Darlene Hard

Darlene Ruth Hard is a retired tennis player, a legend in the tennis world for having one of the most powerful volleys and serves. She is known as the ‘last of the great amateur players.’ Born in January 06, 1939 in Los Angeles, California, Hard swept numerous titles and trophies in her brilliant career as a tennis star.

A right-hander, Hard took passionate interest in tennis with the encouragement of her mother, Ruth. She consistently practiced the game on public courts in Southern California so that by the time she entered college at Pomona in 1957, she had already established herself as a touring champion.

Expectedly, Hard played for the college’s tennis team, and won the singles title in the first national intercollegiate tournament for women in 1958. In 1974, Pomona College inducted hard into the Pomona College Athletic Hall of Fame; the first woman to be honored as such.

Hard never turned pro, maintaining her amateur status despite the many titles she had won in her career. This career move only affirmed what she has asserted all along; that it was all about the game; “We played for the title and the glory of the game. I loved it. I love tennis," she said.

She won twenty-one (21) Grand Slam titles, was always included in the top ten in the world rankings from 1953 to 1962, was also consistently in the top ten in the USTA rankings, from 1954 to 1963, and was the No.1 player for three consecutive years, from 1960 to 1963.

Hard's singles titles at Grand Slam included wins at the French Championships - as they they were then know - in 1960 and the US Championships in 1960 and 1961. She was also two-time runner-up at Wimbledon and US Championships.

As a doubles player, she won 13 Grand Slam titles with different partners. Her best Australian Championships performance came in 1962 when she made it to the quarter-final of the competition.

Hard led the legendary team of the original U.S. Fed Cup team; at 27 years old, she played the leader of the pack that included tennis legends Billie Jean King and Carole Graebner. They bagged the 1963 victory with ferocious intensity and overwhelming excitement.

Hard was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1973.

After quitting tennis, she joined the staff roster of University of Southern California in 1981. Presently, she is the computer systems/production supervisor in the university’s Student Publications Office.