Winifred Mary Arden Longhurst (1873 – 24 November 1958 ) was a British tennis player. She was a four time quarter finalist in singles in the Wimbledon Championships in 1902, 1904, 1906 and 1912.[1] She was active from 1892 until 1921 and won 29 career singles titles.

Winifred Longhurst
Full nameWinifred Mary Arden Longhurst
Country (sports) GBR
Born1873
Worcester, Worcestershire, England
Died24 November 1958 (age 85)
Budleigh Salterton Devon, England
Turned pro1892 (amateur tour)
Retired1921
Singles
Career titles29
Grand Slam singles results
WimbledonQF (1902, 1904, 1906, 1912)

Career

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Longhurst was born in 1878 in Worcester, Worcestershire, England. She began her amateur tennis career in 1892. In major tournaments she competed at Wimbledon seven times in the women's all-comers singles event where she was 4 time Wimbledon quarter finalist (1902, 1904, 1906, 1912).[2]

Her major career singles titles include winning national and international level events including the Irish Championships three times from 1904 to 1906, the Welsh Championships two times from 1901 to 1902,[3] the Austrian Championships in 1903 and the Scottish Championships in 1904.

Her other singles titles at regional level tournaments include winning the Midland Counties Championships in 1895 and 1902. At county level events she won the Suffolk County Championships which she won twice in 1901 and 1902. She won the Essex Championships in 1902. She won one time titles at the Sussex Championships in 1905.

She was also a finalist at the East of England Championships in 1902, the West Sussex Championships in 1903, the Kent Coast Championships in 1904 and 1905, the Cinque Ports Championships in 1905, the Worcestershire Championships in 1908, the Warwickshire Championships in 1909, the Shropshire Championships in 1911, the Carlisle Open and Derbyshire Championships in 1913. Winifred was actively playing tennis until as late as 1921 when she was a ladies doubles finalist at the Worcestershire Championships partnering with Gladys Foster.[4]

Style of play

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The former tennis player turned The Daily Telegraph sports journalist Arthur Wallis Myers gives an account of her playing style in his book.[5]

Miss Winifred Longhurst is a steadily improving player, with an equipment of powerful strokes and possessed of sound judgement. She is best in singles and is now the Champion of Wales, Essex, and the Midlands. Before that, Miss Longhurst held the Suffolk championship for two years.:

— V: Players of the Present, Lawn Tennis at Home and Abroad (1903). Charles Scribner's sons. New York. pp. 182-183.

Career finals

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Singles titles (29)

