1983 French Open: Jo Durie

The past is indeed a foreign country. Before Johanna Konta’s exploits, the last British woman to reach a French Open semi-final was Jo Durie in 1983. Around that time, Manchester City had just been relegated, Brighton almost won the FA Cup, Aberdeen lifted a European trophy, and a female Prime Minister was about to increase her majority in the UK election.

Come the end of those two weeks in May/June 1983, Durie came within touching distance of a grand slam singles final, and provided hope that British tennis had found a star for the future. After Paris in 1983, it was now a case of England expects.

The journey begins

Durie’s previous appearances at Roland Garros certainly didn’t suggest that a run to the last four was likely. Since her 1980 debut in the tournament, she had only reached the second round once. In 1983, Durie progressed to the quarter finals at the Italian Open, and the last-16 in Germany. But in her own words, Durie limited her sights on winning through “a round or two” in France.

The draw provided a relatively sedate start to the championship. A 6-4 6-3 win over Candy Reynolds got the ball rolling, and Durie would only lose three games in brushing aside Alycia Moulton. With two Americans defeated, Durie’s next opponent appeared to provide the first stern test for the 22-year-old Bristolian.

Shriver limps out as Durie powers on

On paper, Durie would have her work cut out against fifth seed Pam Shriver. Without a win in their previous seven encounters, the task ahead looked daunting. But Shriver was making her debut in the French Open, and as the match progressed, Durie took charge.

With Durie 4-2 ahead in the first set, the match was delayed for six minutes after Shriver, playing in a pair of trainers borrowed from compatriot Eliot Teltscher, turned her ankle. Durie took the next two games to take out the first set, before Shriver conceded the match.

                                                                                                                           

A fourth American awaited in the next round. 12th seed Kathy Rinaldi succeeded where her counterparts had failed in taking a set off of Durie. But Durie clinched the decider 6-1 to set up a quarter final date with Tracy Austin.

Austin sent packing

In truth, Austin’s flame was beginning to burn out, injuries and the constant tennis treadmill having an impact on the 20-year-old. But Durie’s 6-1 4-6 6-0 victory in 94 minutes was a stunning performance, nonetheless. Hitting winners in eight of the first nine points, Durie came out of the traps flying. In just 25 minutes, Britain’s number one was already a set up.

The second set seemed to be running just as smoothly. Serving at 4-3 up, Durie thought she had moved within a game of the match when an Austin shot was called out. But when the decision was overruled by the umpire, Durie was furious. Losing her cool, Durie disputed the point for two minutes. Immediately losing the game, and then the next two, Durie’s temperament was now under scrutiny.

“I kept my head during that dispute,” Durie declared. “It would have been easy to panic, but I knew I just had to keep in control because she wasn’t doing anything I felt could hurt me.” Putting the moment behind her, Durie capitalised on several unforced errors from Austin to take the decider in just 22 minutes.

“I feel fantastic,” Durie said. “I haven’t got the words to really describe my emotion. Just look at my grin.” Durie even found time to joke about her second set wobble. “I lost the second because I needed the clay court practice.”

“I still can’t believe it,” coach Alan Jones admitted. “I always reckoned by the time she was 25 she might have a shout on grass. Now at 22 she plays like this on clay.” Britain’s team manager Sue Mappin was just as complimentary. “I’m amazed at the progress she has made in the last year. I cannot believe how hard she’s worked. Now it’s really paying off.”

Unbelievably, Durie was now just a match away from the French Open final. “Jo Durie breathed life and hope back into the ailing body of British tennis in the warm Parisian sunshine yesterday,” wrote David Irvine in the Guardian. Her Wimbledon Lawns single with the backing group The Rackets may have been destined to bomb. But Durie was now assured of a top 20 place in the world rankings.

The journey ends

For the first time in her French Open run, Durie would not face an American on the other side of the net. Yugoslavia’s Mima Jaušovec may have only beaten one seed on her way to the last four, but her clay court pedigree was not in doubt. The 1977 French Open champion and 1978 runner-up had also won the German and Italian Open in her career.

However, Durie did not let Jaušovec’s reputation get to her, once again storming out of the blocks. Conceding just six points in her opening five service games, Durie took the first set 6-3, and with a 2-0 lead in the second, the final was within touching distance.

It was never going to be that easy, though. Jaušovec was streetwise, and started to change the pattern of play, forcing Durie to make the running. From 2-0 down, Jaušovec won nine consecutive points, and doubts started to flow into Durie’s game.

Missed volleys led to indecision on going to the net, passing shots failed where before they succeeded, as Jaušovec turned the screw. Durie did hang on in there, though, coming from 3-5 down to level things at 5-5. But when she let a 30-15 lead slip in the crucial eleventh game, double-faulting to go 6-5 down, the writing was on the wall.

Losing the second set 7-5, Durie was blown away 6-2 in the decider, Jaušovec winning the right to lose to Chris Evert-Lloyd in the final. Durie would also lose the women's doubles semi-final alongside Anne Hobbs. So near and yet so far.

Some journalists hinted that Durie had allowed her nerves to get the better of her. But Durie was adamant that this was not the case.“I was losing my way. I was a bit confused about what I was trying to do,” Durie explained. “I don't think I blew it. But I realise I am just not tough enough with myself.” Jones spoke like a coach who knew his player had let an opportunity slip. “I don’t think Jo really knows how close she was to winning. But this will do her good.”

Durie had no need to beat herself up. As Ian Barnes stated in the Express, her semi-final defeat owed a lot to the fact that her “youthful enthusiasm came up against the harsh reality of experience.” She would never again get past the third round at Roland Garros, but a semi-final appearance in the 1983 US Open and a quarter final at Wimbledon in 1984 gave British tennis fans something to cheer in an otherwise bleak decade.