Thelma Coyne Long
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Thelma Dorothy Coyne Long (born in Sydney, Australia, October 14, 1918) was one of the female tennis players that dominated Australian tennis from the mid-1930s through the 1950s.
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[edit] Tennis career
At the Australian Championships, Long won singles titles in 1952 and 1954 and was a singles finalist in 1940, 1951, 1955, and 1956. In women's doubles, she won ten titles with Nancye Wynne Bolton (1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951, and 1952) and three titles with Mary Bevis Hawton (1954, 1956, and 1958). Long was a women's doubles finalist with Bolton in 1946 and 1950. She won mixed doubles titles in 1951, 1952, and 1955 with George Worthington and in 1954 with Rex Hartwig. She was a mixed doubles finalist in 1948 with Bill Sidwell.
At Wimbledon, Long was a women's doubles finalist in 1957 with Hawton and a mixed doubles finalist in 1952 with Enrique Morea. At the age of 52, Long teamed with Lorraine Coghlan Robinson to lose in the first round of women's doubles at Wimbledon in 1971.
At the French Championships, Long was a women's doubles finalist in 1958 with Hawton, won the mixed doubles title in 1956 with Luis Ayala, and was a mixed doubles finalist in 1951 with Mervyn Rose.
At the 1953 tournament in Cincinnati, Long won the singles title (defeating Anita Kanter 7–5, 6–2 in the final) and the women's doubles title with Kanter.
Long became a teaching professional in 1960 and spent many years coaching promising New South Wales junior players. In 1985, her achievements were recognized by Tennis NSW when she was awarded Life Membership of the State Association.
On August 30, 2000, Long was awarded the Australian Sports Medal. She was inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in a ceremony at Melbourne Park during the Australian Open on Australia Day in 2002.
[edit] Personal life
On January 30, 1941, she married Maurice Newton Long of Melbourne. The marriage did not continue after the end of World War II.
Long played Cleo in the 1941 film Kiss the Boys Goodbye, a comedy directed by Victor Schertzinger and loosely based on the search for an actress to play Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind.
In May 1941, during World War II, Long joined the Red Cross as a transport driver and worked in Melbourne, Australia. On February 19, 1942, she joined the Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) and rose to the rank of captain in April 1944. For her service in the AWAS, she was awarded the War Medal 1939/45 and Australian Service Medal 1939/45.
Long has worked as a volunteer at the State Library of New South Wales, and she received the Volunteer Service Award in 1999, The Year of the Volunteer.
[edit] Grand Slam singles tournament timeline
| Tournament | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 - 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | Career SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Championships | SF | SF | QF | SF | F | NH | NH | QF | SF | 2R | SF | QF | F | W | A | W | F | F | A | 2R | 1R | 2 / 17 |
| French Championships | A | A | 2R | A | NH | R | A | A | A | A | A | A | QF | A | A | A | A | 3R | A | 4R | A | 0 / 4 |
| Wimbledon | A | A | 3R | A | NH | NH | NH | A | A | A | 4R | 3R | 1R | QF | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 4R | A | 0 / 8 |
| U.S. Championships | A | A | 3R | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | QF | 3R | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | 0 / 4 |
| SR | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 3 | 1 / 3 | 0 / 1 | 1 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 1 | 2 / 33 |
NH = tournament not held.
R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under German occupation.
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.
