Susan Barker, MBE (born April 19, 1956, in Paignton, Devon, England) is a television presenter and former professional tennis player. During her tennis career, she won the women's singles title at the French Open and reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3. She is now one of the main sports presenters at the BBC.

Tennis career

Barker's tennis career began in 1973, when she won her first top-level singles title at Eastbourne. She won three additional titles in 1974. Barker first reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament in 1975 at the Australian Open.

In 1976, Barker won the German Open, beating Renata Tomanova of Czechoslovakia in the final 6?3, 6?1. She then won the French Open, again defeating Tomanova in the final.^[1]

In 1977, Barker won three singles titles, reached the semifinals at both Wimbledon and the Australian Open, and upset Martina Navratilova to reach the Virginia Slims Tour Championships final, where she lost in three sets to Chris Evert.

After an injury-plagued 1978, during which her ranking dropped to World No. 24, Barker in 1979 won four singles titles and reached five other finals. She was named the tour's "Comeback Player of the Year" by her fellow professionals.^[2]

Barker reached two finals in 1980 and won the last singles title of her career at Brighton in 1981, finishing the year ranked World No. 16. She won her last doubles title in 1982 at Cincinnati. Barker played her last professional match in 1984.

Barker's forehand was her strongest weapon, with her coach Arthur Roberts describing it as "especially potent."^[3]

Barker posted wins over Evert, Navratilova, Billie Jean King, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Tracy Austin, Virginia Wade, Maria Bueno, Rosemary Casals, and Pam Shriver. Barker won 15 singles titles and 16 doubles titles.

Grand Slam singles final

Win

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December. Barker played in only the December tournament.

Broadcasting career

Upon retiring from tennis Barker became a commentator and sports reporter for Australia's Channel 7 in 1985 before going on to anchor tennis coverage for British Sky Broadcasting in 1990. In 1993, Barker joined the Wimbledon coverage on the BBC and now anchors the two week long broadcast for the network.^[4] One of the annual features of the coverage sees Barker reminiscing with former rivals Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Pam Shriver, and Tracy Austin during Wimbledon's rain delays.

Barker has branched out since joining the BBC, becoming one of their chief sports presenters and she is currently the presenter of the sports quiz show A Question Of Sport.^[3]

In 2008, Barker already has hosted BBC Sport's coverage of the Australian Open, the French Open, Queens Club Championships, Eastbourne, and Wimbledon. For the remainder of the year, the tennis events she will host include Davis Cup, the Summer Olympic Games, and the Albert Hall Masters. Other sporting events she has hosted have included the Grand National (1996-2006), The Derby (2001-2007), Racing at Ascot and Longchamp (1995-1999), Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup at Newbury, rugby league Challenge Cup, World Athletic Championships and European Athletics Championships (since 1999), Commonwealth Games, Winter Olympics, and the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

In June 1999, she co-presented coverage of HRH Prince Edward's wedding to Sophie Rhys-Jones at Windsor alongside Michael Buerk. Barker had introduced Rhys-Jones to Queen Elizabeth II's youngest son at a charity function a few years earlier.

Personal life

In her private life, Barker was romantically linked with both the singer Cliff Richard and the golfer Greg Norman. She is now married to policeman Lance Tankard.

See also

• Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final

Notes and references

External links

de:Sue Barker fr:Sue Barker nl:Sue Barker ja:??????? no:Sue Barker pl:Sue Barker sv:Sue Barker