Canada tennis player, coach Rene Simpson, 47, dies

[October 18, 2013]  TORONTO (AP) -- Rene Simpson, a former player, coach and longtime captain of Canada's Fed Cup tennis team, has died. She was 47.

Tennis Canada said she died Thursday in Chicago after a yearlong battle with brain cancer.

Simpson made her first Grand Slam appearance at the 1989 Australian Open. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 70 that year and advanced to the third round at the French Open.

In doubles, she was ranked as high as No. 32, won three titles and was a U.S. Open quarterfinalist. She won three singles tournaments and four doubles titles on the lower-tier ITF circuit. Simpson was a regular on Canada's Fed Cup team in the 1990s and was captain from 2001 to '09.

Private memorial services will be held in Chicago and Toronto.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.