Between the wars
Australia · born Sydney, 1912 · died 2000 · right-handed · three times Australian champion and twice a Wimbledon semi-finalist
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3
Australian singles titles: 1933, 1934 and 1936
2
Wimbledon singles semi-finals in a row, 1934 and 1935
8
World ranking in 1934, aged 21
9 of 10
Australian Championships at which she reached the quarter-finals or better
Joan Marcia Hartigan was born in Sydney on 6 June 1912, the daughter of Tom Hartigan, a railway clerk who rose to be New South Wales Railways Commissioner, and his wife Imelda, a teacher. She learned the game at Loreto Kirribilli and on the family's own grass court. In 1931 she won the Australian girls' title and played her first Australian Championships, and in early 1932 she won the New Zealand and New South Wales singles, beating Margaret Molesworth in both finals.
She won the Australian singles at Kooyong in 1933, aged 20, beat Molesworth for the title in Sydney in 1934 and won again in Adelaide in 1936, and took the 1934 mixed doubles with Edgar Moon. On her 1934 tour of Britain she won the North of England and Scottish titles and reached the Wimbledon semi-finals; she was a semi-finalist again in 1935. She was ranked in the world top ten in both years, at No. 8 in 1934.
She reached the Australian semi-finals in 1939 and 1940, served in the Australian Army Medical Women's Service in 1943 and returned for the first post-war championships in 1946. In 1947 she married Hugh Bathurst and played on in England for a time, losing in the first round at Wimbledon in 1949, before the couple settled back in Sydney in 1950. Their son, Tom Bathurst, became Chief Justice of New South Wales. She died in Sydney on 31 August 2000, aged 88, and entered the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in 2022.
| Australian singles finals | 1933: beat Coral Buttsworth 6-4, 6-3. 1934: beat Margaret Molesworth 6-1, 6-4. 1936: beat Nancye Wynne 6-4, 6-4 |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon 1934 | Unseeded, came back from a set down to win her quarter-final 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, then lost the semi-final to the top seed, Helen Jacobs, 6-2, 6-2 |
| Wimbledon 1935 | Seeded eighth; won her quarter-final 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 and lost the semi-final to Helen Wills Moody, the eventual champion, 6-3, 6-3 |
| Australian doubles finals | Mixed champion in 1934 with Edgar Moon, beating Emily Hood Westacott and Ray Dunlop 6-3, 6-4. Women's doubles runner-up in 1933, 1934 and 1940 |
| British tour 1934 | Won the North of England and Scottish singles, beating Susan Noel in both finals |
| Australian Championships | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1933 | Women's singles | |
| 1934 | Mixed doubles | with Edgar Moon |
| 1934 | Women's singles | |
| 1936 | Women's singles | |
| Victorian Championships | ||
| 1932 | Women's singles†| |
| 1933 | Women's singles†| |
| 1936 | Women's singles†| |
| New South Wales Championships | ||
| 1932 | Women's singles†| |
| 1933 | Women's singles†| |
| New Zealand Championships | ||
| 1932 | Women's singles†| |
| Scottish Championships | ||
| 1934 | Women's singles†| |
| Surrey Championships (Surbiton) | ||
| 1935 | 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
"She always talked about winning the Australian Championships and she won it three times."
The person behind the player.
Sydney, 1922 to 1928
Her family had a grass court at home, and at Loreto Kirribilli she won the school's lawn tennis singles championship in 1927 and 1928. As a champion she often went back to the school to talk to the girls, and schoolchildren idolised her.
Source: Loreto Kirribilli1930s
She played in a visor and pleated dresses, and went bare-legged once stockings were no longer required of women players. Her exuberance and light-hearted approach on court made her a popular figure.
Source: Tennis AustraliaSydney, 1943
She enlisted in the Australian Army in January 1943 and served with the Australian Army Medical Women's Service at a camp hospital in Sydney until her discharge that September.
Source: Wikipedia, citing the WW2 Nominal Roll1947 to 1950
She married Hugh Bathurst of Melbourne, private secretary to Senator James Fraser at the time of their engagement, at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, in April 1947, and the couple sailed for England so that she could resume her career. They lived in Surrey for about three years before returning to Sydney in 1950.
Source: WikipediaNormanhurst
Years later, as a parent at Loreto Normanhurst, the former Australian champion volunteered in the school canteen, on its tennis courts and at fundraising events. Her son Tom said she was modest and did not talk much about her tennis.
Source: Loreto Normanhurst; Tennis AustraliaFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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