Daphne Jessie Akhurst (22 April 1903 – 9 January 1933) known also by her married name Daphne Cozens, was an Australian

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player. Akhurst won the women's singles title at the Australian Championships five times between 1925 and 1930. According to Wallis Myers (''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', '' Daily Mail''), she was ranked World No. 3 in 1928.

Career

The second daughter of Oscar James Akhurst, a lithographer, and his wife Jessie Florence (née Smith), Daphne Akhurst won the women's singles title at the Australian Championships five times, in 1925, 1926, 1928, 1929, and 1930. She is fourth on the list of most women's singles titles at the Australian Championships; behind only

Margaret Court Margaret Court (''née'' Smith; born 16 July 1942), also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian retired former world No. 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, her 24 maj ...

with eleven titles,

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...

with seven and

Nancye Wynne Bolton Nancye Wynne Bolton (née Wynne; 2 December 1916 – 9 November 2001) was a tennis player from Australia. She won the women's singles title six times at the Australian Championships, third only to Margaret Court's and Serena Williams' 11 and 7 ...

with six titles. She won the women's doubles title at the Australian Championships five times: in 1924 and 1925 with Sylvia Lance Harper, in 1928 with

Esna Boyd Robertson Esna Boyd Robertson (née Boyd; 21 September 1899 – 13 November 1966) was an Australian tennis player who reached seven consecutive women's singles finals at the Australian Open, Australian Championships from 1922 through 1928. She won one of ...

, and in 1929 and 1931 with Louie Bickerton. She and Marjorie Cox were the runners-up in 1926. In 1925 she was part of the first Australian women's team to tour Europe and reached the quarterfinal of the singles event at Wimbledon which she lost to

Joan Fry Joan Craddock Fry (6 May 1906 – 29 September 1985) was a British tennis player. Fry was a finalist at the 1925 Wimbledon Championships where she lost in straight sets to Suzanne Lenglen. She was part of the British team that won the 193 ...

. During her second and last European tour in 1928, she reached the singles quarterfinal at the French Championships, in which Cristobel Hardie defeated her, and the semifinal at Wimbledon, which she lost in straight sets to Lili de Alvarez. Akhurst won the mixed doubles title at the Australian Championships four times: in 1924 and 1925 with Jim Willard, in 1928 with

Jean Borotra Jean Laurent Robert Borotra (, ; 13 August 1898 – 17 July 1994) was a French tennis champion. He was one of the " Four Musketeers" from his country who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Borotra was imprisoned in Itter Castle ...

, and in 1929 with Gar Moon. She and Willard were the runners-up in 1926. She and her partner Jack Crawford reached the mixed doubles final at Wimbledon in 1928, but lost to the team of

Elizabeth Ryan Elizabeth Montague Ryan (February 5, 1892 – July 6, 1979) was an American tennis player who was born in Anaheim, California, but lived most of her adult life in the United Kingdom. Ryan won 26 Grand Slam titles, 19 in women's doubles and mi ...

/ Patrick Spence, 7–5, 6–4. Akhurst won the singles title at the German Championships in 1928 after a three-sets victory in the final against defending champion Cilly Aussem.

Personal life

Akhurst attended the Miss. E. Tildesley's

Normanhurst School Normanhurst School is a mixed private school in Chingford, located in the London Borough of Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is a London borough in north-east London, England. Its population is estimated to be 276,983 ...

, followed by the

Sydney Conservatorium of Music The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (formerly the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music and known by the moniker "The Con") is a heritage-listed music school in Macquarie Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the old ...

. On 26 February 1930 at St Philip's Church of England, Sydney, Daphne Akhurst married Royston Stuckey Cozens, a tobacco manufacturer, and retired from serious competition soon after winning the Australian ladies' doubles championship in 1931. They had one son, Don. Daphne Akhurst Cozens died on 9 January 1933, aged 29, from an ectopic pregnancy.

Legacy

Since 1934 the trophy presented each year to the winner of the women's singles at the Australian Open is named the ''Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup'' in her honour. She was inducted into the

Australian Tennis Hall of Fame The Australian Tennis Hall of Fame was established in 1993 by Tennis Australia under the leadership of then-president Geoff Pollard. Described by Tennis Australia as "one of the highest honours Australian tennis players can receive", inductees a ...

on Australia Day (26 January), 2006. She was inducted into the

International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indo ...

in 2013.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 5 titles

Doubles: 6 (5 titles, 1 runner-up)

Mixed Doubles: 6 (4 titles, 2 runners-up)

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

¹The French Championships were not held in 1924, as the Olympics were held in Paris that year.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akhurst, Daphne 1903 births 1933 deaths Australasian Championships (tennis) champions Australian Championships (tennis) champions Australian female tennis players Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's singles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles People from the Inner West (Sydney) Sportswomen from New South Wales Tennis players from Sydney International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Deaths in childbirth 20th-century Australian women