Christine Truman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christine Truman Janes, MBE, (born on January 16, 1941 in Woodford Green , England), is a female former tennis player from the United Kingdom.
The British junior champion in 1956 and 1957, Janes made her Wimbledon debut in 1957 at age 16 and reached the semifinals, where she lost to Althea Gibson.
In 1958, Janes caused a sensation by defeating Gibson, the Wimbledon champion, in the Wightman Cup and helped bring the cup back to Great Britain after 21 consecutive defeats by the United States. A few weeks later at Wimbledon, however, Janes as the second seed was defeated in the fourth round by the American Mimi Arnold. That loss helped start Janes' reputation as an unpredictable player.
In 1959, Janes became the youngest women's singles titlist at the French Championships at the age of 18. (That record has since been broken by Steffi Graf in 1987, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in 1989, and Monica Seles in 1990.) That year, by far her best, also saw her as the winner of the Italian Championships and runner-up at the U.S. Championships. She failed, however, to justify her top seeding at Wimbledon where she lost in the fourth round to the Mexican Yola Ramirez. In doubles at Wimbledon, Janes partnered Beverly Baker Fleitz to reach the women's doubles final and with her brother Humphrey to reach the mixed doubles quarterfinals.
In 1960, Janes was the third seed at Wimbledon, where she lost in a semifinal to Maria Bueno in three sets. She teamed with Bueno to win the women's doubles title at the Australian Championships that year.
In 1961, Janes was the sixth seed at Wimbledon and defeated the second seed, Margaret Court, 3–6, 6–3, 9–7 in a quarterfinal after trailing 4–1 in the final set and saving two match points. She then beat Renee Schuurman Haygarth of South Africa 6–4, 6–4 in a semifinal before losing 4–6, 6–4, 7–5 to fellow Britain Angela Mortimer in the final.
In 1972, Janes teamed with Winnie Shaw to reach the women's doubles final at the French Championships, where they lost to Billie Jean King and Betty Stove 6–1, 6–2.
Janes was ranked in the world top 10 six times between 1957 and 1965, reaching a career high World No. 2 in 1959. She played Wightman Cup from 1957 through 1971 (winning the cup in 1958, 1960, and 1968). She also played Fed Cup in 1963, 1965, and 1968, posting a 6–3 singles record and a 2–2 doubles record.
She retired from tennis in 1975 and became a commentator for BBC Radio the same year. She is married to former Wasps player Gerry Janes. In the 2001 Queen's Birthday's Honours list, she was awarded an MBE for her "services to sport."
Contents |
[edit] Grand Slam singles finals
[edit] Win (1)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1959 | French Championships |  Zsuzsi Kormoczy |
6–4, 7–5 |
[edit] Runner-ups (2)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1959 | U.S. Championships |  Maria Bueno |
6–1, 6–4 |
| 1961 | Wimbledon |  Angela Mortimer Barrett |
4–6, 6–4, 7–5 |
[edit] Grand Slam singles tournament timeline
| Tournament | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | Career SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | A | A | A | SF | A | A | 2R | A | 3R | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 3 |
| France | 1R | QF | W | A | QF | 4R | SF | QF | A | A | 3R | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1 / 8 |
| Wimbledon | SF | 4R | 4R | SF | F | 3R | 4R | 2R | SF | A | 1R | 2R | 4R | A | 4R | A | 1R | 3R | 0 / 15 |
| United States | 3R | QF | F | SF | QF | A | QF | A | A | A | A | A | 3R | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 7 |
| SR | 0 / 3 | 0 / 3 | 1 / 3 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 1 / 33 |
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.
