Annette Van Zyl

Annette Van Zyl (born 25 September 1943), also known by her married name as Annette du Plooy, is a South African former tennis player. She was ranked in the top ten female players during the mid-1960s, and in 1966 she won the French Open Mixed Doubles title with Frew McMillan, defeating Ann Haydon-Jones and Clark Graebner in three sets.

Tennis career In January 1965 she won the singles title at the Natal Championships in Durban. In April 1965 Van Zyl reached the final of the British Hard Court Championships at Bournemouth but was beaten in straight sets by Ann Haydon-Jones. In June of the same year, she won the singles title at the grass court tournament in Cheltenham, and later that month, she won the London Grass Court Championship played at the Queen's Club, defeating Christine Truman in the final. In July, she won the Welsh title also against Truman in the final. She reached the semifinal of the French Open singles in 1967, beating Billie Jean King in the quarterfinals and then losing to Lesley Turner Bowrey.

In July 1968, she won the singles title at the Swiss Open, defeating Julie Heldman in the final with the loss of just one game. In August she beat Judy Tegart in straight sets in the final of the singles event at the German Championships in Hamburg, also winning the doubles and mixed doubles events. Van Zyl reached the finals of the South African Championships singles event on three occasions, winning the title in 1963 and 1975 and ending as runner–up in 1965. From 1964 to 1976, she played in 11 ties for the South African Federation Cup team and compiled a 12–7 win-loss record.

According to A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Van Zyl was ranked in the world top 10 in 1965, 1966, and 1968, reaching a career high of world No. 6 in these rankings in 1965 and 1966.

Tournament finals Singles 13 (11 titles – 2 runner-ups)

Doubles 7 (4 titles, 3 runner-ups) ResultNo.DateTournamentPartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1. 1965 Rome, Italy Madonna Schacht Silvana Lazzarino Lea Pericoli 2–6, 6–2, 12–10Win 2. 1966 Rome, Italy Norma Baylon Ann Haydon-Jones Liz Starkie 6–3, 1–6, 6–2Loss 3. 1967 French Open Pat Walkden Françoise Dürr Gail Sherriff 2–6, 2–6Loss 4. 1968 Rome, Italy Pat Walkden Margaret Court Virginia Wade 2–6, 5–7Win 3. 1968 German Championships Pat Walkden Winnie Shaw Judy Tegart 6–3, 7–5Win 4. Jun 1976 Beckenham, England Brigitte Cuypers Natasha Chmyreva Olga Morozova 9–7, 6–4Loss 5. Jul 1976 Gstaad, Switzerland Brigitte Cuypers Betsy Nagelsen Wendy Turnbull 4–6, 4–6

Mixed doubles 1 ResultNo.DateTournamentPartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1. 1966 French Championships Frew McMillan Ann Haydon-Jones Clark Graebner 1–6, 6–3, 6–2

Personal life On 20 April 1968, Van Zyl married Jan du Plooy in Pretoria. She is currently a head coach at the Brooklyn Union Tennis Club in Brooklyn, Pretoria, South Africa.