Christine "Chris" O'Neil (born 19 March 1956) is a former professional female tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

 player from Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

O'Neil is best-remembered for her victory at the 1978 Australian Open

Australian Open

The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...

, the last Australian female to do so. She also became the first unseeded woman to win the Australian title in the open era. This feat would go unmatched until Serena Williams

Serena Williams

Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...

, unseeded and ranked World No. 81, won the 2007 Australian Open

2007 Australian Open

The 2007 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament held in Melbourne, Australia from 15 January until 28 January 2007.The total prize pool was set at exactly A$20 million, with the winners of both the men's and women's singles competition each receiving A$1,281,000. Over 500 players...

. O'Neil is also only one of a handful of players who have won both the Australian Open Junior (1973) and Senior (1978) Championship title.

As of 2007, Christine - along with her brothers Keith and William - have taken over the Morisset Sports & Tennis Centre located in Newcastle, NSW in Australia. The centre was subsequently renamed the O'Neil School of Tennis.

Win (1)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1978	Australian Open Australian Open The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...	Betsy Nagelsen Betsy Nagelsen Betsy Nagelsen McCormack is a retired professional tennis player from the United States. Nagelsen won the doubles championship at the 1978 and 1980 Australian Opens . She reached the singles final of the 1978 Australian Open, losing to Christine O'Neil...	6–3, 7–6

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