Doris Hart (June 20, 1925 – May 29, 2015) was an American

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 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 singles. She was the first of only three players (all women) to complete the career "

Boxed Set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...

" of Grand Slam titles, which is winning at least one title in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles at all four Grand Slam events. Only she and

Margaret Court Margaret Court (''née'' Smith; born 16 July 1942), also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian former world number 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Her 24 women's singles major titles and total of 64 major titles (includi ...

achieved this during the amateur era of the sport. Hart played collegiate tennis for the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes, known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes, are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida and is located southwest of Greater Downtown Miami, Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

Tennis career

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 Margaret Court (''née'' Smith; born 16 July 1942), also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world number 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Her 24 women's singles Grand S ...

(64),

Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova (, ; ; born October18, 1956) is a Czech-American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, singles for 332 weeks (List of WTA number ...

(59),

Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943), also known as BJK, is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in w ...

(39),

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WT ...

(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. Hart is one of only three players, all women, to have a "boxed set" of Grand Slam titles — every possible title (singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles) from all four Grand Slam tournaments. The others are Margaret Smith Court and Martina Navratilova. Hart was the first person to accomplish this feat. As a child, Hart suffered from

osteomyelitis Osteomyelitis (OM) is the infectious inflammation of bone marrow. Symptoms may include pain in a specific bone with overlying redness, fever, and weakness. The feet, spine, and hips are the most commonly involved bones in adults. The cause is ...

, which resulted in a permanently impaired right leg. She started playing tennis when she was 10 years old, greatly encouraged by her brother Bud. After losing seven Grand Slam finals from 1942 through 1946, Hart won her first Grand Slam title at the 1947 Wimbledon Championships in women's doubles. At that point, she was still a student at the

. Her first Grand Slam singles title came at the 1949 Australian National Championships, where she was the only non-Australian player in the draw. She also won singles titles at the

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

and 1952 French International Championships, the 1951 Wimbledon Championships (routing doubles partner

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 the final), and the

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

and 1955 U.S. National Championships. The 1955 U.S. singles final was the last Grand Slam singles match of her career. Hart won the singles, women's doubles, and

mixed doubles Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis, and badminton (where it is known ...

titles at the 1951 Wimbledon Championships, playing the finals of all three events on the same day (July 7, 1951). She also won the " triple crown" at the 1952 French International Championships and the 1954 U.S. National Championships. During her

Wightman Cup The Wightman Cup was an annual team tennis competition for women contested from 1923 through 1989 (except during World War II) between teams from the United States and Great Britain. History U.S. player Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman wanted to generat ...

career from 1946 through 1955, Hart was a perfect 14–0 in singles matches and 8–1 in doubles matches. Hart did not lose a Grand Slam women's doubles match from the 1951 French International Championships through the semifinals of the 1954 Wimbledon Championships, 43 matches in total, although she skipped 4 Grand Slam tournaments during this period. 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 Stanley Roger Smith (born December 14, 1946) is an American former professional tennis player. A world No. 1 player and two-time major singles champion (at the 1971 US Open and 1972 Wimbledon Championships), Smith also paired with Bob Lutz t ...

) lost in the

third round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

of the 1968 Wimbledon Championships to Frew McMillan and Annette Van Zyl Du Plooy 6–3, 12–10. According to John Olliff and Lance Tingay of ''The Daily Telegraph'' and the ''Daily Mail'', Hart was ranked in the world top 10 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 10 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 retired from the tour in late 1955 to become a tennis teaching professional. Her autobiography ''Tennis with Hart'' was published that year. She was inducted into the inaugural Class of 1967 inductees to the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame and 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 1969. She died on May 29, 2015, at her home in Coral Gables, Florida, at age 89.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (6 titles, 12 runners-up)

Doubles (14 titles, 16 runners-up)

Mixed doubles: 19 (15 titles, 4 runners-up)

Grand Slam performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

Mixed doubles

R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under German occupation.
¹In 1946 and 1947, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.
²Hart did not play at this event. Her opponent got a walkover.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Doris 1925 births 2015 deaths American autobiographers Australian Championships (tennis) champions American female tennis players French Championships (tennis) champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's singles International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Miami Hurricanes women's tennis players Tennis players from St. Louis United States National champions (tennis) Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era) American women autobiographers World number 1 ranked female tennis players 20th-century American sportswomen