Angela Mortimer


Florence Angela Margaret Mortimer Barrett, CBE is a former world No. 1 female tennis player from England. She was born in Plymouth, Devon, England. She is married to the veteran BBC commentator and author John Barrett. Mortimer won three Grand Slam singles titles: the 1955 French Championships, the 1958 Australian Championships, and Wimbledon in 1961 when she was 29 years old and partially deaf.
Mortimer teamed with Anne Shilcock to win the women's doubles title at Wimbledon in 1955, her only women's doubles title at a Grand Slam. She teamed with Coghlan to reach the women's doubles final at the 1958 Australian Championships. Mortimer and Peter Newman reached the mixed doubles final at the 1958 Australian Championships, her only mixed doubles final at a Grand Slam.

Career

Mortimer reached the quarterfinals of the US National Championships, then lost to second seed Doris Hart. At Wimbledon in 1953, seeded no. 5, she reached the quarterfinals, losing to Dorothy Knode. She also reached the quarterfinals in 1954, 1956, 1959, and 1960. At Wimbledon in 1958, unseeded, she beat the former champion Margaret DuPont in the quarterfinals, then French champion Zsuzsa Körmöczy 6–0, 6–1 in the semifinals, and lost the final against the defending champion Althea Gibson 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. Not fully fit in 1962, she lost to eventual finalist Vera Sukova 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. 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 suffered a severe illness, not returning to full form until 1958.
She won the Australian title in 1958 when recuperating, defeating Lorraine Coghlan in the final. Her best result in the U.S. Championships was in 1961 when she reached the semifinals, losing to Ann Haydon. She won three times against Althea Gibson in her career, and she made her farewell in the Torquay 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 of the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, 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 awarded the CBE in 1967. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1993.
On 27 July 2014, she received the Freedom of the Borough of Merton.

Grand Slam finals

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

ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1955French ChampionshipsClay Dorothy Head Knode2–6, 7–5, 10–8
Loss1956French ChampionshipsClay Althea Gibson0–6, 10–12
Win1958Australian ChampionshipsGrass Lorraine Coghlan6–3, 6–4
Loss1958WimbledonGrass Althea Gibson6–8, 2–6
Win1961WimbledonGrass Christine Truman4–6, 6–4, 7–5

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

Mixed Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Tournament195119521953195419551956195719581959196019611962Career SR
AustraliaAAAAAAAWAAAA1 / 1
FranceAA3RAWFAAAAAA1 / 3
Wimbledon2R3RQFQF2RQF3RFQFQFW4R1 / 12
United StatesAQF3RA1RAAA1RASFA0 / 5
SR0 / 10 / 20 / 30 / 11 / 30 / 20 / 11 / 20 / 20 / 11 / 20 / 13 / 21