Anne Guerrant

Last updated
Anne Guerrant
Anne Guerrant 2012.jpg
Full nameRamona Anne Guerrant
Country (sports)Flag of the United States.svg United States
Born (1948-11-28) November 28, 1948 (age 75)
Marengo, Iowa
Singles
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open QF (1977)
French Open 3R (1972)
Wimbledon 4R (1974)
US Open 4R (1977)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open W (1977)
French Open SF (1973)
Wimbledon SF (1974, 1978)
US Open SF (1976)

Anne Guerrant (born November 28, 1948), born as Ramona "Mona" Anne Schallau, is an American retired professional tennis player.

Contents

Guerrant was the winner of four singles titles in Portland (1973), South Florida, and in Wellington and Auckland, New Zealand (1972). She won many doubles titles on the pro tour with several different partners including Ann Kiyomura and Kerry Reid with whom she won the Australian Open doubles title in 1977, a title that they shared with Evonne Cawley and Helen Cawley (the final was never played, because of rain). She was a women's doubles and mixed doubles standout in World Team Tennis and was part of the #1 women's doubles team in the League with Billie Jean King in 1975 and the #1 mixed doubles team with Ross Case in 1978. Anne retired from the pro tour in 1980, and since then she has also won one world and fourteen age group National Singles Championships as of 2016. She is a retired real estate entrepreneur, a philanthropist, and author of How to Be Richer Than Your Parents, a book about finances for high schoolers and young adults.

Women's rights pioneer

Schallau grew up in Iowa City, Iowa, in a big family with seven children. As a little girl she was always playing sports. Even though she was one of the best local baseball players, when she was 10 she was not allowed to play Little League baseball because she was a girl. Looking for an alternative sport open to girls, one of her brothers showed her how to play tennis. She was discovered by Don Klotz, the Tennis Coach at the University of Iowa, when she won her first tournament. Klotz taught her for free until she was 18 and went off to college. While she was at Iowa City High School there were no sports for girls at all. When she was a high school junior Guerrant went to her local school board and made a case for a girls' tennis team. She got all five votes. [1] The school got a girls' tennis team, and Schallau won the state high school tournament twice. She received an academic scholarship to Rollins College in Florida where she played varsity tennis. The women's pro tennis tour was just getting started when she graduated with a degree in Behavioral Science, and she decided to try the pro tour until her money ran out. The money never ran out.

The #1 Women's Doubles Team in World Team Tennis in 1975 Anne Guerrant and Billie Jean King.jpg
The #1 Women's Doubles Team in World Team Tennis in 1975

Although not one of the Original 9, Guerrant considers herself to be one of the founders of the Women's Tennis Association along with Billie Jean King and other women's rights pioneers. [2] She was the Chairman of the Ranking Committee and helped introduce the first computer-generated ranking system to the women's pro tour. Women’s tennis was a highly visible manifestation of the progress of the Women’s Lib movement of the 1970s. The crowds grew, prize money kept increasing, and women gained more and more respect as athletes and as people.

Guerrant lives in Gilbert, Arizona with her husband, Terry Guerrant, whom she married in 1975. They have one son, Daniel Guerrant. The Guerrants were real estate investment entrepreneurs from 1976 until they retired in 2005.

Charitable activities

When Guerrant was playing on the pro tour and traveling the world she saw poverty, especially the favelas (slums) of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She resolved to help those impoverished people but did not know an effective way until she took a trip in 2005 to India with her husband, Terry. They visited a micro-lending program in a small village of mud huts and saw firsthand what small loans of $40–350 could do to transform a village.

After seeing the extreme poverty and the impressive entrepreneurial results that women had achieved taking out and re-paying small loans, the couple decided micro-lending was the best way to make a lasting difference. They created the Guerrant Foundation, Inc. in late 2005. The Guerrant Foundation helps women and families improve their lives through small loans to start their own businesses. The interest on these small loans covers administrative expenses, and the repaid principal is loaned out again and again in a never-ending cycle of prosperity.

Guerrant Foundation

The Guerrant Foundation has improved the lives of thousands of the world's most impoverished people.[ citation needed ] The Foundation’s signature event is a “Battle of the Sexes” team tennis event featuring four doubles matches between eight men and eight women. It is held annually in November in Phoenix, Arizona.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billie Jean King</span> American tennis player (born 1943)

Billie Jean King, also known as BJK, is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles. King was a member of the victorious United States team in seven Federation Cups and nine Wightman Cups. For three years, she was the U.S. captain in the Federation Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evonne Goolagong Cawley</span> Australian aboriginal tennis player (born 1951)

Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Goolagong was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pam Teeguarden</span> American tennis player

