baltimore, DuPont returned to North Carolina in 1997, where she fought “the greatest match of my life” against breast cancer. She passed away in February 2002.
Career Highlights
- U.S. Collegiate Singles Champion 1970
Ranked in USTA Top 10 1977
Ranked in World Tennis Top 10 1977
North Carolina Junior Singles Champion 16 and under 196566; 18 and under 196668
Member of the Southeastern Junior Wightman Cup Team 1967; Junior Wightman Cup Player of the Year 1970
North Carolina Singles Champion 1967, 1969
U.S. Indoor Doubles Finalist 1969
North Carolina AAU Athlete of the Year 1970
Member, UNC varsity tennis team; undefeated in team matches
Member, UNC varsity basketball team; averaged 30 points a game
Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Singles Champion 1968, 197071, Finalist 1969; Doubles Champion 1970
B.A., University of North Carolina 1972
Team Member Cleveland Nets 197475, Chicago Aces 1982, World Team Tennis
New Zealand Open Singles and Doubles Champion 1975
Argentine Open Singles Champion 1976; Doubles Finalist 1976, 1978
South African Open Doubles Champion 1976; Singles and Doubles Finalist 1975
U.S. Clay Court Singles Champion 1977; Doubles Finalist 1976
German Open Singles Champion 1977; Doubles Finalist 1976
Canadian Open Singles Champion 1979; Singles Finalist 1975
Beckenham Grass Court Doubles Champion, Singles Finalist 1978
U.S. Open 35 and over Singles Champion 1984; Doubles Champion 1985
Member, WTA Board of Directors 19741983; Treasurer 197579, Vice-President 197981; Executive Committee 198183
Manager of the Orchard Indoor Tennis Club, Baltimore 198396
Named “Tar Heel of the Week” by Raleigh News & Observer 1998
Inducted into the North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame 1977
Inducted into Charlotte, NC, Catholic High School Athletic Hall of Fame 2000
