Hart, Doris

Doris Jane Hart
Born: June 20, 1925
Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Citizenship: United States
Handed: Right
Inducted: 1969

Grand Slam Record
Australian Singles 1949
Singles finalist 1950
Doubles 1950
Doubles finalist 1949
Mixed 1949-50

French Singles 1950, 52
Singles finalist 1947, 51, 53
Doubles 1948, 50-53
Doubles finalist 1946, 47
Mixed 1951-53
Mixed finalist 1948

Wimbledon Singles 1951
Singles finalist 1947, 48, 53
Doubles 1947, 1951-53
Doubles finalist 1946, 48, 50, 54
Mixed 1951-55
Mixed finalist 1948

U.S. Singles 1954-55
Singles finalist 1949, 50, 52, 53
Doubles 1951-54
Doubles finalist 1941-45, 47-50,55
Mixed 1951-55
Mixed finalist 1945, 50

Tournament Record
Wightman Cup   1946-55

Italian Singles 1951, 53
Doubles 1951
Doubles finalist 1953
Mixed  1953
Mixed finalist 1950

As a child Doris Jane Hart was certainly not a candidate for sports immortality. She was stricken by a serious knee infection later erroneously publicized as polio, and faced the prospect of being crippled for life. She began to play tennis at age six as therapy, and recovered so successfully that, despite bowed and uncertain-appearing legs, she became one of the all-time champions.

“One of the first newspaper stories on me described me as having recovered from polio,” she once said. “It was a good story that just caught on. But it wasn’t so.” Her total of 35 major (Australian, French, Wimbledon and U.S.) championships in singles, doubles and mixed ties her with Louise Brough, behind only Margaret Court (62), Martina Navratilova (56), Billie Jean King (39) and Margaret duPont (37). Hart and Court are the only players in history, male or female, to win all 12 of the major titles at least once, and she is one of 12 to win all four singles within her career.

For l4 successive years between 1942 and 1955 she was ranked in the U.S. Top Ten, standing at No. 1 in 1954 and 1955.

Possibly her finest tournament was Wimbledon of 1951, when she scored a triple–championships in singles, doubles, and mixed–and lost only one set, that in the mixed. After handing her good friend and partner, Shirley Fry, one of the worst beatings in the tournament’s history (6-1, 6-0), Doris united with Shirley for the doubles title, then annexed the mixed with Frank Sedgman. Doris won the mixed the following year with Sedgman, and the next three years with Vic Seixas, a Wimbledon record of five straight years.

After being a runner-up at Forest Hills for the U.S. Singles Championship four times, including 1952 and 1953 to Maureen Connolly, Hart finally was rewarded on her 15th try at the title, beating Brough in a thriller, 6-8, 6-1, 8-6, in the 1954 title match, averting three match points. She retained that title, 6-4, 6-2, over Pat Ward, then retired to become a teaching pro.

Born June 20, 1925, in St. Louis, Hart, a right-hander, grew up in Coral Gables, FL. She was an intelligent and solid all-around player, whose strokes were crisp and stylish. She moved very well, despite the early handicap of her legs, and had an excellent disposition. She was effective at the net, or in the backcourt, as attested by her championships in the French singles of 1950 and 1952, and the U.S. Clay Court singles in 1950 over Fry, 6-1, 6-3.

She and Shirley were one of the outstanding pairs in history, winning the French a record four straight from 1950, losing only one set in the finals while deposing long-time rivals Louise Brough and Margaret Osborne duPont in ’50, 1-6, 7-5, 6-2. Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva tied the four-straight record four decades later as champs, 1992-95. Hart and Fry also won three Wimbledons in a row, beginning in 1951. In the 1953 U.S. final they ended the record streak of Brough and duPont at nine championships and 41 matches in a furious 6-2, 7-9, 9-7 struggle during which they avoided two match points at 2-5 in the third. In turn their own streak of four championships and 20 matches was stopped in the 1955 final by Brough and duPont.

During a decade of U.S. supremacy over Britain (1946-55) in the Wightman Cup, Hart won all 14 of her singles and eight of nine doubles. She captained the winning U.S. team in 1970.

Her U.S. championships on various surfaces amounted to 22 singles and doubles. In 1969 she was enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

Beginning in 1946 she was in the World Top Ten 10 successive years, No. 1 in 1951.

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