The amateur years
Australia · born Grenfell, New South Wales, 1941 · double-handed backhand · twice Australian junior champion
All playersBack to the rankings
4
Australian singles finals in a row, 1960 to 1963
2
Australian mixed doubles titles, 1960 and 1961
1961
Wimbledon doubles final with Margaret Smith
No. 7
World ranking in 1963, Lance Tingay's list
3-0
Her singles record in the 1963 Federation Cup
Born in Grenfell, New South Wales, in 1941, Lehane began playing at six and moved to Sydney in 1956 to train under the coach Vic Edwards. She won the Australian junior singles and doubles in 1958 and 1959 and the New South Wales Championships in 1959 and 1960. At the Australian Championships she reached four singles finals in a row from 1960 to 1963 and lost each to Margaret Smith, and she won the mixed doubles in 1960 and 1961. She reached quarter-finals at the other three majors and was ranked in the world top ten in 1960, 1963 and 1964. In 1963 she won all three of her singles rubbers in the first Federation Cup. She married Jim O'Neill in 1966 and kept competing into her forties.
| Major singles titles | 2: Australian (1958, 1959) |
|---|---|
| Major doubles titles | 2: Australian (1958, 1959) |
| Australian junior doubles partners | 1958 with Betty Holstein; 1959 with Dawn Robberds |
| Australian Championships singles | Finals 1960 to 1963, all lost to Margaret Smith: 5-7, 2-6; 1-6, 4-6; 0-6, 2-6; 2-6, 2-6 |
| Australian Championships doubles and mixed | Mixed champion 1960 with Trevor Fancutt and 1961 with Bob Hewitt; mixed final 1964 with Mike Sangster. Doubles finals 1961 with Mary Hawton and 1963 with Lesley Turner |
| Wimbledon | Singles quarter-final 1963. Doubles final 1961 with Margaret Smith, lost to Karen Hantze and Billie Jean Moffitt 3-6, 4-6 |
| New South Wales Championships | Singles champion 1959, beating Mary Carter Reitano in three sets, and 1960, beating Maria Bueno in the semi-final and Margaret Smith in the final |
| New South Wales Championships | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Women's singles†| |
| 1960 | Women's singles†| |
| Australian Championships | ||
| 1960 | Mixed doubles | with Trevor Fancutt |
| 1961 | Mixed doubles | with Bob Hewitt |
| Queensland Championships | ||
| 1959 | Women's singles†| |
| Kent Championships (Beckenham) | ||
| 1962 | Women's singles†| |
| Northern Championships | ||
| 1963 | Women's singles†| |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"the first female double-handed backhand at the upper level"
The person behind the player.
Grenfell, 1940s
Lehane grew up at Piney Range, near Grenfell, and started playing at six. She practised for hours by hitting balls against a brick chimney wall and played her first tournament at Cowra at the age of eight. Because she was small, she hit her backhand with two hands, a stroke she kept for the rest of her career.
Source: Grenfell RecordSydney, 1956
The coach Vic Edwards noticed her in 1953, and in 1956 she moved to Sydney and lived with the Edwards family for six years. In that time she won 30 state junior titles and two Australian junior titles. Edwards later coached Evonne Goolagong.
Source: Grenfell RecordNew South Wales Championships, 1960
Defending the state title she had won in 1959 against Mary Carter Reitano, Lehane beat Maria Bueno, the world No. 1, in the semi-final and Margaret Smith in straight sets in the final. At the Australian Championships the result went the other way: Smith beat her in all four of their finals there, from 1960 to 1963.
Source: WikipediaAustin, Texas, 1982
Her career ran for almost 25 years. She played the Australian Open for the last time in 1977, losing in the second round to the top seed Dianne Fromholtz, and in 1982, aged 40, she reached a WTA doubles final in Austin, Texas.
Source: Tennis AustraliaGrenfell, 2012
In 2012 Lehane gave her trophies to the people of Grenfell and received the Key to Grenfell from the mayor, Maurice Simpson. Ten years earlier she had been the official guest of the town's Henry Lawson Festival of Arts. She was inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in 2018.
Source: Grenfell RecordFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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