Beth Herr

Beth Herr Bellamy

Country (sports)	United States
Born	(1964-05-28) 28 May 1964 Middletown, Ohio
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Turned pro	1981
Retired	1990
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$ 391,346
Singles
Career record	{{#property:P564}}
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 31 (15 August 1983)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	1R (1983, 1984, 1989)
French Open	3R (1982)
Wimbledon	3R (1987)
US Open	3R (1982)
Doubles
Career record	{{#property:P555}}
Career titles	5
Highest ranking	No. 26 (10 October 1988)
Grand Slam doubles results
US Open	QF (1982)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
French Open	SF (1986)
Wimbledon	QF (1988)

Beth Herr (born 28 May 1964) 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.

College

Herr became the number-one junior tennis player in the world at the age of 16. Upon graduation from Centerville High School, she was the No. 1 college recruit in 1982 and played for the University of Southern California, where she won the NCAA singles title and team title in her first year. She beat Clemson University's Gigi Fernández in the third-set tiebreak, having faced a match point, to win the NCAA singles final.

Junior Grand Slam titles

In 1982, Herr won the 1982 French Open girls' doubles championship with Janet Lagasse, Herr also won the Wimbledon girls' doubles and US Open girls' doubles with Penny Barg and won the US Open girls' singles in the same year.

Professional career

Herr cut short college and went directly into professional tennis after the NCAA Championship, and played on tour for 11 years, with wins over Pam Shriver, Hana Mandlíková, Martina Navratilova, Virginia Wade, and Mary Joe Fernández. In 1983, she lost a second-round singles match to Billie Jean King at Wimbledon, 6–8 in the third set. Commentators on HBO mentioned her ability to hit numerous swinging volleys for winners, something for which no female had previously been noted.

WTA career finals

Legend
Grand Slam	0–0	0–0
Tier I	0–0	0–0
Tier II	0–0	0–0
Tier III	0–0	2–0
Tier IV & V	1–0	0–3

Singles: 1–0

Result	W-L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Mar 1986	Phoenix, US	Clay	Ann Henricksson	6–0, 3–6, 7–5

Doubles: 5–2

Result	W-L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Aug 1983	Indianapolis, U.S.	Clay	Gigi Fernández	Kathleen Horvath Virginia Ruzici	5–7, 4–6
Loss	0–2	Oct 1985	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Laura Arraya	Belinda Cordwell Julie Richardson	4–6, 4–6
Win	1–2	Jul 1986	Berkeley, U.S.	Hard	Alycia Moulton	Amy Holton Elna Reinach	6–1, 6–2
Win	2–2	Jul 1986	San Diego, U.S.	Hard	Alycia Moulton	Elise Burgin Rosalyn Fairbank	5–7, 6–2, 6–4
Win	3–2	Mar 1987	Phoenix, U.S.	Hard	Penny Barg	Mary-Lou Piatek Anne White	2–6, 6–2, 7–6(7–2)
Win	4–2	Aug 1988	Cincinnati, US	Hard	Candy Reynolds	Lindsay Bartlett Helen Kelesi	4–6, 7–6, 6–1
Win	5–2	Oct 1988	New Orleans, US	Hard	Candy Reynolds	Lori McNeil Betsy Nagelsen	6–4, 6–4

Paddle tennis

Beth was the winningest player in paddle tennis history winning virtually every event she ever played including the US Open and World Championships of paddle tennis With teammate, Scotty Freedman to become the greatest mixed-doubles team in the sports' history, as they were undefeated as a team from 2000 to 2007.

Pickleball

In her 2022 season, Beth finished #1 in singles, gender doubles and mixed doubles and won a gold medal in all 27 events that she played.

Personal life

After tennis, she finished her undergraduate degree at UCLA and then went to law school at UCLA. She married Tennis Channel founder Steve Bellamy and after a short stint as a lawyer at Manatt, Phelps and Phillips.

External links

• Beth Herr at the Women's Tennis Association
• Beth Herr at the International Tennis Federation