Julie Pullin
Julie Pullin, now Julie Hobbs, is a retired British tennis player who turned professional in 1993. She won eight singles titles and 25 doubles titles on the ITF circuit, many with compatriot Lorna Woodroffe. She is most well known for receiving nine wild cards over her career for the ladies' singles at Wimbledon, but failing to win a match.
She reached her career-high WTA singles ranking of 125 in April 2000, after she achieved her best performance in a Grand Slam championship, qualifying and reaching the second round of the Australian Open for the first time. Pullin had defeated Slovak 15th seed Martina Suchá in the first round of qualifying 6–4, 7–5, Gloria Pizzichini 6–4, 6–0 in the second and American Samantha Reeves in the final round 6–2, 7–6. She defeated another American, Jane Chi, 6–1, 6–3 in the first round proper, before narrowly losing to Chinese wild card Yi Jing-Qian, 3–6, 6–2, 7–9. It was the only tournament where Pullin won a main-draw Grand Slam match in singles.
She reached the second round of the Wimbledon ladies' doubles tournament once in 2000, with Woodroffe, beating Dawn Buth and Julie Scott 6–4, 6–1, before losing to the 14th seeded Anke Huber and Barbara Schett in the second round.
Julie Pullin announced her retirement in 2003, after playing her last professional singles match in the first round at Wimbledon, losing 1–6, 3–6 to Lina Krasnoroutskaya.
Personal life
Pullin was born in Cuckfield in Sussex to her father Alan and her tennis coach mother Andrea. She has two brothers, Roger and Keith, and a sister, Vicki. She was coached during her career by Leighton Alfred.Her married name is now Hobbs, and under that name she is now the head coach at the Pavilion and Avenue Tennis Club in Brighton.
WTA career finals
Doubles: 1 (0–1)
Result | W-L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
Loss | 0–1 | May 1997 | Cardiff, Great Britain | Clay | Lorna Woodroffe | Kerry-Anne Guse Debbie Graham | 3–6, 4–6 |
ITF finals
Singles: 18 (8–10)
Outcome | No. | Date | Location | Surface | Opponent | Score |
Winner | 1. | 23 March 1992 | Harare, Zimbabwe | Hard | Julia Muir | 6–1, 6–1 |
Winner | 2. | 6 April 1992 | Gaborone, Botswana | Hard | Estelle Gevers | 6–2, 2–6, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 3. | 5 7 1993 | Frinton, Great Britain | Grass | Lucie Ahl | 1–6, 6–3, 1–6 |
Winner | 4. | 9 August 1993 | College Park, United States | Hard | Vickie Paynter | 6–4, 3–6, 6–2 |
Runner-up | 5. | 27 September 1993 | Bracknell, Great Britain | Hard | Svetlana Parkhomenko | 5–7, 2–6 |
Runner-up | 6. | 4 March 1996 | Haifa, Israel | Hard | Hila Rosen | 4–6, 3–6 |
Runner-up | 7. | 4 May 1996 | Hatfield, Great Britainm | Clay | Jessica Steck | 6–7, 6–7 |
Runner-up | 8. | 8 July 1996 | Easton, United States | Hard | Stephanie Mabry | 3–6, 3–6 |
Runner-up | 9. | 29 9 1996 | Telford, Great Britain | Hard | Lucie Ahl | 3–6, 7–6, 3–6 |
Winner | 10. | 27 April 1997 | Bournemouth, Great Britain | Clay | Joanne Ward | 6–0, 6–3 |
Winner | 11. | 14 February 1998 | Birmingham, Great Britain | Hard | Joanne Ward | 6–1, 1–6, 6–3 |
Winner | 12. | 9 August 1998 | Lexington, United States | Hard | Abigail Tordoff | 6–4, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 13. | 7 November 1999 | Hull, Great Britain | Hard | Yvonne Doyle | 4–6, 5–7 |
Runner-up | 14. | 20 February 2000 | Redbridge, Great Britain | Hard | Elena Bovina | 6–2, 0–6, 1–6 |
Runner-up | 15. | 30 October 2000 | Hull, Great Britain | Hard | Louise Latimer | 2–4, 2–4, 1–4 |
Runner-up | 16. | 19 February 2001 | Algarve, Portugal | Hard | Ekaterina Kozhokina | 4–6, 6–4, 3–6 |
Winner | 17. | 9 October 2001 | Cardiff, Great Britain | Carpet | Eva Dyrberg | 6–1, 6–7, 6–2 |
Winner | 18. | 5 May 2002 | Gifu, Japan | Hard | Shinobu Asagoe | 4–6, 6–4, 6–3 |