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Category + (Titles)
National (7)
Regular (22)
Result No. Date Tournament Location Surface Opponent Score
Win 1. 1892 Midland Counties Championships Edgbaston Grass   Edith Longhurst divided prizes
Win 2. 1895 Midland Counties Championships (2) Edgbaston Grass   C. Jones 4-6, 6–4, 7-5
Win 3.[6] 1896 Llandudno Open Craigside Grass   Emma Ridding 6-0, 6-2
Win 4. 1899 Torquay Lawn Tennis Tournmament Torquay Grass   K. Hughes 6-2, 6-1
Win 5. 1900 Torquay Lawn Tennis Tournmament (2) Torquay Grass   Miss Smythe 6-2, 6-2
Win 6.[7] 1900 Suffolk County Championships Saxmundham Grass   Beryl Tulloch 2-6, 6–3, 6-3
Win 7. 1901 Torquay Lawn Tennis Tournmament (3) Torquay Grass   Miss Collett 6-1, 6-1
Win 8.[8] 1901 Welsh Championships Penarth Grass   M. Golding 6–1, 4–6, 7–5
Win 9.[9] 1901 Suffolk County Championships (2) Saxmundham Grass   Ruth Durlacher 6-3, 3–6, 7-5
Win 10.[10] 1901 Welsh Championships (2) Penarth Grass   Constance Hill 8–6, 4–6, 6–4
Win 11. 1902 Cinque Ports Championships Folkestone Grass   Edith Greville 6-3, 6-1
Win 12.[11] 1902 Midland Counties Championships (3) Edgbaston Grass   Muriel Robb 7-5, 7-5
Win 13. 1902 Boulogne International Championship Boulogne-sur-Mer Clay   Edith Longhurst w.o.
Win 14.[12] 1902 Essex Championships Colchester Grass   Dorothea Douglass 1-6, 6–3, 6-4
Win 15. 1903 Austrian Championships Prague Clay   Frida Pietrzikowski 6-0, 6-0
Win 16.[13] 1903 Shropshire Championships Shrewsbury Grass   Eva Steedman w.o.
Win 17. 1903 Cinque Ports Championships (2) Folkestone Grass   E. Rapson 6-1, 6-4
Win 18. 1903 Berkshire Championships Reading Grass   Alice Greene 7-5, 6-3
Win 19.[14] 1904 Scottish Championships Moffat Grass   Alice Ferguson 7-5, 7-5
Win 20.[15] 1904 Highland Championships Pitlochry Grass   Alice Ferguson 6-3, 6-2
Win 21.[16] 1904 Cinque Ports Championships (3) Folkestone Grass   "Miss Britain" 6-4, 3–6, 10-8
Win 22.[17] 1904 Irish Championships Dublin Grass   Ellen Stawell-Brown 6–3, 6–3
Win 23. 1905 Sussex Championships Brighton Grass   Connie Wilson divided prizes
Win 24. 1905 Irish Championships (2) Dublin Grass   Mrs. A.H.C. Barker 6–1, 6–0
Win 25. 1906 Ashby-de-la-Zouch Open Championships Ashby-de-la-Zouch Grass   Elsie Lane 6-3, 6-4
Win 26. 1906 Irish Championships (3) Dublin Grass   Mabel Parton 6–1, 6–1
Win 27. 1909 Leicestershire Championships Ashby-de-la-Zouch Grass   Kathleen Clements 6-2, 6-2
Win 28.[18] 1911 Exmouth Open Tennis Tournament Exmouth Grass   Phyllis Carr 6–3, 6–3
Win 29. 1914 Ilkley Open Lawn Tennis Tournament Ilkley Grass   Phyllis Dransfield 6-4, 7-5

Family

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Winfred never married, her younger sister was Edith Longhurst who was also a tennis player.

References

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  1. ^ "Player Profile: Winifred Longhurst". www.wimbledon.com. AELTC. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  2. ^ AELTC
  3. ^ "Penarth LTC / The Welsh Open". clubspark.lta.org.uk. LTA. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Boxing Golf Tennis Athletics Notes". Evening Despatch. Warwickshire, England: British Newspaper Archive. 28 May 1921. p. 4. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  5. ^ Myers, Arthur Wallis (1903). Lawn Tennis at Home and Abroad. New York: Scribner's sons. pp. 182–183.
  6. ^ "TENNIS: CRAIGSIDE (LLANDUDNO) ANNUAL TENNIS OPEN TOURNAMENT". North Wales Times. Denbighshire, Wales: British Newspaper Archive. 1 August 1896. p. 3. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  7. ^ "LAWN TENNIS. SUFFOLK CHAMPIONSHIP MEETING, SAXMUNDHAM". Evening Star. Suffolk, England: British Newspaper Archive. 24 August 1900. p. 1. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  8. ^ LTA
  9. ^ Myers, Arthur Wallis (1903). Lawn Tennis at Home and Abroad. New York: Scribner's sons. pp. 182–183.
  10. ^ LTA
  11. ^ "Midland Counties Lawn Tennis". Kenilworth Advertiser. Warwickshire, England: British Newspaper Archive. 2 August 1902. p. 6. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  12. ^ Myers, Arthur Wallis (1903). Lawn Tennis at Home and Abroad. New York: Scribner's sons. pp. 182–183.
  13. ^ "Lawn Tennis Results 1903". Hazell's Annual. London: Hazell, Watson and Viney. 1904. p. 722.
  14. ^ "Scottish Championships". Aberdeen Press and Journal. Aberdeenshire, Scotland: British Newspaper Archive. 9 August 1904. p. 3. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  15. ^ "Highland Championships". Dundee Evening Post. Angus, Scotland: British Newspaper Archive. 8 August 1904. p. 3. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  16. ^ "Lawn Tennis: Cinque Ports Championships". Daily Mirror. London, England: British Newspaper Archive. 29 August 1904. p. 15. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  17. ^ Dundee Evening Post
  18. ^ "LAWN TENNIS. PLEASURE OF SEASIDE TOURNAMENTS". London Evening Standard. London, England: British Newspaper Archive. 15 August 1911. p. 11. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
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