Renée Richards

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Renée Richards (born August 19, 1934 as Richard Raskind in New York City , New York ) is an American transsexual former tennis player as well as a book author and ophthalmologist . In 1979, the American reached 20th place in the women's world rankings, the highest ranking that transsexuals have ever achieved in the world tennis rankings. In the 1950s she had already taken part in major tennis tournaments as a man.

In 1975, Richards underwent sex surgery. In 1976, she was denied access to the US Open by the United States Tennis Association. In 1977 the US Supreme Court upheld their lawsuit against the expulsion. The decision was seen as groundbreaking for transsexual rights.

Life as a boy and a young man

Richards was born in New York City to Jewish parents and was named Richard Raskind at birth. According to her own account, she was brought up to be a “nice Jewish boy” . At the age of six she moved to Forest Hills with her family . A strong tennis player from early childhood, Raskind was among the top 10 junior tennis players in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s. She was the captain of her high school tennis team at Horace Mann School in New York City and won the Eastern Private Schools Interscholastic singles titles at age 15 .

The left-hander and 1.88 meter tall Raskind attended the elite University of Yale , played there on the university's tennis team and became team captain in 1954. After Yale, Raskind attended the University of Rochester Medical School and then served in the US Navy as a Lieutenant Commander. She then embarked on a career as an ophthalmologist, specializing in strabismus . Raskind reached the final of the national 35-and-over tennis championship in 1972.

Transsexuality

In the mid-1960s, Raskind traveled through Europe dressed as a woman and intended to travel to North Africa to visit Georges Burou , a famous sex surgeon , for the purpose of sex reassignment at his clinic in Casablanca , Morocco. She initially changed her mind and returned to New York, married and had a son. Later, through the mediation of Harry Benjamin , Raskind came into contact with the sex surgeon Roberto C. Granato and had a successful gender reassignment carried out in 1975.

Tennis career after gender reassignment

Richards was denied entry as a woman in the 1976 US Open if she did not undergo a chromosome test. She sued the United States Tennis Association, and in 1977 she was granted the right to compete in the US Open as a woman without testing. Richards played women's tennis from 1977 to 1981. Her highest ranking was number 20 in the world rankings in February 1979 and her highest year-end placement was number 22 at the end of 1977. Her greatest achievement was reaching the doubles final of the US Open in 1977 together with Betty Ann Stuart - the couple lost in a close match Martina Navrátilová and Betty Stöve . Richards reached the semi-finals of the US Open twice in mixed, each on the side of Ilie Năstase . In 1979 she beat Nancy Richey in the final of the US Open women's over-35 competition . Richards celebrated victories over Hana Mandlíková , Sylvia Hanika , Virginia Ruzici and Pam Shriver . She later coached Martina Navrátilová to two Wimbledon victories and was inducted into the USTA Eastern Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000.

Richards now sees the question of admitting transsexuals and transgender people to professional women's sport as ambivalent. Growing up as a man gave her physical advantages over her competitors: "If I had had the operation at the age of 22 and had started the tour at 24, no genetic woman in the world would have had a chance against me. Because of this, I've changed my mind. [...] There is one thing that a transgender woman cannot expect and that is permission to do professional sports in her chosen field. "

Author

In 1986, Richards published her first autobiography under the title Second Serve . In 2007, Richards published a second autobiography entitled No Way Renee. The Second Half of My Notorious Life , in which she expressed regret at the nature of her notoriety that grew out of her transsexuality. However, she stressed that she did not regret sex reassignment as such. John Ames co-wrote both editions of her autobiography.

Participation in Grand Slam tournaments

Between 1953 and 1960 Richard Raskind took part in the men's individual competition of the US Open five times and in 1955 reached the second round. From 1977 and 1981 Renée Richards took part in the women's singles competition at the US Open five times, reaching the third round in 1979 and the second round in 1980. She also took part in the US Open women's doubles from 1977 to 1981 and reached the finals in 1977 , the second round in 1978 and the third round in 1980 and 1981. She also took part in the mixed competition at the UP Open from 1978 to 1980, reaching the semi-finals in 1979 and the third round in 1980. At the dates not mentioned, she was eliminated in the first round. She did not take part in other Grand Slam tournaments.

Final participation
No. date competition category Topping Partner Tournament winner Result
1. September 1977 United StatesUnited States US Open Grand Slam sand United StatesUnited States Betty-Ann Stuart United StatesUnited States Martina Navrátilová Betty Stöve
NetherlandsNetherlands  		1: 6, 6: 7

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30C16F9345F167493C5A81783D85F438785F9
  2. ↑ Bazelon, Emily. Cross-Court Winner , slate.com, accessed December 21, 2018.
  3. ↑ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7277665
personal data
SURNAME Richards, Renee
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Richards, Renee; Raskind, Richard (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American tennis player, author and ophthalmologist
DATE OF BIRTH August 19, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , New York