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Linda Tuero

Linda Tuero (born October 21, 1950) is an American tennis player and paleoanthropologist. She won six U.S Junior Titles and three U.S. Women's Titles. She reached the quarter-finals of the French Open in 1971, and won the singles titles at the Italian Open in 1972. She represented the United States in the Wightman Cup and Federation Cup teams in 1972 and 1973 and served as the Federation 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.

Biography

Linda Tuero was born in Metairie, Louisiana. She started playing tennis at the age of 11 and was taught by Emmett 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 varsity Green Wave letter.[5][6]

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 at Cincinnati in 1968 and three more national titles: the 1969 US Amateur Championship,[7] 1970 US Amateur Championship[7] and the 1970 US Open Clay Court Championship.

In 1971, she was runner-up in the US Open Clay Courts, losing to Billie Jean King in the finals, reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, and was a finalist in Cincinnati.

In 1972, playing her first year as a professional, Linda won the Italian Open.[8] She also won the first International Tournament of Madrid (Madrid Open) and was a semifinalist in the US Open Clay Courts, Canadian Open, WTA German Open, and Cincinnati with losses to Chris Evert, Evonne Goolagong, and Margaret Court. In 1973, she had a win over Martina Navratilova in the Fort Lauderdale Classic.

Tuero represented the US in the Wightman Cup and Federation Cup teams in 1972 and 1973, serving as the Federation 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] and USTA Southern Tennis Hall of Fame.[12]

Personal life

In 1968, she graduated from St. 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 in The Exorcist, she met the author William Peter Blatty. They were married in July 1975 and had two children, restaurant entrepreneur Billy and photojournalist J.T. Blatty.[14] She also appeared in The 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 of paleoanthropology. In 2005, she was part of a excavation in the Lake Turkana region of northern Kenya.[13]

Career finals

Singles (5 titles, 6 runners-up)

Career highlights

As an Amateur:

As a Professional:

Awards and honors

Articles

References

  1. ^ Blancher, Jake, the top ten Tulane athletics alumni of all time", The Tulane Hullabaloo, October 7, 2020
  2. ^ a b "USTA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS—GIRLS". Archived from the original on August 19, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c "USTA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS—GIRLS". Archived from the original on August 17, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  4. ^ a b "USTA Yearbook - Junior USTA Interscholastic Championships". Archived from the original on August 17, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  5. ^ a b c "A First At tulane". The Southeast Missourian. June 26, 1968. Archived from the original on May 17, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  6. ^ a b c "Tradition". OnlyAtTulane. Archived from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  7. ^ a b c "USTA ADULT & SENIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS—WOMEN". Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  8. ^ Douglas Perry (May 12, 2015). "Rome Masters: Meet the woman who shocked the Italian Open, then faced Hollywood shocks". OregonLive.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  9. ^ "USTA Yearbook - Fed Cup". Archived from the original on August 17, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  10. ^ a b "Tulane Athletic Hall Of Fame". Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  11. ^ a b "Louisiana Tennis Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on September 24, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  12. ^ a b "USTA Southern Tennis Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  13. ^ a b c d Billy Crawford (September 11, 2011). "Linda Tuero". Greater New Orleans Tennis. Archived from the original on March 15, 2016. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  14. ^ "An Angel Made Blatty Marry". The Journal. NY State Historic Newspapers. AP. July 22, 1975. p. 16. Archived from the original on May 10, 2017. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  15. ^ a b c John Barrett, ed. (1973). World of Tennis '73 : a BP and Commercial Union yearbook. London: Queen Anne Press. pp. 328–329. ISBN 9780671216238.
  16. ^ Cincinnati Masters
  17. ^ "USTA Yearbook - Top 10 U.S. Women's Rankings". Archived from the original on August 19, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  18. ^ "Linda Tuero Captures Girls Tennis Crown". Reading Eagle. July 31, 1966. Archived from the original on May 17, 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  19. ^ Cowan, Walter G. (1983). New Orleans Yesterday and Today: A Guide to the City. LSU Press. ISBN 9780807127438. 0-8071-2743-4.
  20. ^ Phillips, Caryl (June 1, 1999). "The Right Set: A Tennis Anthology". ISBN 9780307490179. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  21. ^ "40 Years Ago In Tennis – Bud Collins Summarizes The Epic Year". Tennis Grandstand. July 31, 2009. Archived from the original on May 16, 2015. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  22. ^ "1973 US Wightman Cup team". Archived from the original on January 12, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2013.

External links