Josephine Cruickshank (January 18, 1909 – March 12, 1997) was a female tennis player from the United States who was active in the 1930s. Cruickshank grew up in

Tustin Tustin is a city located in Orange County, California, United States, within the Los Angeles metropolitan area. In 2020, Tustin had a population of 80,276. The city does not include the unincorporated community of North Tustin. History Pres ...

, California where she learned to play tennis on the tennis court her father had installed at their home and he was also her instructor. She played tennis at nearby

Santa Ana High School Santa Ana High School is the oldest and largest high school in Orange County, California, United States. The school was established in 1889. Notable alumni * Daniel Antúnez, soccer player * Barry Asher, professional bowler * Tony Baxter form ...

. Cruikshank was educated at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

where she was trained by Pop Fuller of the Berkeley Tennis Club. She became the girls national doubles champion in 1927 partnering

Marjorie Gladman Marjorie Katherine "Midge" Gladman Van Ryn (née Gladman; June 21, 1908 – November 9, 1999) was an American amateur tennis player in the early part of the 20th century. Gladman played collegiate tennis at the University of Southern California ...

after a victory in the final against Clara Louise Zinke and Lee Palfrey. At the 1933 U.S. Championships Cruickshank defeated world No. 5 Margaret Scriven to reach the quarterfinals of the singles event, which she lost in straight sets to eventual champion

Helen Jacobs Helen Hull Jacobs (August 6, 1908 – June 2, 1997) was an American tennis player who won nine Grand Slam titles. In 1936 she was ranked No. 1 in singles by A. Wallis Myers. Early life Jacobs was born in Globe, Arizona, and was Jewish. Her pa ...

. In 1933 she won the singles title at the Southern California Championships, held at the

Los Angeles Tennis Club The Los Angeles Tennis Club (LATC) is a private tennis club opened in 1920 that was the host of the Pacific Southwest Championships from 1927 until 1974 and 1980 until 1983. It is located at 5851 Clinton Street, between Wilcox and Rossmore, one ...

. At the

Pacific Southwest Championships The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

she was a singles runner-up in 1931, losing in the final to Anna McCune Harper. At the Seabright Invitational grass court tournament she reached the singles final in 1930 and 1932 but lost both times, to McCune Harper and

respectively. Cruickshank was the No. 5 ranked women's singles player in the United States in 1930 and 1932 and No. 6 in 1933. In 1934, she was a member of the United States team on the

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 ...

against Great Britain, held at the

All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC), also known as the All England Club, based at Church Road, Wimbledon, London, England, is a Gentlemen's club, private members' club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championsh ...

in London. The United States won 5–2 but Cruickshank lost her doubles match partnering

Carolin Babcock Carolin Babcock Stark (née Babcock; May 26, 1912 – March 25, 1987) was a tennis player from the United States. She won the women's doubles title with Marjorie Van Ryn at the 1936 U.S. Championships. Babcock was the runner-up in singles at th ...

in two sets to

Nancy Lyle The Honourable Nancy Lyle (February 26, 1910 – 1986) was a female tennis player from the United Kingdom who was active in the 1930s. Her married names were Glover and Maltwood. Early life and tennis Nancy Margaret Lyle was born in London on ...

and

Evelyn Dearman Evelyn Dearman (8 September 1908 – 2 December 1993) was an English female tennis player who was active during the late 1920s and the 1930s. Between 1927 and 1939 she participated in 13 Wimbledon Championships. Her best result in the singles ...

. Cruickshank was inducted into the Orange County Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruickshank, Josephine 1909 births 1997 deaths American female tennis players University of California, Berkeley alumni Tennis players from California 20th-century American sportswomen