One Hit Wonders of Women's Tennis Quiz

Answer: Sue Barker

The 1976 French Open was weakened somewhat by the decision of defending champion Chris Evert to skip the event in order to take part in World Team Tennis. Sue Barker was the top seed in her absence and she justified her ranking by winning the title. The British woman did it the hard way, being take to a final set in four of her six matches. She defeated Renata Tomonova of Czechoslovakia in the final. She reached the semi-finals of both Wimbledon and the Australian Open the following year, but after that her career went into a decline. She retired in 1984 and went on to enjoy a successful career in broadcasting.

Virgnia Wade and Ann Jones both won multiple slams, whilst Jo Durie never won one.

Answer: Conchita Martinez

Conchita Martinez was a Spanish tennis player whose best results tended to come on clay courts. Despite being seeded third at Wimbledon in 1994, she wasn't regarded as among the favourites for the title. With top seed Steffi Graf crashing out in the first round, the draw opened up and Martinez made it to the final where she faced nine-time champion Martina Navratilova. Martinez won the final in three sets for what was her only Grand Slam title. She retired in 2006 and went on to a successful coaching career.

Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario won multiple slams, Gabriela Sabatini's only slam was at the 1990 US Open and Ines Gorrochategui never won one.

Answer: Chris O'Neill

In 1978, the Australian Open, although classified as a Grand Slam event, was a lot less prestigious event than in the 21st century. Top players such as Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert declined to take part, with Britain's Sue Barker being the top seed. The wide-open event saw Chris O'Neill, from Newcastle, NSW, winning the title after defeating Betsy Nagelesen in the final. O'Neill failed to get past the second tound of any other slam after that.

Amanda Tobin, Christine Matison and Dianne Evers all failed to win a slam during their careers.

Answer: Mima Jausovec

The 1977 French Open was another of those slams of the 1970's where many top players were absent, leaving the field wide open. Mima Jausovec of Yugoslavia (she was born in modern-day Slovenia) was actually the top seed at the event, and justified her ranking, defeating Florenta Mihai of Romania in the final. She reached two further finals at Roland Garros, losing to Virginia Ruzici in 1978 and to Chris Evert in 1983. Jausovec retired from professional tennis in 1988.

Manuela Maleeva, Helena Sukova and Regina Marsikova all ended their careers without a singles slam success.

Answer: Flavia Pennetta

The 2015 US Open final was an all-Italian affair. In the semi-finals, Flavia Pennetta beat second seed Simona Halep whilst Roberta Vinci shocked top seed Serena Williams. Pennetta won the final in straight sets for her only singles slam title, then retired at the end of the year.

Vinci, Sara Errani and Camila Giorgi all retired without winning a singles slam.

Answer: Iva Majoli

Iva Majoli was born in Zagreb in modern-day Croatia. At the 1997 French Open, where she was seeded ninth, she upset top seed Martina Hingis in straight sets in the final to become the first Croatian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title. This was the only defeat suffered by Hingis in any of that year's Grand Slam events. Majoli struggled with injuries after that, never going beyond the quarter finals of any slam.

Katarina Srebotnik, Tina Pisnik and Jelena Dokic all failed to win a singles slam during their careers.

Answer: Marion Bartoli

Marion Bartoli was a former finalist at Wimbledon, in 2007, but was not among the favourites in 2013, being seeded 15th. Early losses for the top seeds opened up the draw, and Bartoli took full advantage, not dropping a set throughout the tournament, and defeating Sabine Lisicki in the final. Due to injury problems, Bartoli retired shortly afterwards.

Nathaile Dechy, Pauline Parmentier and Emilie Loit all failed to win a singles slam during their careers.

Answer: Barbara Jordan

Barbara Jordan had an unusual record at the Australian Open - she played there three times and only got past the first round once, in 1979, when she won the title! With many of the world's top players absent from the draw, Jordan took advantage to win the tournament, defeating fellow-American Sharon Walsh in the final. Jordan's sister, Kathy, had the more successful career, especially on the doubles court where she won seven slams in the women's and mixed events.

Walsh, Newberry and Reynolds all failed to win a singles slam.

Answer: Samantha Stosur

Samantha Stosur, from Brisbane., enjoyed most of her success on the doubles court, although she had previously been a finalist at Roland Garros. At Flushing Meadow in 2011, Stosur was seeded ninth and went all the way to the final where she shocked Serena Williams in straight sets. She retired in 2023 without adding a second slam title.

Ashleigh Barty won multiple slams, whilst Alicia Molik and Nicole Pratt didn't win any.

Answer: Anastasia Myskina

Anastasia Myskina, from Moscow, was seeded sixth at Roland Garros in 2004. She defeated Amricans Venus Williams and Jennifer Capriati on her way to the final, where she defeated fellow-Russian Elena Dementieva in straight sets. Apart from a couple of quarter final appearances at Wimbledon in 2005 and 2006, her career never hit those heights again.

Svetlana Kuznetsova won multiple slams, whilst Elena Dementieva and Nadia Petrova failed to win any.