Virginia Ruzici

Country	Romania
Born	31 January 1955 (1955-01-31) (age 56) Câmpia Turzii, Romania
Turned pro	1975
Retired	1987
Plays	Right-handed
Career prize money	US$1,183,728
Singles
Career record	377–221
Career titles	11
Highest ranking	No. 8 (21 May 1979)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	QF (1980)
French Open	W (1978)
Wimbledon	QF (1978, 1981)
US Open	QF (1976, 1978)
Doubles
Career record	284–181
Career titles	15
Highest ranking	No. 70 (12 October 1987)
Last updated on: 12 March 2008.

Virginia Ruzici (born 31 January 1955) is a former professional tennis player from Romania. She was born in Câmpia Turzii, Romania and turned professional in 1975. One of her main assets on court was her powerful forehand.

In a career spanning twelve years, Ruzici won 11 career singles titles, including one Grand Slam title, the 1978 French Open. In the final she beat 1977 French Open champion Mima Jaušovec 6–2, 6–2. Ruzici also won the French Open doubles event with Jaušovec in 1978 and reached the mixed doubles final in 1977, making her one of only seven women to reach all three finals of one Grand Slam in the open era.

Ruzici remained in the world's top twenty from 1977 to 1983. She regularly featured in the Romania Fed Cup team throughout her career, and began playing for them in 1973, two years before turning professional.

At Wimbledon 1978, Ruzici lost a notable match in the quarter final round to the Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley who was playing with an injured ankle. Cawley's injury lead to her collapsing on court and her husband, Roger Cawley, came on to the court to aid his wife, technically defaulting the Australian from the match. When Mrs. Cawley recovered, Ruzici agreed to continue the match, but lost 7-5 6-3 and was praised for her sportsmanship. It has often been stated during TV commentaries that Ruzici's victory in 1980 at a tournament in Salt Lake City was watched by Richard Williams who was inspired by her triumph and prize money to teach his daughters Venus Williams & Serena Williams to play tennis.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 2 finals (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1978	French Open	Clay	Mima Jaušovec	6–2, 6–2
Runner-up	1980	French Open	Clay	Chris Evert	6–0, 6–3

Women's doubles: 2 finals (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1978	French Open	Clay	Mima Jaušovec	Lesley Turner Bowrey Gail Chanfreau	6–4, 6–3
Runner-up	1978	Wimbledon	Grass	Mima Jaušovec	Kerry Reid Wendy Turnbull	4–6, 9–8, 6–3

Mixed doubles: 2 final (0 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1978	French Open	Clay	Patrice Dominguez	Renáta Tomanová Pavel Složil	4–6, 7–6, (ret.)
Runner-up	1979	French Open	Clay	Ion Ţiriac	Wendy Turnbull Bob Hewitt	6–3, 2–6, 6–3

Titles (26)

Singles (11)

No.	Date	Location	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
1.	18 August 1975	South Orange, USA	Hard	Mariana Simionescu	6–1, 6–1
2.	26 September 1977	Palm Harbor, USA	Hard	Laura DuPont	6–4, 4–6, 6–2
3.	29 May 1978	French Open, Paris	Clay	Mima Jaušovec	6–2, 6-2
4.	16 October 1978	Brighton, UK	Carpet (i)	Betty Stöve	5–7, 6–2, 7–5
5.	21 July 1980	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Hana Mandlíková	3–6, 6–1 (ret.)
6.	8 September 1980	Salt Lake City, USA	Hard	Ivanna Madruga-Osses	6–1, 6–3
7.	12 July 1982	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Bonnie Gadusek	6–2, 7–6
8.	19 July 1982	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Lea Plchová	6–2, 6–2
9.	2 August 1982	Indianapolis, USA (US Clay Courts)	Clay	Helena Suková	6–2, 6–0
10.	3 October 1983	Detroit, USA	Carpet (i)	Kathy Jordan	4–6, 6–4, 6–2
11.	15 July 1985	Bregenz, Austria	Clay	Mima Jaušovec	6–2, 6–3

Doubles (15)

Grand Slam events in boldface.

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

NH = tournament not held.

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

See also

• Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final