Thelma Coyne Long

Thelma Coyne Long

Full name	Thelma Dorothy Coyne Long
Country (sports)	Australia
Born	(1918-10-14)14 October 1918 Sydney, Australia
Died	Sydney, Australia
Plays	Right-handed
Int. Tennis HoF	2013 (member page)
Singles
Career record	{{#property:P564}}
Highest ranking	No. 7 (1952, Lance Tingay)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	W (1952, 1954)
French Open	QF (1951)
Wimbledon	QF (1952)
US Open	QF (1952)
Doubles
Career record	{{#property:P555}}
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	W (1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1956, 1958)
French Open	F (1958)
Wimbledon	F (1957)
US Open	SF (1958)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open	W (1951, 1952, 1954, 1955)
French Open	W (1956)
Wimbledon	F (1952)

Thelma Dorothy Coyne Long (14 October 1918 – 13 April 2015) was an Australian tennis player and one of the female players who dominated Australian tennis from the mid-1930s to the 1950s. During her career she won 19 Grand Slam tournament titles. In 2013 Long was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Tennis career

Thelma Coyne packing for her overseas tour in 1938 as a member of the Australian Women's Tennis Team.

At the Australian Championships, Long won singles titles in 1952 and 1954 and was a singles finalist in 1940, 1951, 1955 and 1956. In women's doubles, she won ten titles with Nancye Wynne Bolton (1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951 and 1952) and two titles with Mary Bevis Hawton (1956 and 1958). Long was a women's doubles finalist with Bolton in 1946 and 1950. She won mixed doubles titles in 1951, 1952 and 1955 with George Worthington and in 1954 with Rex Hartwig. She was a mixed doubles finalist in 1948 with Bill Sidwell.

At Wimbledon, Long was a women's doubles finalist in 1957 with Hawton and a mixed doubles finalist in 1952 with Enrique Morea. At the age of 52, Long teamed with Lorraine Coghlan Robinson to lose in the first round of women's doubles at Wimbledon in 1971.

At the French Championships, Long was a women's doubles finalist in 1958 with Hawton, won the mixed doubles title in 1956 with Luis Ayala, and was a mixed doubles finalist in 1951 with Mervyn Rose.

At the 1953 tournament in Cincinnati, Long won the singles title (defeating Anita Kanter 7–5, 6–2 in the final) and the women's doubles title with Kanter.

According to Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Long was ranked in the world top ten in 1952 and 1954 (no rankings issued from 1940 to 1945), reaching a career high of World No. 7 in those rankings in 1952.

Long became a teaching professional in 1960 and spent many years coaching promising New South Wales junior players. In 1985, her achievements were recognized by Tennis NSW when she was awarded Life Membership of the State Association.

On 30 August 2000, Long was awarded the Australian Sports Medal. She was inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in a ceremony at Melbourne Park during the Australian Open on Australia Day in 2002. In 2013, Thelma was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame symbolizing recognition of her extraordinary career.

Personal life

Thelma Coyne (l) and Nancye Wynne Bolton (r) in Adelaide (1938)

On 30 January 1941, she married Maurice Newton Long of Melbourne. The marriage did not continue after the end of the Second World War.

In May 1941, during the Second World War, Long joined the Red Cross as a transport driver and worked in Melbourne. On 19 February 1942, she joined the Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) and rose to the rank of captain in April 1944. For her service in the AWAS, she was awarded the War Medal 1939–1945 and Australia Service Medal 1939–1945.

Long worked as a volunteer at the State Library of New South Wales, and she received the Volunteer Service Award in 1999, The Year of the Volunteer.

Coyne died on 13 April 2015 at the age of 96.

Grand Slam tournament finals

Singles: 6 (2 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Championship	Opponent in final	Score in final
Runner-up	1940	Australian Championships	Nancye Wynne Bolton	7–5, 4–6, 0–6
Runner-up	1951	Australian Championships	Nancye Wynne Bolton	1–6, 5–7
Winner	1952	Australian Championships	Helen Angwin	6–2, 6–3
Winner	1954	Australian Championships	Jenny Staley Hoad	6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	1955	Australian Championships	Beryl Penrose	4–6, 3–6
Runner-up	1956	Australian Championships	Mary Carter Reitano	6–3, 2–6, 7–9

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Tournament	1936	1937	1938	1939	1940	1941 – 1944	1945	19461	19471	1948	1949	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959	Career SR
Australian Championships	SF	SF	QF	SF	F	NH	NH	QF	SF	2R	SF	QF	F	W	A	W	F	F	A	2R	1R	2 / 17
French Championships	A	A	2R	A	NH	R	A	A	A	A	A	A	QF	A	A	A	A	3R	A	4R	A	0 / 4
Wimbledon	A	A	3R	A	NH	NH	NH	A	A	A	4R	3R	1R	QF	A	A	A	1R	1R	4R	A	0 / 8
U.S. Championships	A	A	3R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	QF	3R	A	A	A	A	2R	A	0 / 4
SR	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 4	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 3	1 / 3	0 / 1	1 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 3	0 / 1	0 / 4	0 / 1	2 / 33

NH = tournament not held.

R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under German occupation.

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

¹In 1946 and 1947, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.

See also

• Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final

External links

• Australian Women – biographical entry
• Thelma Coyne Long at the International Tennis Hall of Fame