Sylvia Harper (née Lance; 1 October 1895 – 21 October 1982) was an Australia

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 who won the singles title at the 1924 Australian Championships. She reached the singles final there two other times, in 1927, losing to

Esna Boyd Esna Boyd Robertson (née Boyd; 21 September 1899 – 13 November 1966) 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 ( ...

, and in 1930, losing to

Daphne Akhurst Daphne Jessie Akhurst (22 April 1903 – 9 January 1933) known also by her married name Daphne Cozens, was an Australian tennis player. Akhurst won the women's singles title at the Australian Championships five times between 1925 and 1930. ...

. Harper won the women's doubles title at the Australian Championships three consecutive years. In 1923, her partner was Boyd, and in 1924 and 1925, her partner was Akhurst. She reached the final an additional three times with three different partners, in 1927, 1929, and 1930. Harper won the mixed doubles title at the Australian Championships in 1923 with

Horace Rice Horace Rice (5 September 1872 – 18 January 1950) was an Australian tennis player. The left-handed Rice, who played in knickerbockers and long black socks, won the Men's Singles title at the 1907 Australasian Championships, beating Harry ...

and was the runner-up in that event in 1925. According to A. Wallis Myers of ''

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 ...

'' and the '' Daily Mail'', Harper was ranked World No. 10 in 1924, the only year she was included in those rankings. Harper competed overseas on two occasions; in 1920 she competed at Wimbledon and, in 1925, captained the first women's tennis team to represent Australia internationally. At Wimbledon, she made the second round of the ladies singles, where she lost to Dorothy Shepherd, the ladies doubles, where she partnered

and the mixed doubles, where she partnered E. T. Lamb. She married businessman Robert Rainy Harper on 28 May 1924 and they had one son.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 3 (1 title, 2 runners-up)

Doubles: 6 (3 titles, 3 runners-up)

Mixed doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

¹Through 1923, the French Championships were open only to French nationals. The World Hard Court Championships (WHCC), actually played on clay in Paris or Brussels, began in 1912 and were open to all nationalities. The results from that tournament are shown here for 1920 through 1923. The Olympics replaced the WHCC in 1924, as the Olympics were held in Paris. Beginning in 1925, the French Championships were open to all nationalities, with the results shown here beginning with that year.

References