| Full name | Christine Clara Truman Janes |
|---|---|
| ITF name | Christine Janes |
| Country (sports) |  United Kingdom |
| Born | (1941-01-16)16 January 1941 (age 84) Loughton, England |
| Plays | Right-handed |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 611-207 (74.7%) |
| Career titles | 38 |
| Highest ranking | No. 2 (1959) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | SF (1960) |
| French Open | W (1959) |
| Wimbledon | F (1961) |
| US Open | F (1959) |
| Doubles | |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Australian Open | W (1960) |
| French Open | SF (1959) |
| Wimbledon | F (1959) |
| Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
| Australian Open | SF (1960) |
| French Open | SF (1967) |
| Wimbledon | QF (1959) |
| US Open | SF (1958) |
| Team competitions | |
| Wightman Cup | W (1958,1960,1968) |
Christine Clara Truman Janes[1]MBE (born 16 January 1941) is a formertennis player from the United Kingdom who was active from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. She won a singles Grand Slam title at theFrench Championships in 1959 and was a finalist atWimbledon and theU.S. Championships. She helped Great Britain win theWightman Cup in 1958, 1960 and 1968.
Christine Truman was a member of a tight-knit, supportive tennis-playing family. She often entered the Wimbledon mixed doubles with her brotherHumphrey.[2] She formed a successful doubles partnership with her younger sister Nell Truman. She was the British junior champion in 1956 and 1957. Truman made her debut atWimbledon in 1957 at age 16, beating the then French Open championShirley Bloomer andBetty Rosenquest, and eventually losing to eventual championAlthea Gibson in the semifinals.[2][3]
In 1958, she caused a sensation by defeating Gibson, the reigning Wimbledon champion, in theWightman Cup and helped bring the cup back to Great Britain after 21 consecutive defeats by the United States.[4] She also beatDorothy Knode and won her doubles with Shirley Bloomer.[2] A few weeks later at Wimbledon, however, as the second seed she was defeated in the fourth round by the American Mimi Arnold. This loss helped start her reputation as an unpredictable player.
In 1959, she became the youngest women's singles champion at theFrench Championships at the age of 18,[a] beatingSandra Reynolds in three sets and defending championZsuzsa Körmöczy in straight sets in the final. That year, by far her best, also saw her as the winner of theItalian Championships, beatingYola Ramírez and Sandra Reynolds In 1959, she also was runner-up at theU.S. Championships[4] toMaria Bueno after beating Dorothy Knode andAnn Haydon.[5] In doubles at Wimbledon, Truman partneredBeverly Baker to reach the women's doubles final (where they lost toDarlene Hard and Jeanne Arth).
In 1960, she was the third seed at Wimbledon, where she lost the semifinals to Maria Bueno in three sets. She also lost to Bueno in the semifinals of the U.S. Open. She teamed with Bueno to win the women's doubles title at theAustralian Championships that year. She won the British Hard Courts championships by beatingAngela Mortimer 6–2, 2–6, 6–2 and Ann Haydon 6–2, 6–2. She also won Queen's, beating future Wimbledon winnerKaren Hantze 6–4, 6–3.[6]
In 1961, she defeated the second seedMargaret Smith 3–6, 6–3, 9–7 in the quarterfinals after trailing 4–1 in the final set and saving two match points. She then beatRenée Schuurman in the semifinals 6–4, 6–4 and then lost to fellow Briton Angela Mortimer in the final.[7]
In July 1962, it was revealed that Truman is partially blind in her left eye.[8] After a poor year in 1962, she came back in 1963 to reach the semifinals of the French and quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, losing in three sets to Margaret Smith. She also won Monte Carlo in 1964 beating top ten players Helga Schultze,Vera Suková, andJan Lehane and the South African championships in 1965, beatingFrançoise Dürr 6–2, 6–4 andAnnette Van Zyl 6–2, 6–3. She also won the doubles withMargaret Hunt Price.[9][10][11]
Truman had another comparatively successful Wimbledon run in 1965, when unseeded, she defeated sixth-seededCarole Caldwell Graebner,Judy Tegart,Julie Heldman, and fourth-seededNancy Richey. Her run to the semifinals held some irony as it was the first time in Wimbledon history that no British player had been seeded in the women's championship. She was defeated by no. 2 seed (and eventual champion)Margaret Smith in the semifinals 6–4, 6–0.[12] She had been affected by injury and illness in 1961, 1964, and 1965. In 1965, during practice for the Wightman Cup, Truman severely hurt her Achilles tendon for the second time,[13] and this injury led to an 18-month gap in her career. After this injury, she was not ranked in the world's top 10 again.
In April 1968, she and her sister Nell Truman became the first winners of anopen tennis event by winning the women's doubles title at theBritish Hard Court Championships in Bournemouth.[3]
Her tennis was an all-attack game, reaching the net at the earliest possibility. She had a tremendously strong, flat forehand, balanced with a sliced backhand, excellent volleys and smash, and hard serve.
During her career, Truman had wins over most of the other leading players of her day, including Althea Gibson (Wightman Cup 1958); Maria Bueno (Pacific Coast 1958 and Caribbean 1959); Darlene Hard several times, notably in the Wightman Cup in 1959; British rivals Angela Mortimer, Ann Haydon, Shirley Bloomer Brasher, all on several occasions; Zsuszi Körmöczy, Margaret Smith,Billie Jean Moffitt, Sandra Reynolds, Karen Hantze, andLesley Turner.[10] According toLance Tingay, Truman was ranked in the world top 10 from 1957 to 1961 as well as 1965, and she reached a career high ranking of world no. 2 in 1959.[14]
In December 1967, she married formerWasps playerGerry Janes and they have four children,[15] including former pro tennis playerAmanda Keen and six grand children. The couple remain married, but Gerry Janes has been living in managed care since being diagnosed with dementia.[16] She retired from tennis in 1975 and became a commentator forBBC Radio in the same year. In the2001 Birthday Honours, she was appointed aMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to lawn tennis.[17] Since 2011 she has published several children's books.[18]
As of 2023, Truman is known as Doctor Christine Janes.[1]
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1959 | French Championships | Clay |  Zsuzsi Körmöczy | 6–4, 7–5 |
| Loss | 1959 | U.S. Championships | Grass |  Maria Bueno | 1–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 1961 | Wimbledon | Grass | Angela Mortimer | 6–4, 4–6, 5–7 |
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1959 | Wimbledon | Grass |  Beverly Baker | Jeanne ArthDarlene Hard | 6–2, 2–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 1960 | Australian Championships | Grass | Maria Bueno |  Lorraine Coghlan RobinsonMargaret Smith | 6–2, 5–7, 6–2 |
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| Tournament | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | Career SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | A | A | A | SF | A | A | 2R | A | 3R | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 3 |
| France | 1R | QF | W | A | QF | 4R | SF | QF | A | A | 3R | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1 / 8 |
| Wimbledon Championships | SF | 4R | 4R | SF | F | 3R | 4R | 2R | SF | A | 1R | 2R | 4R | A | 4R | A | 1R | 3R | 0 / 15 |
| United States | 3R | QF | F | SF | QF | A | QF | A | A | A | A | A | 3R | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 7 |
| SR | 0 / 3 | 0 / 3 | 1 / 3 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 1 / 33 |
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