| Intro | South African tennis player |
| Is |
Athlete Tennis player |
| From | South Africa |
| Type | Sports |
| Gender | female |
| Birth |
17 July 1958, Pretoria, South Africa |
| Age | 62 years |
| Star sign | Cancer |
Marise Kruger (born 17 July 1958) is a former South African tennis player who was active in the second half of the 1970s.
Tennis career
Kruger started playing tennis when she was five. She reached the girl’s final at the 1976 Wimbledon Championships, won the junior singles title at the 1976 US Open and won the singles title at the junior Orange Bowl tournament in December 1976 after a win in the final against Anne Smith.
In June 1976, Kruger was runner-up at the Kent Championships in Beckenham, losing the final in three sets to Olga Morozova. In the preceding weeks, she had won tournament titles in Guildford and Chichester. In August that year she won the South Orange Open singles title after a straight sets victory in the final against Lea Antonoplis. In May 1977, she won the doubles title at the Italian Open, partnering compatriot Brigitte Cuypers, and in August, she was a finalist at Canadian Open in Toronto, losing the final in three sets to Regina Maršíková. She partnered with Dianne Fromholtz to win the 1979 Austrian Open doubles event and together they reached the semifinal of the doubles competition at the 1979 French Open.
In 1978, Kruger was a member of the San Francisco Golden Gaters which played in the World Team Tennis (WTT) league in the United States.
Her best singles result at a Grand Slam tournament was reaching the quarterfinal at the 1978 Wimbledon Championships, in which she lost to second-seeded and eventual champion Martina Navratilova.
Career finals
Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)
| Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1. | 5 June 1976 | Chichester Tennis Tournament, England | Grass | Bunny Bruning | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Loss | 2. | 12 June 1976 | Robertson’s Cup Beckenham, England | Grass | Olga Morozova | 5–7, 6–2, 3–6 |
| Win | 3. | 29 August 1976 | Tennis Week Open Orange, USA | Clay | Lea Antonoplis | 6–3, 6–2 |
| Loss | 4. | 22 August 1977 | Canadian Open, Toronto | Clay | Regina Maršíková | 4–6, 6–4, 2–6 |
Doubles: 1 (1 title)
| Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1. | 22 May 1977 | Italian Open, Rome | Clay | Brigitte Cuypers |
Bunny Bruning Sharon Walsh |
3–6, 7–5, 6–2 |