Ilana Kloss

Ilana Kloss

Country	South Africa and USA
Residence	New York City and Chicago
Born	(1956-03-22) 22 March 1956 Johannesburg, South Africa
Turned pro	1973
Plays	Left-handed
Singles
Highest ranking	No. 19 (1976)
Grand Slam Singles results
French Open	2R (1976, 1979)
Wimbledon	3R (1975, 1976, 1978)
US Open	3R (1973, 1978)
Doubles
Career titles	19
Highest ranking	No. 1 (1976)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	QF 1983
French Open	SF 1976, 1979
Wimbledon	SF 1976
US Open	W 1976
Career titles	1
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
French Open	W 1976
Last updated on: 3 December 2008.

Ilana Sheryl Kloss (born 22 March 1956) is a former professional tennis player and the commissioner of World Team Tennis.

Tennis career

Kloss was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Before turning professional, in 1972 she won the Wimbledon juniors singles title. In 1974 she won U.S. Open juniors singles title, and was the youngest player ever to be ranked No. 1 in South Africa.

Kloss was ranked No. 1 in the world in doubles in 1976. That year, she won doubles titles at the U.S. Open, the Italian Open, the U.S. Clay Courts, the German Open, the British Hard Courts Championship, and Hilton Head, as well as the mixed doubles title at the French Open.

She was ranked as high as No. 19 in the world in singles play in 1976.

In 1977 she won both the German and Canadian championships, and the British clay court championship. In 1973, she won the title in Cincinnati with Pat Walkden, defeating Evonne Goolagong and Janet Young in the final.

Most of her women's doubles titles were achieved with partner Linky Boshoff.

After retiring, Kloss took part in the 35-and-over tour, winning the U.S. Open doubles and mixed doubles championship in 1999.

Federation Cup

In the 1970s she was 12–5 in Federation Cup matches.

Hall of Fame

Kloss, who is Jewish, was inducted into the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. She also played in the Maccabiah Games in Israel.

World Team Tennis

Since 2001 she has been the Chief Executive Officer & Commissioner of World Team Tennis, a coed professional tennis league.

Personal life

Kloss is the daughter of Ruth and Shlaim Kloss. She has a sister, Yvette Merle Blackman (née Kloss), now married to Richard Blackman with two children, Lara and Joshua Blackman.

Kloss is the partner of Billie Jean King, the US tennis player. She currently resides near the Museum of Natural History in New York City.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Women's doubles: 1 (1 title, 0 runner–ups)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1976	US Open	Clay	Linky Boshoff	Olga Morozova Virginia Wade	6–1, 6–4

Mixed doubles: 1 (1 title, 0 runner–ups)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1976	French Open	Clay	Kim Warwick	Linky Boshoff Colin Dowdeswell	5–7, 7–6, 6–2

See also

• List of select Jewish tennis players

References

• ITF site

External links

• World Team Tennis
• Fed Cup record
• Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
• Jews in Sports bio
• After Ellen