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JoAnne Russell of Linville Ridge Takes Gold, Bronze at US Open Pickleball Championships

JoAnne Russell, 61, won the Wimbledon doubles championship with partner Helen Gourlay in 1977, upsetting the top seeded team of Martina Navratilova and Betty Stove in the final and the No. 2 seeded duo of Chris Evert and Rosie Casals in the first round. She played professionally for 13 years and is now a teaching professional at Linville Ridge in Linville, NC and Grey Oaks Country Club in Naples, FL, but tennis is not her only sport. Russell also plays pickleball.

Dominic Catalano & JoAnne Russell US Open Pickleball 2016
Dominic Catalano & JoAnne Russell US Open Pickleball 2016

Pickleball, sometimes described as “ping pong on steroids,” has elements of tennis, ping pong and badminton.