Jenny Staley Hoad
Jenny Staley Hoad (born 3 March 1934) is an Australian former tennis player who was mainly active in the 1950s.
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Full name | Jennifer Staley Hoad |
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Country (sports) | ![]() |
Born | Melbourne, Australia | 3 March 1934
Plays | Left-handed |
Singles | |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | F (1954) |
French Open | QF (1956) |
Wimbledon | 4R (1955, 1956) |
US Open | 2R (1956) |
Doubles | |
Grand Slam Doubles results | |
Australian Open | SF (1955) |
Wimbledon | SF (1955) |
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results | |
Australian Open | F (1955) |
French Open | F (1955) |
Wimbledon | SF (1955) |
Career
In 1953 she won the junior singles title at the Australian Championships.
As Jenny Staley she reached the singles final of 1954 Australian Championships, played in Sydney, but lost in straight sets to Thelma Coyne Long.[1] In November 1954 she reached the final of the New South Wales Championships which she lost in three sets to Beryl Penrose.[2] In December 1954 she was runner-up to Coyne Long at the Victorian Championships played in Kooyong.[3] Staley won the singles title at the South Australian Championships at Adelaide in January 1955 defeating Fay Muller in the final in straight sets.[3] At the 1955 Australian Championships she partnered her then boyfriend Lew Hoad in the mixed event and were runners-up to Thelma Coyne Long and George Worthington.[4] Her best singles performance at the Wimbledon Championships was reaching the fourth round in 1955, losing to eight-seeded Angela Buxton, and 1956 when she was defeated by fifth-seeded and eventual champion Shirley Fry.[5]
Personal life
![](../I/Lew_Hoad_Jennifer_Staley.jpg.webp)
Lew Hoad proposed to Staley on her 21st birthday party in March 1955, and they planned to announce their engagement in June in London while both were on an overseas tour.[6] After arriving in London Staley discovered that she was pregnant, and the couple decided to get married straight away. The marriage took place the following day on 18 June 1955 at St Mary's Church, Wimbledon in London on the eve of Wimbledon.[7][8][9] They had two daughters and a son. After Hoad's retirement they moved to Fuengirola, Spain, near Málaga, where they operated a tennis resort, Lew Hoad's Campo de Tenis, for more than thirty years, entertaining personal friends such as actors Stewart Granger, Sean Connery, Richard Burton, Deborah Kerr and her husband Peter Viertel, Kirk Douglas, singer Frank Sinatra and saxophonist Stan Getz.[10][11][12] Lew Hoad was diagnosed with a rare and incurable form of leukemia on 13 January 1994 which caused his death on 3 July 1994 at the age of 59.[13][14] Jenny Hoad sold the club in April 1999 but has continued to live at the resort.[15] In 2002, she published My Life With Lew with Jack Pollard.
Grand Slam tournament finals
Singles: (1 runner-up)
Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
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Loss | 1954 | Australian Championships | Grass | ![]() | 3–6, 4–6 |
Mixed doubles: (2 runner-ups)
Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 1955 | Australian Championships | Grass | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 2–6, 1–6 |
Loss | 1955 | French Championships | Clay | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 7–5, 1–6, 2–6 |
Grand Slam tournament performance timeline
W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | A | NH |
References
- "Rose aims at Wimbledon crown next". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 2 February 1954. p. 16.
- "Form Poor In Tennis Title Final". Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate. National Library of Australia. 22 November 1954. p. 7.
- Hughes, G.P., ed. (1956). Dunlop Lawn Tennis Annual and Almanack 1956. Cheltenham & London: Dunlop Sports Co. Ltd. p. 206.
- "Australian Open players archive – Jennt Staley". Tennis Australia.
- "Wimbledon players archive – Jenny Hoad". AELTC.
- Hoad (2002), p. 28
- Hoad (2002), pp. 29-32
- "2-day honeymoon-then tennis". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 20 June 1955. p. 5.
- "Tennis Star Takes Bride In London". Reading Eagle. 19 June 1955.
- "Luxury "Campo de Tennis"". The Australian Women's Weekly. National Library of Australia. 11 June 1969. p. 2.
- "After seven years in Spain Lew Hoad now feels..." The Australian Women's Weekly. National Library of Australia. 10 April 1974. p. 17.
- Hoad (2002), pp. 120–126
- "Tennis legend Lew Hoad dies". The Canberra Times. National Library of Australia. 5 July 1994. p. 1.
- "Lew Hoad, 59, Tennis Champion of the 1950's". The New York Times. 5 July 1994.
- Hoad (2002), p. 208
- Sources