Doris Hart - American Tennis Champion

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and mixed doubles.

As a child, she suffered from osteomyelitis, which resulted in a permanently impaired right leg. She started playing tennis when she was 10 years old, greatly encouraged by her brother Bud.

Hart's first Grand Slam title was in women's doubles at Wimbledon in 1947, when she was still a student at the University of Miami (Florida).

Hart's first Grand Slam singles title came at the 1949 Australian Championships. She also won singles titles at the French Championships in 1950 and 1952, Wimbledon in 1951, and the U.S. Championships in 1954 and 1955. In 1951, Doris Hart beat her long-time doubles partner, Shirley Fry Irvin, in the Wimbledon final. In 1954, she saved a match point while defeating Louise Brough Clapp in the final of the U.S. Championships.

Hart reached at least the quarterfinals in 32 of the 34 Grand Slam singles tournaments she played, failing to reach that round only in her first two tournaments (when she was 15 and 16 years old). She won 6 of the 18 Grand Slam singles finals she contested. She was the champion of the last Grand Slam singles tournament she played, the 1955 U.S. Championships. Her last Grand Slam doubles tournament was the 1969 U.S. Open, where she and partner Carole Graebner lost in the first round.

In 1951, Doris Hart won the singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles championships at Wimbledon, playing the finals of all three events on the same day. She also won the "triple crown" at the French Championships in 1952 and the U.S. Championships in 1954.

During her Wightman Cup career from 1946 through 1955, Hart was a perfect 14-0 in singles matches and 8–1 in doubles matches.

Doris Hart won 35 Grand Slam titles during her career, tieing with Brough Clapp for fifth on the all-time list. Six of her titles were in women's singles, 14 in women's doubles, and 15 in mixed doubles. Hart is one of three players, all women, to have a "boxed set" of Grand Slam titles—every possible title (singles, same-sex doubles, and mixed doubles) from all four Grand Slam events. The others are Margaret Court and Martina Navratilova.

Doris Hart retired from the tour in 1955 to become a tennis teaching professional. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1969.

Wins (6)
Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
1949 Australian Championships Nancye Wynne Bolton 6–3, 6–4
1950 French Championships Pat Canning Todd 6–4, 4–6, 6–2
1951 Wimbledon Shirley Fry Irvin 6–1, 6–0
1952 French Championships Shirley Fry Irvin 6–4, 6–4
1954 U.S. Championships Louise Brough Clapp 6–8, 6–1, 8–6
1955 U.S. Championships Patricia Ward 6–4, 6–2

Runner-ups (12)
Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
1946 U.S. Championships Pauline Betz Addie 11-9, 6–3
1947 French Championships Pat Canning Todd 6–3, 3–6, 6–4
1947 Wimbledon Margaret Osborne duPont 6–2, 6–4
1948 Wimbledon Louise Brough Clapp 6–3, 8–6
1949 U.S. Championships Margaret Osborne duPont 6–3, 6–1
1950 Australian Championships Louise Brough Clapp 6–4, 3–6, 6–4
1950 U.S. Championships Margaret Osborne duPont 6–4, 6–3
1951 French Championships Shirley Fry Irvin 6–3, 3–6, 6–3
1952 U.S. Championships Maureen Connolly Brinker 6–3, 7–5
1953 French Championships Maureen Connolly Brinker 6–2, 6–4
1953 Wimbledon Maureen Connolly Brinker 8–6, 7–5
1953 U.S. Championships Maureen Connolly Brinker 6–2, 6–4

Go to the List of Male and Female Tennis Players


Source of this Doris Hart article: Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia

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