Photograph above taken at Wimbledon 1983.
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| LAST 16. FRENCH OPEN 1978 |
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MIMA JAUSOVEC beat LESLEY BOWREY-TURNER 6-1, 6-3
REGINA MARSIKOVA beat MARIANA SIMIONESCU 6-1, 6-4
HELGA MASTHOFF (NEISSAN) beat LESLEY HUNT 7-6, 6-4
VIRGINIA RUZICI beat FREDERIQUE THIBAULT 6-3, 6-2
BRIGITTE SIMON-GLINEL beat VIVIANA SEGAL 6-4, 6-3
FIORELLA BONICELLI beat PAM TEEGUARDEN 6-3, 6-7, 6-4
MIROSLAVA BENDLOVA beat PAT MEDRADO 6-3, 6-4 |
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| QUARTERFINALS |
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MIMA JAUSOVEC beat KATHY MAY-TEACHER-PABEN 6-4, 6-2
REGINA MARSIKOVA beat HELGA MASTHOFF (NEISSAN) 6-3, 6-3
VIRGINIA RUZICI beat FIORELLA BONICELLI 6-7, 6-4, 8-6
BRIGITTE SIMON-GLINEL beat MIROSLAVA BENDLOVA 6-3, 6-3 |
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| SEMIFINALS |
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MIMA JAUSOVEC beat REGINA MARSIKOVA 6-3, 6-4
VIRGINIA RUZICI beat BRIGITTE SIMON-GLINEL 6-3, 6-0 |
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| FINAL |
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| VIRGINIA RUZICI beat MIMA JAUSOVEC 6-2, 6-2 |
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Virginia Ruzici became a professional tennis player in 1975. One of
her main assets on court was her powerful forehand. In a career spanning
twelve years, Ruzici won 12 career singles titles, including one Grand
Slam title, the 1978 French Open. In the final she beat 1977 French Open
champion Mima Jaušovec 6–2, 6–2. Ruzici also won the French Open
doubles event with Jaušovec in 1978 and reached the mixed doubles final
in 1977, making her one of only seven women to reach all three finals of
one Grand Slam in the open era.
Ruzici remained in
the world's top twenty from 1977 to 1983. She regularly featured in
the Romania Fed Cup team throughout her career, and began playing for
them in 1973, two years before turning professional.
At Wimbledon
1978, Ruzici lost a notable match in the quarter final round to the
Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley who was playing with an injured
ankle. Cawley's injury lead to her collapsing on court and her husband,
Roger Cawley, came on to the court to aid his wife, technically
defaulting the Australian from the match. When Mrs. Cawley recovered,
Ruzici agreed to continue the match, but lost 7–5 6–3 and was praised
for her sportsmanship.
It has often been stated during TV
commentaries that Ruzici's victory in 1980 at a tournament in Salt Lake
City was watched by Richard Williams who was inspired by her triumph and
prize money to teach his daughters Venus Williams & Serena Williams
to play tennis.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; Wikipeadia.
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