Thelma Dorothy Coyne Long (born in Sydney, Australia, 14 October 1918) was one of the female tennis players who dominated Australian tennis from the mid-1930s to the 1950s.
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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.
According to Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Long was ranked in the world top ten in 1952 and 1954 (no rankings issued from 1940 to 1945), reaching a career high of World No. 7 in those rankings in 1952.[1]
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 30 August 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.
On 30 January 1941, she married Maurice Newton Long of Melbourne. The marriage did not continue after the end of the Second World War.
In May 1941, during the Second World War, Long joined the Red Cross as a transport driver and worked in Melbourne, Australia. On 19 February 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.
| Tournament | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 - 1944 | 1945 | 19461 | 19471 | 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.
1In 1946 and 1947, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.
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