Linda Blatty

Linda Tuero (born October 21, 1950) is an American tennis player and paleoanthropologist. She won six U.S Junior Titles and three U.S. Women's Titles. She reached the quarter-finals of the French Open in 1971, and won the singles titles at the Italian Open in 1972. She represented the United States in the Wightman Cup and Federation Cup teams in 1972 and 1973 and served as the Federation Cup Captain in 1973. Tuero was ranked in the U.S. Top Ten Women Singles for four years and in 1972 was ranked No. 10 in the World. Linda Tuero was born in Metairie, Louisiana. She started playing tennis at the age of 11 and was taught by Emmett Paré throughout her career. At age 13, she won the US National Girl's 14 Singles Championship and by the time she had graduated from high school, she had won six national titles: the 1964 US National Girl's 14 Singles Championship, the 1966 US National Girl's 16 Singles Championship, the 1966 US National Girl's 16 Doubles Championship, the 1967 US National Girl's 18 Clay Court Singles Championship, the 1968 US National Girl's 18 Clay Court Singles Championship, and the 1968 National Interscholastic Championship.Tuero was the first woman to be awarded an athletic scholarship to Tulane University, the first woman to play on a Tulane varsity team and the first woman to win a varsity Green Wave letter.While a member of the Tulane tennis team, she played on the women's professional tennis circuit but kept her amateur status. During this time, she won three more national titles: the 1969 US Amateur Championship, 1970 US Amateur Championship and the 1970 US Open Clay Court Championship. In 1971, she was runner-up in the US Open Clay Courts, losing to Billie Jean King in the finals, and she reached the quarterfinals of the French Open.

In 1972, playing her first year as a professional, Linda won the Italian Open. She also won the first International Tournament of Madrid (Madrid Open) and was a semifinalist in the US Open Clay Courts, Canadian Open, WTA German Open, and Western & Southern Open (Cincinnati Masters), with losses to Chris Evert, Evonne Goolagong, and Margaret Court. In 1973, she had a win over Martina Navratilova in the Fort Lauderdale Classic.

Tuero represented the US in the Wightman Cup and Federation Cup teams in 1972 and 1973, serving as the Federation Cup captain in 1973Her top career world rankings included No 1 in Women-Under-21 and No 10 in World (Women). She has been inducted into the Halls of Fame of Tulane University, Louisiana Tennis Tennis Hall of Fame, and USTA Southern Tennis Hall of Fame.