Ros Fairbank-Nideffer was an internationally prominent tennis player from the late 1970s into the late1990s. She held a top-50 world ranking for 12 consecutive years and twice won French Open doubles titles. She won more than 300 professional singles matches during her tour career, beating the likes of Pam Shriver, Zina Garrison, Helena Sukova, Gabriela Sabatini and Monica Seles. She also won nearly 500 doubles matches. She was especially strong on grass and clay surfaces.
Breaking Onto The Scene
Fairbank-Nideffer was a well-rounded athlete growing up in South Africa. Born in Durban on November 2, 1960, she competed in field hockey, swimming and track in addition to tennis. She emerged as a world-class junior player in the late 1970s. Her first big breakthrough on U.S. soil came at the Orange Bowl juniors event in 1978, where she lost in the finals to 13-year-old phenom Andrea Jaeger.
Grand Slam Doubles Success
Fairbank-Nideffer won the 1981 French Open doubles title with fellow South African Tanya Harford and the 1983 French Open crown with Candy Reynolds. She and Reynolds were runners-up at the 1983 U.S. Open. She and Mark Edmondson were runners-up in mixed doubles at the 1986 French Open. She also teamed with Elise Burgin to win five tournaments in the late 1980s.
Battling The Apartheid Stigma
South African athletes faced international sanctions due to the apartheid policies in their homeland. "It's a stigma all South Africans carry, and sometimes I wish I wouldn't have to explain myself," she said in 1989. "But I have to. I am against apartheid." Several countries banned South Africans from competition. Given her sacrifice, she wondered why she was shunned by her country's Olympic team. "I'm the one who suffered through not being able to compete in other countries," she said in 1992. "I carried the flag, so to speak. I'm not for apartheid. But I've grown up in the country and I'm proud of it. Now, just because my rankings are in a slump, they just dumped me."
Maturation As Singles Player
Fairbank-Nideffer moved to the San Diego area in 1985. She married her coach, sports psychologist Robert Nideffer, in 1989. She delivered some of her better singles matches later in her career after becoming more composed on the court. "I used to make excuses," she said in 1990. "I'd be afraid to play someone, and so I'd make up excuses if things went wrong." She beat Sabatini at Wimbledon in 1989 and Seles at an indoor event in Chicago in 1990.
References
- Sports Illustrated; The Juniors Sure Ain't Child's Play; Barry McDermott; Jan. 1979
- IFT Tennis.com: Rosalyn Fairbank-Nideffer Biography
- Boston Globe; Victim, Not Villain -- S. African Roots Haunt Fairbank; Michael Kates; August, 1989
- Chicago Tribune: No. 5 Seed Fernandez Falls; Neil Milbert; February, 1992
- Los Angeles Times: Experience Has Edge on Gavaldon; Kim Q. Berkshire; August, 1990
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