Françoise Dürr (born 25 December 1942; sometimes referred to by English writers as Frankie Durr) is a retired French tennis player. She won 50 singles titles and over 60 doubles titles.
Durr played with an unorthodox backhand, which she played with an Eastern forehand grip and her index finger extended up the handle. She is also noted for having an unorthodox serve that "might not have registered on a radar gun" according to her official Tennis Hall of Fame biography.
According to Lance Tingay, Bud Collins, and the Women's Tennis Association, Dürr was ranked in the world top ten from 1965 through 1967, from 1970 through 1972, and from 1974 through 1976, reaching a career high of world No. 3 in those rankings in 1967. She finished second to Billie Jean King in prize money earnings in 1971.
Dürr reached a total of 27 Grand Slam finals – one in singles, 18 in women's doubles, and eight in mixed doubles. She won twelve of them.
Françoise Dürr married Boyd Browning, an American radio executive, in 1975 and later moved to the United States where she stayed for 10 years. Her son Nicholas was born in 1980, her daughter Jessica in 1985. In 1992 she returned to live near Paris.
Dürr is best known for winning the singles title at the 1967 French Championships. She defeated Maria Bueno in a quarterfinal and Lesley Turner in the final. In addition to her singles championship, Dürr won seven Grand Slam women's doubles titles and four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. She was the runner-up in 11 Grand Slam women's doubles events and four Grand Slam mixed doubles events.
Dürr won eight doubles titles at the French Championships. The first of her record-tying five consecutive women's doubles titles was in 1967. This record is shared with Martina Navratilova and Gigi Fernández, who, like Dürr, achieved it with separate partners. Dürr teamed with Ann Haydon-Jones to win the titles in 1968 and 1969 and with Gail Sherriff Chanfreau in 1967, 1970, and 1971. She was the runner-up in women's doubles in 1965 with Janine Lieffrig, in 1973 with Betty Stöve, and in 1979 with Virginia Wade. Dürr teamed with Jean-Claude Barclay to win the mixed doubles title in 1968, 1971, and 1973. They were runners-up in 1969, 1970, and 1972. In total, Dürr reached 15 finals at the French Open, winning 9 of them.
She won two doubles titles at the US Open. She won the women's doubles title in 1969 with Darlene Hard and in 1972 with Stöve. Dürr was the runner-up in that event in 1971 with Chanfreau and in 1974 with Stöve. Dürr was the runner-up in mixed doubles in 1969, teaming with Dennis Ralston.
She won the Wimbledon mixed doubles title in 1976 with Tony Roche. She was the runner-up in women's doubles at Wimbledon in 1965 with Lieffrig, 1968 with Jones, 1970 with Wade, 1972 with Judy Tegart Dalton, and 1973 and 1975 with Stöve. Additionally, Dürr was a singles semifinalist at the Championships in 1970.
Dürr was rarely a participant at the Australian Championships and Australian Open, as she appeared there three times, in 1965, 1967, and 1969. She reached the singles quarterfinals in 1965 and 1967 and the doubles semifinals with Jones in 1969.
Dürr and Betty Stöve won the 1979 WTA Tour Championships in doubles against Sue Barker and Ann Kiyomura, beating them 7–6, 7–6 in the final. She played the French Open ladies doubles event a last time in 1984, reaching the second round and then retired from Grand Slam competition.
She played for the France Fed Cup team 14 times, finishing her career with a 31–17 record. She played 27 ties, with a 16–8 singles record and a 15–9 doubles record.
Dürr played her last official match in 1984 at the French Open, and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2003 for her extraordinary career in doubles and for winning the French Championships in singles.
Doubles: 18 (7 titles, 11 runner-ups)
Mixed doubles: 8 (4 titles, 4 runner-ups)
Other tournaments and team competitions
Junior Singles Champion of France, 1959 and 1960.
French Singles Champion in the National (closed) Championship, 1962, 1964, 1965 and 1966.