Daphne Akhurst

Daphne Akhurst Cozens
Full name Daphne Jessie Akhurst Cozens
Country (sports)  Australia
Born (1903-04-22)22 April 1903
Ashfield, NSW, Australia
Died 9 January 1933(1933-01-09) (aged 29)
Sydney, Australia
Plays Right-handed
Int. Tennis HoF 2013 (member page)
Singles
Highest ranking No. 3 (1928, A. Wallis Myers)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open W (1925, 1926, 1928, 1929, 1930)
French Open QF (1928)
Wimbledon SF (1928)
Doubles
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open W (1924, 1925, 1928, 1929, 1931)
French Open QF (1928)
Wimbledon SF (1928)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open W (1924, 1925, 1928, 1929)
French Open QF (1928)
Wimbledon F (1928)
The Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup

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. According to Wallis Myers (Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail), she was ranked World No. 3 in 1928.[1]

Career

The second daughter of Oscar James Akhurst, a lithographer, and his wife Jessie Florence (née Smith), Daphne Akhurst won the women's singles title at the Australian Championships five times, in 1925, 1926, 1928, 1929, and 1930. She is fourth on the list of most women's singles titles at the Australian Championships; behind only Margaret Court with eleven titles and Nancye Wynne Bolton and Serena Williams with six titles. She won the women's doubles title at the Australian Championships five times: in 1924 and 1925 with Sylvia Lance Harper, in 1928 with Esna Boyd Robertson, and in 1929 and 1931 with Louie Bickerton. She and Marjorie Cox were the runners-up in 1926.

In 1925 she was part of the first Australian women's team to tour Europe and reached the quarterfinal of the singles event at Wimbledon which she lost to Joan Fry.[2] During her second and last European tour in 1928, she reached the singles quarterfinal at the French Championships, in which Cristobel Hardie defeated her, and the semifinal at Wimbledon, which she lost in straight sets to Lili de Alvarez.

Akhurst won the mixed doubles title at the Australian Championships four times: in 1924 and 1925 with Jim Willard, in 1928 with Jean Borotra, and in 1929 with Gar Moon. She and Willard were the runners-up in 1926. She and her partner Jack Crawford reached the mixed doubles final at Wimbledon in 1928, but lost to the team of Elizabeth Ryan/Patrick Spence, 7–5, 6–4.

Akhurst won the singles title at the German Championships in 1928 after a three-sets victory in the final against defending champion Cilly Aussem.[3]

Personal life

Akhurst attended the Miss. E. Tildesley's Normanhurst School, followed by the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.[4] On 26 February 1930 at St Philip's Church of England, Sydney, Daphne Akhurst married Royston Stuckey Cozens, a tobacco manufacturer, and retired from serious competition soon after winning the Australian ladies' doubles championship in 1931. They had one son, Don. Daphne Akhurst Cozens died on 9 January 1933, aged 29, from an ectopic pregnancy and was cremated.[2]

Legacy

Since 1934 the trophy presented each year to the winner of the women's singles at the Australian Open is named the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup in her honour.[4] She was inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame on Australia Day (26 January), 2006.[5] She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2013.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 5 titles

Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1925 Australasian Championships Grass Australia Esna Boyd 1–6, 8–6, 6–4 [6]
Winner 1926 Australasian Championships Grass Australia Esna Boyd 6–1, 6–3 [6]
Winner 1928 Australian Championships Grass Australia Esna Boyd 7–5, 6–2 [6]
Winner 1929 Australian Championships Grass Australia Louie Bickerton 6–1, 5–7, 6–2 [6]
Winner 1930 Australian Championships Grass Australia Sylvia Lance Harper 10–8, 2–6, 7–5 [6]

Doubles: 6 (5 titles, 1 runner-up)

Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner 1924 Australasian Championships Grass Australia Sylvia Lance Australia Kathleen Le Messurier
Australia Meryl O'Hara Wood 		7–5, 6–2 [7]
Winner 1925 Australasian Championships Grass Australia Sylvia Lance Harper Australia Esna Boyd
Australia Kathleen Le Messurier 		6–4, 6–3 [8]
Runner-up 1926 Australasian Championships Grass Australia Marjorie Cox Australia Esna Boyd
Australia Meryl O'Hara Wood 		3–6, 8–6, 6–8 [9]
Winner 1928 Australasian Championships Grass Australia Esna Boyd Australia Kathleen Le Messurier
United Kingdom Dorothy Weston 		6–3, 6–1 [9]
Winner 1929 Australasian Championships Grass Australia Louie Bickerton Australia Sylvia Lance Harper
Australia Meryl O'Hara Wood 		6–2, 3–6, 6–2 [9]
Winner 1931 Australasian Championships Grass Australia Louie Bickerton Australia Nell Lloyd
Australia Lorna Utz 		6–0, 6–4 [10]

Mixed Doubles: 6 (4 titles, 2 runners-up)

Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner 1924 Australasian Championships Grass Australia James Willard Australia Esna Boyd
Australia Garton Hone 		6–3, 6–4 [11]
Winner 1925 Australasian Championships Grass Australia James Willard Australia Sylvia Lance Harper
Australia Richard Schlesinger 		6–4, 6–4 [12]
Runner-up 1926 Australasian Championships Grass Australia James Willard Australia Esna Boyd
Australia John Hawkes 		1–6, 4–6 [11]
Winner 1928 Australian Championships Grass France Jean Borotra Australia Esna Boyd
Australia John Hawkes 		walkover [11]
Runner-up 1928 Wimbledon Grass Australia Jack Crawford United States Elizabeth Ryan
South Africa Patrick Spence 		5–7, 4–6 [13]
Winner 1929 Australian Championships Grass Australia Edgar Moon Australia Marjorie Cox
Australia Jack Crawford 		6–0, 7–5 [11]

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Tournament 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 Career SR
Australian Championships SF W W 2R W W W 5 / 7
French Championships1 NH A A A QF A A 0 / 1
Wimbledon A QF A A SF A A 0 / 2
US Championships A A A A A A A 0 / 0
SR 0 / 1 1 / 2 1 / 1 0 / 1 1 / 3 1 / 1 1 / 1 5 / 10

1The French Championships were not held in 1924, as the Olympics were held in Paris that year.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Collins, Bud (2008). The Bud Collins History of Tennis: An Authoritative Encyclopedia and Record Book. New York, NY: New Chapter Press. pp. 695, 701. ISBN 0-942257-41-3.
  2. 1 2 "Mrs. Roy Cozens". The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954). Hobart, Tas.: National Library of Australia. 11 January 1933. p. 9.
  3. ↑ "Remarkable Performance". The Daily News. XLVII, (16,625). Western Australia. 13 August 1928. p. 1 (Home (final) edition) – via National Library of Australia.
  4. 1 2 Grasso, John (2011). Historical Dictionary of Tennis. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-0810872370.
  5. ↑ "Player Profiles – Daphne Akhurst". Tennis Australia. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Australian Open Results Archive / Women's Singles". Australian Open official website. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  7. ↑ "Australian Open Results Archive / 1924 Women's Doubles". Australian Open official website. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  8. ↑ "Australian Open Results Archive / 1925 Women's Doubles". Australian Open official website. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  9. 1 2 3 "Australian Open Results Archive / Women's Doubles". Australian Open official website. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  10. ↑ "Australian Open Results Archive / 1931 Women's Doubles". Australian Open official website. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Australian Open Results Archive / Mixed Doubles". Australian Open official website. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  12. ↑ "Australian Open Results Archive / 1925 Mixed Doubles". Australian Open official website. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  13. ↑ "Wimbledon Rolls of Honour / Mixed Doubles". Wimbledon official tournament website. Retrieved 2015-10-11.

External links

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