 | |
| Country (sports) |  United States |
|---|---|
| Residence | Sea Island, Georgia, U.S. |
| Born | (1950-10-21)October 21, 1950 (age 75) Metairie, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 4 in (163 cm) |
| Turned pro | 1972 |
| Retired | 1973 |
| Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
| College | Tulane University[1] |
| Singles | |
| Career record | unknown value |
| Career titles | 5 |
| Highest ranking | No. 10 (1972) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| French Open | QF (1971) |
| Wimbledon | 3R (1971) |
| US Open | 3R (1968,1971) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | unknown value |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| French Open | 3R (1969) |
| Wimbledon | 2R (1972) |
| US Open | QF (1969) |
Linda Tuero (born October 21, 1950) is an Americantennis player andpaleoanthropologist. She won six U.S Junior Titles and three U.S. Women's Titles. She reached the quarter-finals of theFrench Open in 1971, and won the singles titles at theItalian Open in 1972. She represented the United States in theWightman Cup andFederation Cup teams in 1972 and 1973 and served as theFederation Cup Captain in 1973. Tuero was ranked in the U.S. Top Ten Women Singles for four years and in 1972 was ranked No. 10 in the World.
Linda Tuero was born in Metairie, Louisiana. She started playing tennis at the age of 11 and was taught byEmmett Paré throughout her career. At age 13, she won the US National Girl's 14 Singles Championship and by the time she had graduated from high school, she had won six national titles: the 1964 US National Girl's 14 Singles Championship, the 1966 US National Girl's 16 Singles Championship, the 1966 US National Girl's 16 Doubles Championship, the 1967 US National Girl's 18 Clay Court Singles Championship, the 1968 US National Girl's 18 Clay Court Singles Championship, and the 1968 National Interscholastic Championship.[2][3][4]
Tuero was the first woman to be awarded an athletic scholarship to Tulane University, the first woman to play on a Tulane varsity team and the first woman to win a varsityGreen Wave letter.[5][6] When she joined, Tulane didn't have a women's tennis team, so she played for the men's team.[7] Many men's teams from opposing universities, including Georgia Tech and Northwestern, refused to play against her, so over three seasons, she only played nine matches, winning eight of them.[7]
While a member of the Tulane tennis team, she played on the women's professional tennis circuit but kept her amateur status. During this time, she won the singles and doubles titles atCincinnati in 1968 and three more national titles: the 1969 US Amateur Championship,[8] 1970 US Amateur Championship[8] and the 1970US Open Clay Court Championship.
In 1971, she was runner-up in theUS Open Clay Courts, losing toBillie Jean King in the finals, reached the quarterfinals of theFrench Open, and was a finalist inCincinnati.
In 1972, playing her first year as a professional, Linda won theItalian Open.[7] She also won the first International Tournament of Madrid (Madrid Open) and was a semifinalist in theUS Open Clay Courts,Canadian Open,WTA German Open, andCincinnati with losses toChris Evert,Evonne Goolagong, andMargaret Court. In 1973, she had a win overMartina Navratilova in the Fort Lauderdale Classic.
Tuero represented the US in theWightman Cup andFederation Cup teams in 1972 and 1973, serving as theFederation Cup captain in 1973[9]
Her top career world rankings included No 1 in Women-Under-21 and No 10 in World (Women). She has been inducted into the Halls of Fame of Tulane University,[10] Louisiana Tennis Tennis Hall of Fame,[11] andUSTA Southern Tennis Hall of Fame.[12]
In 1968, she graduated fromSt. Martin's Episcopal School in Metairie, Louisiana. In 1971, she graduated cum laude from Tulane with a major in psychology.[13]
In 1973, while working as an extra inThe Exorcist, she met the authorWilliam Peter Blatty. They were married in July 1975 and had two children, restaurant entrepreneur Billy and photojournalistJ.T. Blatty.[14] She also appeared inThe Ninth Configuration, which he wrote.
After her divorce from Blatty, she married William Paul.[13] She had another son during this marriage. She is now married to Dr. William Lindsley who is a former business consultant and former dean and professor at Boston College, Vanderbilt University Owen School of Management, and Belmont University Graduate School of Business.[13]
In 2000, Tuero enrolled in the Tulane Graduate School, and in 2004, she graduated with a master's degree in anthropology, specializing in the field ofpaleoanthropology. In 2005, she was part of an excavation in theLake Turkana region of northern Kenya.[13]
| Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Location | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1. | Jul 1968 | Tri-State Tournament | Cincinnati | Clay |  Tory Fretz | 6–1, 6–2 |
| Loss | 2. | Jul 1969 | U.S. Clay Court Open | Indianapolis | Clay |  Gail Sherriff Chanfreau | 2–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 3. | Aug 1970 | U.S. Clay Court Open | Indianapolis | Clay | Gail Sherriff Chanfreau | 7–5, 6–1 |
| Loss | 4. | Aug 1971 | Western Championships | Cincinnati | Clay |  Virginia Wade | 3–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 5. | Aug, 1971 | U.S. Clay Court Open | Indianapolis | Clay | Billie Jean King | 4–6, 5–7 |
| Loss | 6.[15] | Dec 1971 | Border Championships | East London | Clay |  Ilana Kloss | 3–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 7. | Jan 1972 | Eastern Province Championships | Port Elizabeth[15] | Clay | Sharon Walsh | 6–1, 6–2 |
| Loss | 8. | Jan 1972 | Western Province Championships | Cape Town[15] | Clay | Patricia Pretorius | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 9. | Apr 1972 | Melia Trophy | Madrid | Clay |  Alena Palmeova | 6–3, 6–1 |
| Win | 10. | May 1972 | Italian Open | Rome | Clay |  Olga Morozova | 6–4, 6–3 |
| Loss | 11. | Jun 1972 | German Open | Hamburg | Clay |  Helga Masthoff | 3–6, 6–3, 6–8 |
As an Amateur:
As a Professional:
