Daphne Akhurst Cozens

Akhurst in 1925
Full name	Daphne Jessie Akhurst Cozens
Country (sports)	Australia
Born	(1903-04-22)22 April 1903 Ashfield, New South Wales, Australia
Died	9 January 1933(1933-01-09) (aged 29) Sydney, Australia
Plays	Right-handed
Int. Tennis HoF	2013(member page)
Singles
Highest ranking	No. 3 (1928,A. Wallis Myers)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	W (1925,1926,1928,1929,1930)
French Open	QF (1928)
Wimbledon	SF (1928)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	W (1924, 1925, 1928, 1929, 1931)
French Open	QF (1928)
Wimbledon	SF (1928)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open	W (1924, 1925, 1928, 1929)
French Open	QF (1928)
Wimbledon	F (1928)

Daphne Jessie Akhurst (22 April 1903 – 9 January 1933), also known by her married nameDaphne Cozens, was an Australiantennis player.

Akhurst won the women's singles title at theAustralian Championships five times between 1925 and 1930. According to Wallis Myers (The Daily Telegraph,Daily Mail), she was ranked World No. 3 in 1928.^[1]

The second daughter of Oscar James Akhurst, a lithographer, and his wife Jessie Florence (née Smith), Daphne Akhurst won the women's singles title at theAustralian Championships five times, in 1925, 1926, 1928, 1929, and 1930. She is fourth on the list of most women's singles titles at the Australian Championships; behind onlyMargaret Court with eleven titles,Serena Williams with seven andNancye Wynne Bolton with six titles. She won the women's doubles title at the Australian Championships five times: in 1924 and 1925 withSylvia Lance Harper, in 1928 withEsna Boyd Robertson, and in 1929 and 1931 withLouie Bickerton. She andMarjorie Cox were the runners-up in 1926.^{[citation needed]}

In 1925 she was part of the first Australian women's team to tour Europe and reached the quarterfinal of the singles event atWimbledon which she lost toJoan Fry.^[2] During her second and last European tour in 1928, she reached the singles quarterfinal at the French Championships, in which Cristobel Hardie defeated her, and the semifinal at Wimbledon, which she lost in straight sets toLili de Alvarez.

Akhurst won the mixed doubles title at the Australian Championships four times: in 1924 and 1925 withJim Willard, in 1928 withJean Borotra, and in 1929 withGar Moon. She and Willard were the runners-up in 1926. She and her partnerJack Crawford reached the mixed doubles final atWimbledon in 1928, but lost to the team ofElizabeth Ryan/Patrick Spence, 7–5, 6–4.

Akhurst won the singles title at theGerman Championships in 1928 after a three-sets victory in the final against defending championCilly Aussem.^[3]

Akhurst attended the Miss. E. Tildesley'sNormanhurst School, followed by theSydney Conservatorium of Music.^[4] On 26 February 1930 atSt Philip's Church of England, Sydney, Daphne Akhurst married Royston Stuckey Cozens, a tobacco manufacturer, and retired from serious competition soon after winning the Australian ladies' doubles championship in 1931. They had one son, Don.

Daphne Akhurst Cozens died on 9 January 1933, aged 29, from anectopic pregnancy.^[2]

Since 1934 the trophy presented each year to the winner of the women's singles at the Australian Open is named theDaphne Akhurst Memorial Cup in her honour.^[4] She was inducted into theAustralian Tennis Hall of Fame on Australia Day (26 January), 2006.^[5] She was inducted into theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame in 2013.

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1925	Australasian Championships[6]	Grass	Esna Boyd	1–6, 8–6, 6–4
Win	1926	Australasian Championships[6]	Grass	Esna Boyd	6–1, 6–3
Win	1928	Australian Championships[6]	Grass	Esna Boyd	7–5, 6–2
Win	1929	Australian Championships[6]	Grass	Louie Bickerton	6–1, 5–7, 6–2
Win	1930	Australian Championships[6]	Grass	Sylvia Lance Harper	10–8, 2–6, 7–5

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1924	Australasian Championships[7]	Grass	Sylvia Lance	Kathleen Le Messurier Meryl O'Hara Wood	7–5, 6–2
Win	1925	Australasian Championships[8]	Grass	Sylvia Lance Harper	Esna Boyd Kathleen Le Messurier	6–4, 6–3
Loss	1926	Australasian Championships[9]	Grass	Marjorie Cox	Esna Boyd Meryl O'Hara Wood	3–6, 8–6, 6–8
Win	1928	Australian Championships[9]	Grass	Esna Boyd	Kathleen Le Messurier Dorothy Weston	6–3, 6–1
Win	1929	Australian Championships[9]	Grass	Louie Bickerton	Sylvia Lance Harper Meryl O'Hara Wood	6–2, 3–6, 6–2
Win	1931	Australian Championships[10]	Grass	Louie Bickerton	Nell Lloyd Lorna Utz	6–0, 6–4

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1924	Australasian Championships[11]	Grass	James Willard	Esna Boyd Garton Hone	6–3, 6–4
Win	1925	Australasian Championships[12]	Grass	James Willard	Sylvia Lance Harper Richard Schlesinger	6–4, 6–4
Loss	1926	Australasian Championships[11]	Grass	James Willard	Esna Boyd John Hawkes	1–6, 4–6
Win	1928	Australian Championships[11]	Grass	Jean Borotra	Esna Boyd John Hawkes	walkover
Loss	1928	Wimbledon[13]	Grass	Jack Crawford	Elizabeth Ryan Patrick Spence	5–7, 4–6
Win	1929	Australian Championships[11]	Grass	Edgar Moon	Marjorie Cox Jack Crawford	6–0, 7–5

¹The French Championships were not held in 1924, as the Olympics were held in Paris that year.

• Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final

• Regan, Kerry (1979)."Akhurst, Daphne Jessie (1903–1933)".Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 7. National Centre of Biography,Australian National University.ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7.ISSN 1833-7538.OCLC 70677943.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toDaphne Akhurst.

• Daphne Akhurst at theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame
• Daphne Akhurst atTennis Australia

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