Class of 2022
Paulette Moreno

Biography

Born 12 March 1969 in Hong Kong.

This southpaw started tennis at 7 and by age 11, she reached the ladies’ singles final of the Hong Kong National Tennis Championships in 1980 and repeated that feat in 1981. She captured her first local major by winning the CRC Open ladies’ singles at age 12, the youngest to ever do so. Then, in 1982, she captured the SCAA Open, CRC Open, and Nationals in the same calendar year to complete the local Triple Crown as a 13-year-old. In 1983, at age 14, she became the youngest player to retain the Hong Kong National Tennis Championships ladies’ singles title.

In 1984, at age 15, she won the SCAA Open, CRC Open, and Nationals again to become the only player to complete a second career Triple Crown, man or woman. In doing so, she was also the first player to win the Hong Kong National Tennis Championships ladies’ singles three years in a row. In all, she has won the Hong Kong National Tennis Championships five times, CRC Open five times, and the SCAA Open three times.

At the Asian Junior Championships in 1985, she defeated 1984 Olympian and 1990 Asian games gold medalist, Akiko Kijimuta, to finish runner-up in the girls’ singles event. From 1983-1987, she competed in the Wimbledon girls’ singles maindraw five years in a row. In 1987, she was seeded 16th in girls’ singles and beat a top-seeded Indonesian team led by Yayuk Basuki en route to the girls’ doubles final with Korea’s Kim Il-Soon.

In 1988, she progressed to the Australian Open women’s singles maindraw as a qualifier and beat Dutch Fed Cupper, Marianne Van Der Torre, to reach the second round. Other than Patricia Hy, she is the only player from Hong Kong to win a match in the maindraw of a Grand Slam. In doubles, she reached the second round of the Australian Open in 1988 and Wimbledon in 1990. In mixed doubles, she also reached the second round at Wimbledon in 1989.

She played twenty Billie Jean King Cup ties for Hong Kong, China with the most memorable year being 1987 when she teamed up with Patricia Hy to beat Sweden, Brazil, Finland, and Belgium in succession to reach the World Group Consolation Final. In 1990, she beat former world No. 7 Andrea Temesvari for the tie-clincher against Hungary to lead the team into the second round of the World Group before losing to eventual runner-up Soviet Union. She also served as the Playing-Captain in 1995. Overall, her win-loss record was 10-9 in singles and 8-8 in doubles. On the ITF World Tennis Tour, she captured six career women’s doubles titles and attained a career-high WTA ranking of No. 231 in singles and No. 178 in doubles.

 

Local Majors


Ladies’ Singles

Hong Kong National Tennis Championships
1982  1983  1984  1989  1990

SCAA Open
1982  1984  1985

CRC Open
1981  1982  1984  1985  1992


Ladies’ Doubles

Hong Kong National Tennis Championships
1984  1990

SCAA Open
1982  1984  1985

CRC Open
1984  1985  1992


Mixed Doubles

Hong Kong National Tennis Championships
1984  1985

SCAA Open
1984  1985

CRC Open
1984  1985