Daphne Akhurst

Daphne Jessie Akhurst (22 April 1903 – 9 January 1933) known also by her married name Daphne Cozens, was an Australian tennis player.

Daphne Akhurst Cozens
Full nameDaphne Jessie Akhurst Cozens
Country (sports) Australia
Born(1903-04-22)22 April 1903
Ashfield, NSW, Australia
Died9 January 1933(1933-01-09) (aged 29)
Sydney, Australia
PlaysRight-handed
Int. Tennis HoF2013 (member page)
Singles
Highest rankingNo. 3 (1928, A. Wallis Myers)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian OpenW (1925, 1926, 1928, 1929, 1930)
French OpenQF (1928)
WimbledonSF (1928)
Doubles
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian OpenW (1924, 1925, 1928, 1929, 1931)
French OpenQF (1928)
WimbledonSF (1928)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian OpenW (1924, 1925, 1928, 1929)
French OpenQF (1928)
WimbledonF (1928)
The Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup

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.[1]

Career

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, Serena Williams with seven and Nancye Wynne Bolton 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.[2] 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.

Akhurst won the singles title at the German Championships in 1928 after a three-sets victory in the final against defending champion Cilly Aussem.[3]

Personal life

Akhurst attended the Miss. E. Tildesley's Normanhurst School, followed by the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.[4] On 26 February 1930 at St Philip's Church of England, Sydney, Daphne Akhurst married Royston Stuckey Cozens, a tobacco manufacturer, and retired from serious competition soon after winning the Australian ladies' doubles championship in 1931. They had one son, Don. Daphne Akhurst Cozens died on 9 January 1933, aged 29, from an ectopic pregnancy and was cremated.[2]

Legacy

Since 1934 the trophy presented each year to the winner of the women's singles at the Australian Open is named the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup in her honour.[4] She was inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame on Australia Day (26 January), 2006.[5] She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2013.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 5 titles
Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Win1925Australasian Championships [6]Grass Esna Boyd1–6, 8–6, 6–4
Win1926Australasian Championships [6]Grass Esna Boyd6–1, 6–3
Win1928Australian Championships [6]Grass Esna Boyd7–5, 6–2
Win1929Australian Championships [6]Grass Louie Bickerton6–1, 5–7, 6–2
Win1930Australian Championships [6]Grass Sylvia Lance Harper10–8, 2–6, 7–5

Doubles: 6 (5 titles, 1 runner-up)
Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win1924Australasian Championships [7]Grass Sylvia Lance Kathleen Le Messurier
Meryl O'Hara Wood		7–5, 6–2
Win1925Australasian Championships [8]Grass Sylvia Lance Harper Esna Boyd
Kathleen Le Messurier		6–4, 6–3
Loss1926Australasian Championships [9]Grass Marjorie Cox Esna Boyd
Meryl O'Hara Wood		3–6, 8–6, 6–8
Win1928Australian Championships [9]Grass Esna Boyd Kathleen Le Messurier
Dorothy Weston		6–3, 6–1
Win1929Australian Championships [9]Grass Louie Bickerton Sylvia Lance Harper
Meryl O'Hara Wood		6–2, 3–6, 6–2
Win1931Australian Championships [10]Grass Louie Bickerton Nell Lloyd
Lorna Utz		6–0, 6–4

Mixed Doubles: 6 (4 titles, 2 runners-up)
Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win1924Australasian Championships [11]Grass James Willard Esna Boyd
Garton Hone		6–3, 6–4
Win1925Australasian Championships [12]Grass James Willard Sylvia Lance Harper
Richard Schlesinger		6–4, 6–4
Loss1926Australasian Championships [11]Grass James Willard Esna Boyd
John Hawkes		1–6, 4–6
Win1928Australian Championships [11]Grass Jean Borotra Esna Boyd
John Hawkes		walkover
Loss1928Wimbledon [13]Grass Jack Crawford Elizabeth Ryan
Patrick Spence		5–7, 4–6
Win1929Australian Championships [11]Grass Edgar Moon Marjorie Cox
Jack Crawford		6–0, 7–5

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline
Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# A NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)
Tournament1924192519261927192819291930 SR W–L Win %
Australian Championships SF W W 2R W W W 5 / 7 23–1 95.8
French Championships1 NH A A A QF A A 0 / 1 2–1 66.7
Wimbledon A QF A A SF A A 0 / 2 7–2 77.8
US Championships A A A A A A A 0 / 0 – –
Win–Loss 2–1 7–1 4–0 1–0 10–2 4–0 4–0 5 / 10 32–4 88.9

1The French Championships were not held in 1924, as the Olympics were held in Paris that year.

See also

References
  1. Collins, Bud (2008). The Bud Collins History of Tennis: An Authoritative Encyclopedia and Record Book. New York: New Chapter Press. pp. 695, 701. ISBN 978-0-942257-41-0.
  2. "Mrs. Roy Cozens". The Mercury. Hobart, Tas. 11 January 1933. p. 9 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "Remarkable Performance". The Daily News. XLVII (16, 625). Western Australia. 13 August 1928. p. 1 (Home (final) edition) – via National Library of Australia.
  4. Grasso, John (2011). Historical Dictionary of Tennis. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-0810872370.
  5. "Player Profiles – Daphne Akhurst". Tennis Australia. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  6. "Australian Open Results Archive / Women's Singles". Australian Open. Tennis Australia. Archived from the original on 21 September 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  7. "Australian Open Results Archive / 1924 Women's Doubles". Australian Open. Tennis Australia. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  8. "Australian Open Results Archive / 1925 Women's Doubles". Australian Open. Tennis Australia. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  9. "Australian Open Results Archive / Women's Doubles". Australian Open. Tennis Australia. Archived from the original on 21 September 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  10. "Australian Open Results Archive / 1931 Women's Doubles". Australian Open. Tennis Australia. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  11. "Australian Open Results Archive / Mixed Doubles". Australian Open. Tennis Australia. Archived from the original on 21 September 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  12. "Australian Open Results Archive / 1925 Mixed Doubles". Australian Open. Tennis Australia. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  13. "Wimbledon Rolls of Honour / Mixed Doubles". Wimbledon. AELTC. Retrieved 12 December 2016.

Further reading
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