Liz Smylie

Australian tennis player Liz Smylie primarily competed in doubles tournaments where she won four Grand Slam titles and an Olympic bronze medal. Smylie played professionally from 1982 to 1997, including playing on Australia’s Fed Cup team from 1984 to 1994.

Smylie won three singles titles on the WTA Tour during the 1980s but her real success came in the doubles. From October 1981 to June 1996 she reached 69 finals, winning 36 of them. Her first title came at the 1983 Ridgewood Open in New Jersey when she partnered with Beverly Mould of South Africa. Smylie had success with multiple partners including Kathy Jordan, Martina Navratilova, Pam Shriver, and Nicole Provis.

At Grand Slams Smylie won the doubles title at Wimbledon in 1985 with Kathy Jordan, beating the duo of Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver. Smylie also reached four more doubles finals, finishing as the runner-up at Wimbledon (1987, 1990), the US Open (1987), and the Australian Open (1993). In the mixed doubles Smylie won three titles; the 1983 US Open with John Fitzgerald, the 1990 US Open with Todd Woodbridge, and at Wimbledon in 1991, again with John Fitzgerald. Smylie and Fitzgerald were runners-up at four finals, twice at the US Open (1984, 1985) and twice at Wimbledon (1985, 1990), with Smylie and Patrick McEnroe finishing as runners-up at the 1988 US Open.

Smylie competed in the singles and doubles at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. In the singles she lost in the first round in straight sets to Raffaella Reggi, but in the doubles she won a bronze medal with partner Wendy Turnbull.