Tennis player from New Zealand
Belinda Jane Cordwell (born 21 September 1965) is a sports commentator and a former professional tennis player from New Zealand, who represented her native country at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul . A former world top 20 player, her best result in the Grand Slam events was reaching the semifinals of the 1989 Australian Open . Cordwell remains the highest ever ranked New Zealand singles player, either male or female in the open era.
Biography [ edit ] During her career Cordwell won one WTA singles title (at Singapore ) and two WTA doubles titles (at Singapore & Tokyo ). Cordwell reached her highest individual ranking on the WTA Tour on 4 December 1989, when she became No. 17 in the world. Her most notable result was reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open in 1989 , where she lost to Helena Suková .[1] She represented New Zealand at the 1988 Summer Olympics , losing in the first round to Great Britain's Sara Gomer .[2] [3] After retiring Cordwell has worked as a television tennis commentator for One Sport and Sky Sport .[4]
WTA career finals [ edit ] Singles (1 title, 1 runner-up) [ edit ] Doubles (2 titles, 3 runner-ups) [ edit ] Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score Win 1–0 Oct 1985 Japan Open Hard Julie Richardson Laura Gildemeister Beth Herr 6–4, 6–4 Loss 1–1 Feb 1988 Wellington Classic , New Zealand Hard Julie Richardson Patty Fendick Jill Hetherington 3–6, 3–6 Loss 1–2 Apr 1988 Taipei Championships , Taiwan Carpet (i) Julie Richardson Patty Fendick Ann Henricksson 2–6, 6–2, 2–6 Loss 1–3 Jun 1988 Eastbourne Championships , England Grass Dinky Van Rensburg Eva Pfaff Elizabeth Smylie 4–6, 6–7 Win 2–3 Apr 1989 Singapore Open Hard Elizabeth Smylie Ann Henricksson Beth Herr 6–7(6–8) , 6–2, 6–1
ITF finals [ edit ] $100,000 tournaments $75,000 tournaments $50,000 tournaments $25,000 tournaments $10,000 tournaments
Singles: 6 (5–1) [ edit ] Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score Winner 1. 10 October 1983 ITF Newcastle, Australia Grass Deeann Hansel 6–1, 6–2 Winner 2. 25 February 1985 ITF Tasmania, Australia Hard Rebecca Bryant 4–6, 6–3, 7–6 Runner-up 3. 11 March 1985 ITF Adelaide, Australia Hard Louise Field 3–6, 1–6 Winner 4. 29 April 1985 ITF Canberra, Australia Grass Rebecca Bryant 6–2, 4–6, 6–4 Winner 5. 16 March 1987 ITF Canberra, Australia Hard Amy Jönsson Raaholt 6–3, 6–2 Winner 6. 30 March 1987 ITF Adelaide, Australia Hard Louise Field 6–0, 4–6, 6–4
Doubles: 17 (11–6) [ edit ] Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partnering Opponents Score Winner 1. 28 May 1984 ITF Flemington, United States Hard Julie Richardson Beverly Bowes Becky Callan 6–0, 6–1 Winner 2. 25 June 1984 ITF Chatham, United States Hard Julie Richardson Rebecca Bryant Aschara Maranon 6–2, 6–0 Runner-up 3. 2 July 1984 ITF Detroit, United States Hard Rebecca Bryant Patty Fendick Linda Howell 4–6, 6–7 Winner 4. 9 July 1984 ITF West Palm Beach, United States Clay Julie Richardson Patty Fendick Linda Howell 7–6, 6–7, 6–3 Winner 5. 30 July 1984 ITF Delray Beach, United States Hard Julie Richardson Linda Gates Cynthia MacGregor 7–5, 6–0 Runner-up 6. 8 October 1984 ITF Wyong, Australia Grass Colleen Carney Stina Almgren Helena Olsson 5–7, 5–7 Winner 7. 15 October 1984 ITF Newcastle, United States Grass Julie Richardson Amanda Tobin Annette Gulley 6–3, 6–2 Winner 8. 22 October 1984 ITF Sydney, Australia Clay Julie Richardson Jackie Masters Michelle Parun 6–0, 6–2 Runner-up 9. 22 October 1984 ITF Sydney, Australia Grass Julie Richardson Diane Farrell Annette Gulley 3–6, 3–6 Winner 10. 11 March 1985 ITF Adelaide, Australia Hard Julie Richardson Louise Field Janine Thompson 6–2, 2–6, 6–2 Runner-up 11. 30 September 1985 ITF Chiba, Japan Hard Julie Richardson Niege Dias Patricia Medrado 6–4, 4–6, 4–6 Winner 12. 6 October 1986 ITF Chiba, Japan Hard Michelle Jaggard-Lai Kumiko Okamoto Naoko Sato 6–2, 7–6(3) Runner-up 13. 3 November 1986 ITF Matsuyama, Japan Hard Wendy Wood Yayuk Basuki Suzanna Wibowo 6–0, 4–6, 2–6 Winner 14. 23 March 1987 ITF Melbourne, Australia Hard Louise Field Colleen Carney Anna-Karin Olsson 6–2, 3–6, 6–3 Winner 15. 30 March 1987 ITF Adelaide, Australia Hard Louise Field Colleen Carney Alison Scott 6–1, 1–6, 6–4 Winner 16. 8 August 1988 ITF York, United States Hard Kristine Kunce Allyson Ingram Jennifer Young 6–3, 6–1 Runner-up 17. 25 September 1989 ITF Chiba, Japan Hard Julie Richardson Ei Iida Maya Kidowaki 6–7, 4–6
References [ edit ]