Anna McCune Harper


Anna McCune Harper was an American female tennis player. She won the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 1931 partnering George Lott. She was the runner-up in singles at the 1930 U.S. Championships, losing to Betty Nuthall. She also was the runner-up in women's doubles at the 1928, 1930, and 1932 U.S. Championships and in mixed doubles at the 1931 edition of those championships.
Harper was ranked in the U.S. top ten five consecutive years from 1928 through 1932 and was top ranked in 1930.

Biography

In 1924 she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California, Berkeley, where she joined the sorority Sigma Kappa. The following year, 1925, she married Lawrence Averell Harper, a history professor at Berkeley. Throughout the following years, she was consistently ranked in the U.S. top ten players, including 1930 when she was ranked at the best player.
In 1932, Harper was called home because of an illness in her family. She then decided to give up tournament tennis for other tasks, including raising her three children, but continued to follow the game and played for many years.
Harper served as National President of her sorority Sigma Kappa from 1939 to 1942.
Harper was inducted into the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame in 1981.
Circa 1983, she had arthroscopic knee surgery at age 81 so she could continue to play. An adverse reaction to a general anesthetic sidelined her for good and precipitated a long, slow decline in her health. Harper is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.

Grand Slam finals

Singles : 1 runner-up

OutcomeYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScore
Runner-up1930U.S. ChampionshipsGrass Betty Nuthall1–6, 4–6

Doubles : 2 runners-up

OutcomeYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Runner-up1928U.S. ChampionshipsGrass Edith Cross Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman
Helen Wills
2–6, 2–6
Runner-up1930U.S. ChampionshipsGrass Edith Cross Betty Nuthall
Sarah Palfrey Cooke
6–3, 3–6, 5–7

Mixed doubles : 1 title, 1 runner-up

OutcomeYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Winner1931WimbledonGrass George Lott Joan Ridley
Ian Collins
6–3, 1–6, 6–1
Runner-up1931U.S. ChampionshipsGrass Wilmer Allison Betty Nuthall
George Lott
3–6, 3–6

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Tournament19251926192719281929193019311932Career SR
Australian ChampionshipsAAAAAAAA0 / 0
French ChampionshipsAAAAAAAA0 / 0
Wimbledon3R1RAAAA4R1R0 / 4
U.S. ChampionshipsAAA3R3RFQFQF0 / 5
SR0 / 10 / 10 / 00 / 10 / 10 / 10 / 20 / 20 / 9