Pam Teeguarden is a former American professional tennis player in the 1970s and 1980s, ranked in the top 20 from 1970–1975. She won two Grand Slam Doubles Titles and was a quarter finalist in singles at the U.S. Open and The French Open. Her father Jerry, a well known coach, helped Margaret Court win the coveted Grand Slam in 1970 and Virginia Wade to her 1977 Wimbledon triumph. Teeguarden was voted the "Most Watchable Player" based on play and appearance by a group of Madison Avenue advertising executives or "Mad Men" while playing at the US Open. Teeguarden played in 19 consecutive US Opens, holding the record until Chris Evert played in 20. She wore the first all black outfit in the history of tennis in 1975 at The Bridgestone Doubles Championships in Tokyo, starting a trend that is still popular today. Teeguarden was the first woman tennis player signed by Nike. She played on the victorious Los Angeles Strings Team Tennis team in 1981 and won the Team Tennis Mixed Doubles Division with Tom Gullikson in 1977; they were also runners-up in the league that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Françoise Dürr</span> French tennis player

Françoise Dürr is a retired French tennis player. She won 50 singles titles and over 60 doubles titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tennis Australia</span> Governing body of tennis in Australia

Tennis Australia Limited is the governing body for tennis in Australia. It is owned by Australian states and territories. The association organizes national and international tennis tournaments including the Australian Open, Australian Open Series, Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup, ATP Cup, and Australian Pro Tour. In addition, the association takes the responsibility to facilitate tennis at all levels from grassroots to elite development. Tennis Australia's state-based member associates carry out the promotion, management, and development of Tennis within Australia. Other than that, it administers amateur tournaments and youth development programs.

Renáta Tomanová is a former professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia.

Helen Gourlay Cawley is a retired tennis player from Australia.

Judy Tegart-Dalton is an Australian former professional tennis player. She won nine major doubles titles, and completed the career Grand Slam in women's doubles. Five of her doubles titles were with Margaret Court. Tegart was also a runner-up in 10 major doubles tournaments.

The 1977 Australian Open (December) was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was the 66th edition of the tournament and was held from 19 to 31 December 1977. Due to a scheduling change two Australian Opens took place in 1977 with the first taking place in January. Vitas Gerulaitis and Evonne Goolagong Cawley won the singles titles.

Beth Herr is an American tennis player from Centerville, Ohio, who won four Junior Grand Slam titles, the NCAA singles and team titles and one professional tennis tournament. In her home state of Ohio, she was a two-time high school singles state champion (1980-1981). Her NCAA singles title came in 1983.

Karen Krantzcke was an Australian tennis player. She achieved a world top ten singles ranking in 1970. In her short career, she made the quarterfinals or better at each of the four Grand Slam championships in both singles and doubles. She also won the Australian Open in doubles, and assisted Australia to victory in the Federation Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pittsburgh Triangles</span>

The Pittsburgh Triangles were a charter franchise of World Team Tennis (WTT). The Triangles won the 1975 WTT Championship. The team folded after the 1976 season.

Svetlana Germanovna Parkhomenko is a retired Soviet and Russian tennis player and tennis coach. She was the winner of the Soviet singles tennis championships in 1985 and nine times Soviet champion in women's doubles and mixed doubles. On the international level, she was the winner of the 1983 European amateur championships in women's and mixed doubles, bronze medalist of the 1983 Universiade in women's and mixed doubles, and winner of eight WTA Tour doubles tournaments.

Brigitte Cuypers is a retired tennis player from South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Diego Friars (1975–1978)</span>

The San Diego Friars were an expansion franchise of World Team Tennis (WTT) founded in 1975. The Friars qualified for the WTT playoffs twice in their four seasons and won the 1978 Western Division Championship. The team folded following the 1978 season.

The 1977 New South Wales Open, also known by its sponsored name Marlboro New South Wales Open, was a combined men's and women's tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts at the White City Stadium in Sydney, Australia. The men's was part of the 1977 Colgate-Palmolive Grand Prix circuit. It was the 85th edition of the event and was held from 12 December through 18 January 1977. The singles titles were won by Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Roscoe Tanner. Defending champion Tony Roche was unable to participate due to a stomach muscle injury.

Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova defeated Billie Jean King and Betty Stöve in the final, 6–1, 3–6, 7–5 to win the ladies' doubles tennis title at the 1976 Wimbledon Championships. It was the only Wimbledon doubles title and third major doubles title for Evert, and the first Wimbledon doubles title and second doubles major title for Navratilova.

Helen Cawley and JoAnne Russell were the defending champions, but lost in the quarterfinals to Françoise Dürr and Virginia Wade.

Anne Mall is a former professional tennis player from the United States. In Fed Cup, however, she played for Ireland.

References