Mariaan de Swardt, South African-American tennis player, coach, and sportscaster
Mariaan de Swardt (born 18 March 1971) is a former professional tennis player from South Africa, who was active from 1988 to 2001. She twice represented her native country at the Summer Olympics, in 1992 and 1996, and was a member of the South Africa Fed Cup team in 1992 and from 1994 to 1997. In 2006, de Swardt became a U.S. citizen.De Swardt won two Grand Slam titles in mixed-doubles competition, the 1999 Australian Open and the 2000 French Open with partner David Adams.
She also won four women's doubles titles and reached as high as world No. 11 in the doubles WTA rankings. She has one WTA Tour singles title from 1998 and reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 28 in 1996.
Since retiring from tennis, she has been a commentator for Eurosport and South African television, and has coached at professional, collegiate and recreational level with her base being at Atlanta, Georgia. She resides in Houston, Texas, and is a teaching professional at the River Oaks Country Club. In 2004, she set up a non-profit charity, the Pet Care Fund, to help animals.
1971Mar, 18
Mariaan de Swardt
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Events on 1971
- 8Jan
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Bowing to international pressure, President of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto releases Bengali leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from prison, who had been arrested after declaring the independence of Bangladesh. - 7Jun
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The United States Supreme Court overturns the conviction of Paul Cohen for disturbing the peace, setting the precedent that vulgar writing is protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. - 11Jul
Chile
Copper mines in Chile are nationalized. - 21Sep
Bhutan
Bahrain, Bhutan and Qatar join the United Nations. - 24Nov
D. B. Cooper
During a severe thunderstorm over Washington state, a hijacker calling himself Dan Cooper (aka D. B. Cooper) parachutes from a Northwest Orient Airlines plane with $200,000 in ransom money. He has never been found.