Francoise is my favourite tennis player of all time.She was unique and played naturally her own way. Pity she did not win wimbledon.She deserves to be remembered as one of the Tennis Greats.

Extremely skillful tactician who played with great flair . An excellent singles player aswell as being consistantly at the very top in doubles . Francoise had a long 20 year career and won many singles and doubles titles . In singles she was very consistant too being ranked year end in the world top 20 for an amazing 15 years 1963 - 1978 -9 of them in the top 10 - peaking at 3 in 1967 . Performed equally well on all surfaces with perhaps an edge on clay at her peak which gave her more time to set up her shots . Possessed a full range of shots - a fantastic accurate backhand and very effective lob which she would use often early in a rally - even following a return of her serve when the opponent had tried to move in following her slow serve . Amazing to watch her sometimes win a point like this and totally frustrate her opposition who had moved in to punish her serve . They were in trouble unless they could put the ball away completely . Talking of her famous serve it could be more difficult to handle than it looked . Yes it was slow but often looped and spun very deep in the service box it could still keep her opponent back and Francoise was ready with a full all court repertoire to attack the reply . Fun and entertaining too with just a little attitude on display some of her strokes were breathtaking to watch . She would squat for a low shot with her behind touching the court ! - or kneel on one knee for a backhand pass down the line squeezing it between her opponent and the line rather than going cross court . The opponent then was usually wrong footed and could not believe what she had done - or else the ball was just straight past them squeezed past with inches to spare . Though she stayed often on or near the baseline she would also often come in to fiercly put the ball away at incredible angles slamming it with great force so there was no chance of a pick up from the other side of the net . Shame she won only one major grand slam singles but she did win many more titles including 4 Swiss open singles at Gstaad and 5 French ladies doubles in a row 67-71 . 2 US doubles not one as stated here - over 60 doubles titles and 26 singles titles and many more finals and semis - remarkably consistant over a very long period . She had many wins over top players and was a particular nightmare for Billy Jean King and beat Martina Navratilova 6-1 6-1 in 1976 at the Colegate Inaugural singles when Francoise was almost 34 years of age and Martina was world number two . At her peak it took the very best to defeat her in singles and often not even then . When she was older she was a dangerous floater nobody wanted to play who could still produce upsets on her day . In doubles she was still right at the top until she retired in 1979 winning the Bridgetown world doubles that year .

GOOD GIRL..

Unique playing style a wonderful addition to the game. Fun to watch.