Belinda Cordwell

Belinda Jane Cordwell (born 21 September 1965) is a sports commentator and a former professional tennis player from New Zealand, who represented her native country at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. A former world top 20 player, her best result in the Grand Slam events was reaching the semifinals of the 1989 Australian Open. Cordwell remains the highest ever ranked New Zealand singles player, either male or female in the open era.

Belinda Cordwell

Country (sports)	New Zealand
Residence	Wairarapa, New Zealand
Born	(1965-09-21) 21 September 1965 (age 59) Wellington, New Zealand
Turned pro	19 July 1982
Retired	23 September 1991
Plays	Left-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$310,585
Singles
Career record	157–120
Career titles	1 WTA, 5 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 17 (4 December 1989)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	SF (1989)
French Open	1R (1986)
Wimbledon	3R (1987, 1988)
US Open	3R (1985)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	1R (1988)
Doubles
Career record	122–99
Career titles	2 WTA, 11 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 35 (8 May 1989)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	3R (1987, 1989)
French Open	1R (1986)
Wimbledon	3R (1987)
US Open	2R (1987, 1988, 1990)

Biography

During her career Cordwell won one WTA singles title (at Singapore) and two WTA doubles titles (at Singapore & Tokyo). Cordwell reached her highest individual ranking on the WTA Tour on 4 December 1989, when she became No. 17 in the world. Her most notable result was reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open in 1989, where she lost to Helena Suková.^[1] She represented New Zealand at the 1988 Summer Olympics, losing in the first round to Great Britain's Sara Gomer.^[2][3] After retiring Cordwell has worked as a television tennis commentator for One Sport and Sky Sport.^[4]

WTA career finals

Singles (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Feb 1989	Auckland Open, New Zealand	Hard	Patty Fendick	2–6, 0–6
Win	1–1	Apr 1989	Singapore Open	Hard	Akiko Kijimuta	6–1, 6–0

Doubles (2 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Oct 1985	Japan Open	Hard	Julie Richardson	Laura Gildemeister Beth Herr	6–4, 6–4
Loss	1–1	Feb 1988	Wellington Classic, New Zealand	Hard	Julie Richardson	Patty Fendick Jill Hetherington	3–6, 3–6
Loss	1–2	Apr 1988	Taipei Championships, Taiwan	Carpet (i)	Julie Richardson	Patty Fendick Ann Henricksson	2–6, 6–2, 2–6
Loss	1–3	Jun 1988	Eastbourne Championships, England	Grass	Dinky Van Rensburg	Eva Pfaff Elizabeth Smylie	4–6, 6–7
Win	2–3	Apr 1989	Singapore Open	Hard	Elizabeth Smylie	Ann Henricksson Beth Herr	6–7(6–8), 6–2, 6–1

ITF finals

$100,000 tournaments

$75,000 tournaments

$50,000 tournaments

$25,000 tournaments

$10,000 tournaments

Singles: 6 (5–1)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	10 October 1983	ITF Newcastle, Australia	Grass	Deeann Hansel	6–1, 6–2
Winner	2.	25 February 1985	ITF Tasmania, Australia	Hard	Rebecca Bryant	4–6, 6–3, 7–6
Runner-up	3.	11 March 1985	ITF Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Louise Field	3–6, 1–6
Winner	4.	29 April 1985	ITF Canberra, Australia	Grass	Rebecca Bryant	6–2, 4–6, 6–4
Winner	5.	16 March 1987	ITF Canberra, Australia	Hard	Amy Jönsson Raaholt	6–3, 6–2
Winner	6.	30 March 1987	ITF Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Louise Field	6–0, 4–6, 6–4

Doubles: 17 (11–6)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponents	Score
Winner	1.	28 May 1984	ITF Flemington, United States	Hard	Julie Richardson	Beverly Bowes Becky Callan	6–0, 6–1
Winner	2.	25 June 1984	ITF Chatham, United States	Hard	Julie Richardson	Rebecca Bryant Aschara Maranon	6–2, 6–0
Runner-up	3.	2 July 1984	ITF Detroit, United States	Hard	Rebecca Bryant	Patty Fendick Linda Howell	4–6, 6–7
Winner	4.	9 July 1984	ITF West Palm Beach, United States	Clay	Julie Richardson	Patty Fendick Linda Howell	7–6, 6–7, 6–3
Winner	5.	30 July 1984	ITF Delray Beach, United States	Hard	Julie Richardson	Linda Gates Cynthia MacGregor	7–5, 6–0
Runner-up	6.	8 October 1984	ITF Wyong, Australia	Grass	Colleen Carney	Stina Almgren Helena Olsson	5–7, 5–7
Winner	7.	15 October 1984	ITF Newcastle, United States	Grass	Julie Richardson	Amanda Tobin Annette Gulley	6–3, 6–2
Winner	8.	22 October 1984	ITF Sydney, Australia	Clay	Julie Richardson	Jackie Masters Michelle Parun	6–0, 6–2
Runner-up	9.	22 October 1984	ITF Sydney, Australia	Grass	Julie Richardson	Diane Farrell Annette Gulley	3–6, 3–6
Winner	10.	11 March 1985	ITF Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Julie Richardson	Louise Field Janine Thompson	6–2, 2–6, 6–2
Runner-up	11.	30 September 1985	ITF Chiba, Japan	Hard	Julie Richardson	Niege Dias Patricia Medrado	6–4, 4–6, 4–6
Winner	12.	6 October 1986	ITF Chiba, Japan	Hard	Michelle Jaggard-Lai	Kumiko Okamoto Naoko Sato	6–2, 7–6(3)
Runner-up	13.	3 November 1986	ITF Matsuyama, Japan	Hard	Wendy Wood	Yayuk Basuki Suzanna Wibowo	6–0, 4–6, 2–6
Winner	14.	23 March 1987	ITF Melbourne, Australia	Hard	Louise Field	Colleen Carney Anna-Karin Olsson	6–2, 3–6, 6–3
Winner	15.	30 March 1987	ITF Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Louise Field	Colleen Carney Alison Scott	6–1, 1–6, 6–4
Winner	16.	8 August 1988	ITF York, United States	Hard	Kristine Kunce	Allyson Ingram Jennifer Young	6–3, 6–1
Runner-up	17.	25 September 1989	ITF Chiba, Japan	Hard	Julie Richardson	Ei Iida Maya Kidowaki	6–7, 4–6

References

1. Leggat, David (10 August 2020). "Where is she now? Belinda Cordwell". Newsroom. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
2. "Belinda Cordwell". New Zealand Olympic Team. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
3. "Tennis: Kiwis once had a shot at grand slam glory". NZ Herald. 12 January 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
4. "ASB Classic powers on despite wet weather". RNZ. 5 January 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2023.

• Belinda Cordwell at the Women's Tennis Association
• Belinda Cordwell at the International Tennis Federation
• Belinda Cordwell at the Billie Jean King Cup (archived)