Doris Hart
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| Bio | Doris Hart was a World No. 1 American tennis player who was active in the 1940s and first half of the 1950s and was ranked No. 1 in 1951. She was the fourth player, and second woman, to win a Career Grand Slam in singles. She was the first of only three players (all women) to complete the career "Boxed Set" of Grand Slam titles, which is winning at least one title in singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles at all four Grand Slam events. The others are Margaret Smith Court and Martina Navratilova. Hart was the first person to accomplish this feat. Only Margaret Smith Court and she achieved this during the amateur era of the sport. Hart reached 67 Grand Slam finals and won 35 titles, tying with Louise Brough for sixth on the all-time list (behind Margaret Smith Court (64), Martina Navratilova (59), Billie Jean King (39), Serena Williams (39), and Margaret Osborne duPont (37)). Six of her titles were in women's singles, 14 in women's doubles, and 15 in mixed doubles. In any event, she was a stupendously prolific winner, recording triumphs in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles at every major event. Total she amassed 35 Grand Slam titles across her sterling career was a lofty achievement, but it was all the more impressive in light of the obstacles she had to overcome. She was hindered as a small child by a knee infection ( osteomyelitis), which resulted in a permanently impaired right leg, and at the age of 10, she began playing tennis as therapy and greatly encouraged by her brother Bud. Many fans mistakenly presumed she had polio, which was not the case. After losing seven Grand Slam finals from 1942 through 1946, 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. Her first Grand Slam singles title came at the 1949 Australian Championships, where she was the only non-Australian player in the draw. 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, she beat her long-time doubles partner, Shirley Fry Irvin, in the Wimbledon final. Hart is the first person to complete the career boxed set. In 1951, Hart won the singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles championships at Wimbledon, playing the finals of all three events on the same day (Saturday 7 July 1951). 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. Hart won 35 Grand Slam titles during her career, tying 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 won nine consecutive Grand Slam women's doubles titles from 1951 through 1953 (although she skipped 4 Grand Slam tournaments during this period), with her streak of 43 consecutive match wins in Grand Slam women's doubles tournaments finally ending in the 1954 Wimbledon final. She also did not lose a mixed doubles match at the 13 Grand Slam tournaments she played from the 1951 French International Championships through the 1955 U. S. National Championships. She (and partner Stan Smith) finally lost in the third round of the 1968 Wimbledon Championships to Frew McMillan and Annette Van Zyl Du Plooy 6-3, 12-10. Hart was the champion of the last Grand Slam singles tournament she played, the 1955 U.S. Championships, it means the 1955 U. S. singles final was the last Grand Slam singles match of her career. According to John Olliff and Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Hart was ranked in the world top ten from 1946 through 1955 (no rankings issued from 1940 through 1945), reaching a career high of World No. 1 in those rankings in 1951. Hart was included in the year-end top ten rankings issued by the United States Lawn Tennis Association from 1942 through 1955. She was the top ranked U.S. player in 1954 and 1955. Hart never played Helen Wills Moody, Helen Jacobs, Alice Marble, Angela Mortimer, Ann Haydon Jones, Maria Bueno, or Darlene Hard in a Grand Slam singles tournament. 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. She died on May 29, 2015 at her home in Coral Gables, Florida, aged 89. |
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