Dorothy 'Dot' Stevenson was an Australian tennis player who was active in the 1930s.

Dorothy Stevenson
Country (sports) Australia
BornVictoria, Australia
Singles
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenF (1938)
French OpenQF (1938)
Wimbledon1R (1938)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenSF (1939)
Wimbledon3R (1938)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian OpenF (1937)
Wimbledon1R (1938)

Career

edit

Partnering compatriot Don Turnbull she reached the final of the mixed event at the 1937 Australian Championships which they lost in three sets to the husband and wife team of Nell Hall Hopman and Harry Hopman.[1]

In 1938 she was runner-up in the singles event of the Australian Championship, losing the final in straight sets to Dorothy Cheney.[2] In the semifinal she had defeated second-seeded and reigning champion Nancye Wynne.[3][4] Owing to this result she was selected as a member of the Australian women's team that toured overseas in 1938.[5] During the tour she competed in the French Championships where she reached the quarterfinal of the singles event where first-seed and eventual champions Simonne Mathieu proved too strong. At the Wimbledon Championships she lost in the first round of the singles event in three sets to third-seeded Jadwiga Jędrzejowska. Partnering Nell Hopman she lost in the third round of the doubles competition against the first seeded team of Simonne Mathieu and Billie Yorke.[6]

Personal life

edit

Dorothy was the younger daughter of Ruth and Ernest A. Stevenson (died 9 April 1942) of "Mayfield", Langham Place, Upper Hawthorn, Victoria[7] She married John Victor Waddell in Melbourne on 1 February 1940.[8] Her sister Gwyndoline "Gwen" (1908–1950) was also a tennis player.[9] While she was in England on her 1938 overseas tour her brother Ernest died in Melbourne of pneumonia.[10]

Grand Slam finals

edit

Singles (1 runner-up)

edit
Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1938 Australian Championships Grass   Dorothy Cheney 3–6, 2–6

Mixed doubles (1 runner-up)

edit
Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1937 Australian Championships Grass   Don Turnbull   Nell Hall Hopman
  Harry Hopman
6–3, 3–6, 2–6

References

edit
  1. ^ "Australian Open players archive – Dorothy Stevenson". Tennis Australia. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  2. ^ "Americans invincible". The Age. No. 25, 831. Victoria, Australia. 31 January 1938. p. 15 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "Sensational Upset In Adelaide Tennis". The Telegraph. Queensland, Australia. 27 January 1938. p. 17 (City final last minute news). Retrieved 9 January 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "National Champion Beaten In Women's Singles". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 28 January 1938. p. 22 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "South Yarra Club". The Age. No. 25, 853. Victoria, Australia. 25 February 1938. p. 7 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "Wimbledon players archive – Dorothy Stevenson". www.wimbledon.com. AELTC.
  7. ^ "Obituary: Noted Stock Breeder". The Age. No. 27, 137. Victoria, Australia. 10 April 1942. p. 3. Retrieved 26 December 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "Victorian Tennis Star Married". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 2 February 1940. p. 24 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "Former Tennis Star Dies". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 32, 255. Victoria, Australia. 17 January 1950. p. 20 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ "Family bereavements pursue Miss Dot. Stevenson". The Advocate (Tasmania). Tasmania, Australia. 25 June 1938. p. 9 – via National Library of Australia.