Karen Susman (née Hantze; born December 11, 1942,

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

) is an American former

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. Susman won the women's singles title at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

. She 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 * ...

women's doubles titles, all with

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 ...

. She also won the 1960 Wimbledon junior girls' singles title.

Tennis career

Susman and Billie Jean Moffitt, as an unseeded team, won the 1961 women's doubles title at Wimbledon, defeating the third-seeded team of

Jan Lehane Janice Patricia "Jan" Lehane O'Neill OAM (née Lehane; born 9 July 1941) is a former Australian female tennis player. She was the first leading female player with a double-handed backhand. She won the singles title at the New South Wales Champ ...

and Margaret Smith in the final in straight sets. Susman and Moffitt successfully defended their title in 1962, defeating the South African team of

Renée Schuurman Renée Schuurman Haygarth (née Schuurman; 26 October 1939 – 30 May 2001) was a South African tennis player who won five Grand Slam women's doubles titles and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title. Biography Schuurman teamed with fellow South ...

and

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 ...

in a three-set final. Susman and Moffitt reached the 1964 women's doubles final at Wimbledon, losing to the top-seeded team of Smith and Lesley Turner. For Wimbledon's centenary celebration in 1977, Susman and (Moffitt) King teamed for the last time. As the eighth-seeded team, they were upset in the second round by the team of

Mary Carillo Mary Carillo (born March 15, 1957) is an American sportscaster and former professional tennis player. She is an analyst for ''Tennis on NBC'' and a reporter for NBC Olympic broadcasts. Career Tennis Carillo played on the women's professional ...

and

Trish Bostrom Patricia Lynn Bostrom (born November 25, 1951) is an American former professional tennis player. She is better known as Trish Bostrom, and after tennis, she became a lawyer in Washington. Bostrom grew up in West Seattle, and she attended the Uni ...

. Susman and Moffitt won the 1964 women's doubles title at the U.S. Championships, defeating Smith and Turner in the final in three sets. Susman and Moffitt reached the 1962 women's doubles final at the U.S. Championships, losing to the team of

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 ...

and

Darlene Hard Darlene Ruth Hard (January 6, 1936 – December 2, 2021) was an American professional tennis player, known for her aggressive volleying ability and strong serves. She captured singles titles at the French Championships in 1960 and the U.S. Cha ...

in three sets. They also reached the 1965 women's doubles final at the U.S. Championships, losing to the team of

Nancy Richey Nancy Richey (born August 23, 1942) is an American former tennis player. Richey won two major singles titles (the 1967 Australian Championships and 1968 French Open) and four major women's doubles titles (the 1965 US Championships, 1966 Austra ...

and

Carole Caldwell Graebner Carole Graebner (née Caldwell; June 24, 1943 – November 19, 2008) was an American tennis player. According to Lance Tingay of ''The Daily Telegraph'' and the ''Daily Mail'', Graebner was ranked in the world top 10 in 1964 and 1965, reaching a ...

. Susman gave birth to her only child in October 1963 and played very little in 1963, deciding not to defend her Wimbledon singles and doubles titles. She returned to play in 1964, and at Wimbledon, she lost in a third-round match to Margaret Smith. She entered the U.S. Championships the same year, but withdrew before the tournament. Susman played little in the 1960s and 1970s, but joined the start of Team Tennis in the U.S. in 1974 and made occasional tournament appearances, returning to Wimbledon once and the US Open, where her last Grand Slam singles tournament was at the 1980 US Open. She defeated

Tanya Harford Tanya Harford (born 28 November 1958) is a retired South African tennis player. In 1981 she won the doubles title at the French Open together with compatriot Rosalyn Fairbank. In the final they defeated Candy Reynolds and Paula Smith in straigh ...

in the first round and

Janet Newberry Janet Newberry (born August 6, 1953) is an American former professional tennis player who was active in the 1970s. She is also known by her former married name Janet Newberry-Wright and Janet Wright. She reached the semifinals of the French Open ...

in the second round, then lost to 14th-seeded

Ivanna Madruga Ivanna Madruga (born 27 January 1961) is a retired tennis player from Argentina who played professionally in the 1980s. She also is known under the married name Ivanna Madruga-Osses. Career In 1980, with compatriot Adriana Villagrán, she reach ...

. According to Lance Tingay of ''The Daily Telegraph'' and the ''Daily Mail'', Susman was ranked in the world top 10 in 1961, 1962, and 1964, reaching a career high of world No. 4 in 1962. Susman was included in the year-end top 10 rankings issued by the

United States Lawn Tennis Association The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tenn ...

from 1959 through 1962 and in 1964. She was the second-ranked U.S. player behind Hard from 1960 through 1962.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

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

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Susman, Karen 1942 births Living people American female tennis players Tennis players from San Diego 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 Grand Slam (tennis) champions in girls' singles Wimbledon junior champions 21st-century American women 20th-century American sportswomen