Full name | Daphne Jessie Akhurst Cozens |
---|---|
Country (sports) | Australia |
Born |
Ashfield, NSW, Australia |
22 April 1903
Died | 9 January 1933 Sydney, Australia |
(aged 29)
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) |
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 (The Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail), she was ranked World No. 3 in 1928.
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. 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.