Bobbie Heine Miller
 |
|
| Full name | Esther Laurie Heine |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) |
 South Africa |
| Born |
5 December 1909 Greytown, Colony of Natal |
| Died | 31 July 2016 (aged 106) Canberra, Australia |
| Plays | Right-handed |
| Singles | |
| Highest ranking | No.5 (1929) |
| Grand Slam Singles results | |
| French Open | SF (1927) |
| Wimbledon | QF (1929) |
| Doubles | |
| Grand Slam Doubles results | |
| French Open | W (1927) |
| Wimbledon | F (1927) |
| Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results | |
| French Open | 3R (1929) |
| Wimbledon | SF (1927, 1929) |
Bobbie Heine Miller (born Esther Laurie Heine; 5 December 1909 – 31 July 2016) was a South African tennis player. She was born in Greytown in the Colony of Natal. As Bobbie Heine, she won the doubles title at the 1927 French Championships partnering Irene Bowder Peacock. In 1929, she was ranked no. 5 in the world. Her brother was the South African cricketer Peter Heine.
Heine taught herself to play tennis by hitting the ball against the wall of her father's butcher shop in Winterton. She received the nickname "Bobbie" as a junior player when, at a tournament, a representative of the South African Tennis Union remarked that the round shape of her face resembled that of an English policeman. In 1925, she won the Natal singles championship at the age of 15.
Heine made her first trip to Europe in 1927. In May, she won the Surrey Championships at Surbiton, defeating Irene Bowder Peacock; together they won the doubles title. She again teamed up with compatriot Bowder Peacock to win the doubles title at the 1927 French Championships, her first and only Grand Slam title, defeating the British partnership of Peggy Saunders and Phoebe Holcroft Watson in two straight sets. At the same tournament, she achieved her best Grand Slam singles performance by reaching the semifinals, which she lost in three sets to eventual winner Kea Bouman. At the 1927 Wimbledon Championships, she was defeated in the third round of the singles event in three sets by Phoebe Holcroft. In doubles, she and Bowder Peacock reached the final, but lost to the American couple Helen Wills and Elizabeth Ryan in straight sets.
...
Wikipedia