Florence Angela Margaret Mortimer Barrett, MBE (née Mortimer; born 21 April 1932) is a British former world No. 1

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player. Mortimer won three

Grand Slam Grand Slam or Grand slam may refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category terminology originating in contract bridge and other whist card games Athletics * Grand Slam Track, professional track and field league Auto racing * ...

singles titles: the 1955 French Championships, the

1958 Australian Championships The 1958 Australian Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on outdoor Grass courts at the White City Tennis Club, Sydney, Australia from 17 January to 27 January. It was the 46th edition of the Australian Championships (now known as ...

, and

1961 Wimbledon Championships The 1961 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from 26 June until 8 July.2010 Wimbledon Compendium, by Alan Little ( ...

when she was 29 years old and partially deaf. Mortimer also teamed with

Anne Shilcock Jacqueline Anne Shilcock (later Spann, 13 June 1932 – April 2019) was a British tennis player who was active in the 1950s. She won 1955 Wimbledon Championships in women's doubles with Angela Mortimer, becoming the first all-British team to wi ...

to win the women's doubles title at Wimbledon in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

, her only women's doubles title at a major. She teamed with Coghlan to reach the women's doubles final at the

. Mortimer and Peter Newman reached the mixed doubles final at the

, her only mixed doubles final at a major. Mortimer is married to the former player and broadcaster John Barrett. Following the death of

Shirley Fry Shirley June Fry Irvin (née Fry; June 30, 1927 – July 13, 2021) was an American tennis player. During her career, which lasted from the early 1940s until the mid-1950s, she won the singles title at all four Grand Slam events, as well as 13 dou ...

in 2021, Mortimer became the longest still surviving Wimbledon ladies singles champion.

Career

Mortimer reached the quarterfinals of the US National Championships, then lost to second seed

Doris Hart Doris Hart (June 20, 1925 – May 29, 2015) was an American tennis player who was active in the 1940s and first half of the 1950s. She was ranked world No. 1 in 1951. She was the fourth player, and second woman, to win a Career Grand Slam in sing ...

. At Wimbledon in 1953, seeded no. 5, she reached the quarterfinals, losing to

Dorothy Knode Alice Dorothy Head Knode (née Head; July 4, 1925 – October 25, 2015), also known as Dottie Head Knode, was an American tennis player who reached the women's singles final of the French International Championships in 1955, losing to Angela Mo ...

. She also reached the quarterfinals in 1954, 1956 (losing to countrywoman Pat Ward Hales), 1959 (when she was seeded no. 2 but lost to

Sandra Reynolds Sandra Reynolds Price (née Reynolds; born 4 March 1934) is a South African former tennis player who won four Grand Slam women's doubles championships and one Grand Slam mixed doubles championship. Her best Grand Slam singles result was reachi ...

), and 1960 (losing to champion

Maria Bueno Maria Esther Andion Bueno (11 October 1939 – 8 June 2018) was a Brazilian professional tennis player. During her 11-year career in the 1950s and 1960s, she won 19 Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles (seven in women's singles, 11 in w ...

). At Wimbledon in 1958, unseeded, she beat the former champion Margaret DuPont in the quarterfinals, then French champion

Zsuzsa Körmöczy Zsuzsa Körmöczy (25 August 1924 – 16 September 2006) was a Hungarian tennis player. She reached a career high of World No. 2 in women's tennis, and won the 1958 French Open at the age of 33. Early life She was born in Budapest, Hungary, a ...

6–0, 6–1 in the semifinals, and lost the final against the defending champion

Althea Gibson Althea Neale Gibson (August 25, 1927September 28, 2003) was an American tennis player and professional golfer, and one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1956, she became the first African America ...

in straight sets. In 1961, she won the title, defeating top-seeded Sandra Reynolds 11–9, 6–3 in the semifinals and then Christine Truman in the final in three sets.Angela Mortimer, My Waiting Game (Frederick Muller Ltd, London, 1962) utobiography/ref> Not fully fit in 1962, she lost to eventual finalist

Vera Suková Vera may refer to: Names *Vera (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Vera (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) **Vera (), archbishop of the archdiocese of Tarra ...

in the fourth round. In 1955, she was the first British woman since 1937 to win one of the Grand Slams when she defeated Dorothy Knode in the final of the

French Championships The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam tennis events eve ...

. During the long final set, she has said that she was given new heart when she heard her opponent asking for a brandy on court. Defending her title the following year, she reached the final, losing to Althea Gibson in two sets. During this year, she experienced a severe illness, not returning to full form until 1958. She won the Australian title in 1958 when recuperating, defeating

Lorraine Coghlan Lorraine Coghlan Robinson (née Coghlan; born 23 September 1937) is a former tennis player from the state of Victoria in Australia. In 1956, she won the Australian Championships Girls' Singles title. Coghlan teamed with Bob Howe to win the mix ...

in the final. Her best result in the U.S. Championships was in 1961 when she reached the semifinals, losing to

Ann Haydon Ann Shirley Jones, (born Adrianne Haydon; 17 October 1938), also known as Ann Haydon-Jones, is a British former table tennis and lawn tennis champion. She won eight Grand Slam tennis championships in her career: three in singles, three in wome ...

. She won three times against Althea Gibson in her career, and she made her farewell in the Torquay Open Lawn Tennis Tournament of 1962, beating Ann Haydon-Jones in the final. Her game was played mainly from the baseline, as described in her tennis autobiography ''My Waiting Game''. She always played in shorts, refusing designer Teddy Tinling's offer to design dresses for her. Ultimately, he designed shorts, and later she joined his staff. According to

Lance Tingay Lance Tingay (15 July 1915 – 10 March 1990) was a British sports journalist, historian, and author of several tennis books. For many years his annual ranking of top tennis players was "the only one that counted" before ATP rankings were introduc ...

, Mortimer was ranked in the world top 10 from 1953 through 1956 and from 1958 through 1962, reaching a career high of world No. 1 in 1961. Mortimer was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) for services to Lawn Tennis in the

1967 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1967 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1967 to celebra ...

. 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, 13 grass tennis courts, an ...

in 1993. On 27 July 2014, she received the Freedom of the Borough of Merton.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 5 (3 titles, 2 runners-up)

Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Mixed Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mortimer, Angela 1932 births Living people Australian Championships (tennis) champions Deaf tennis players English female tennis players British female tennis players French Championships (tennis) champions Sportspeople from Plymouth, Devon International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees United States National champions (tennis) Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era) Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's singles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Members of the Order of the British Empire English deaf people Tennis players from Devon World number 1 ranked female tennis players 20th-century English sportswomen