Long, Thelma Coyne (1918-2015), was an Australian tennis star. In a career that stretched from the mid-1930’s to the late 1950’s, Long won 19 grand slam tennis tournaments, primarily as a doubles player. She won 18 of the titles in Australia .
Coyne won the women’s doubles title at the Australian Championships (now the Australian Open ) 12 times, a record for both male and female players. She won 10 of the titles with partner Nancye Wynne Bolton and 2 with Mary Bevis Hawton, both Australians. She won the Australian mixed doubles title four times, three with Australian partner George Worthington and one with Australian partner Rex Hartwig. She won the women’s singles title in 1952 and 1954. Long’s only grand slam title outside Australia came in 1956, when she won the French Championships (now French Open ) mixed doubles title with Chilean partner Luis Ayala.
Thelma Dorothy Coyne was born in Sydney on Oct. 14, 1918. She married Australian Maurice Newton Long in 1941. She took six years off from tennis during World War II (1939-1945) to serve with the Red Cross and the Australian Women’s Army Service. After retiring as a player in about 1960, Long became a tennis instructor and coached junior players for many years. She was inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in 2002 and into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2013. Long died on April 13, 2015.
