The amateur years
United States · born San Diego, 1942 · Wimbledon champion at 19 in 1962 and three times a major doubles champion with Billie Jean King
All playersBack to the rankings
19
Age when she won Wimbledon in 1962
57
Minutes the 1962 final against Věra Suková took
3
Major doubles titles with Billie Jean King, all on grass
8
Her seeding at Wimbledon in 1962
1960
Wimbledon girls' singles champion; the first to win the junior and senior singles
Karen Hantze was born in San Diego on 11 December 1942, the only child of a Coronado teacher and a homemaker. She learned the game at the La Jolla Recreation Center, where her parents played, and was coached by Eleanor "Teach" Tennant, Maureen Connolly, Ben Press and Les Stoefen. By 16 she was the best junior in America, playing serve and volley.
She reached the US Championships quarter-finals at 17 in 1959 and in 1960 made the Wimbledon quarter-finals and won the girls' singles. In 1961, at 18, she and the 17-year-old Billie Jean Moffitt won the Wimbledon doubles unseeded. She married Rod Susman later that year, came back to Wimbledon in 1962 as the eighth seed, and won the singles, beating Věra Suková 6-4, 6-4 in the final. She and Moffitt also kept the doubles.
Her daughter Shelley was born in October 1963 and she did not defend her titles. She returned in 1964, lost at Wimbledon to the top seed Margaret Smith 11-9, 6-0, reached the doubles final with Moffitt and won the US Championships doubles with her at Forest Hills. She was ranked as high as world No. 4 in 1962. After that she played only occasionally, joining World TeamTennis in 1974 and playing her last major at the 1980 US Open.
| Wimbledon 1962 | Seeded eighth. Quarter-final: beat Renée Schuurman 6-4, 6-4. Semi-final: beat Ann Haydon 8-6, 6-1. Final: beat Věra Suková 6-4, 6-4 in 57 minutes |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon doubles | With Billie Jean Moffitt. 1961, unseeded: beat Jan Lehane and Margaret Smith 6-3, 6-4. 1962: beat Sandra Reynolds and Renée Schuurman 5-7, 6-3, 7-5. 1964 final: lost to Margaret Smith and Lesley Turner 7-5, 6-2 |
| US Championships doubles | With Moffitt. 1964: won against Margaret Smith and Lesley Turner 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Finals lost in 1962 to Maria Bueno and Darlene Hard, and in 1965 to Nancy Richey and Carole Caldwell Graebner |
| Eastern Grass Court Championships, South Orange | 1960: beat Nancy Richey 6-1, 6-3. 1961: beat Edda Buding 6-2, 6-4. 1962 final: lost to Margaret Smith 6-3, 6-4 |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Women's doubles | with Billie Jean King |
| 1962 | Women's doubles | with Billie Jean King |
| 1962 | Women's singles | |
| Eastern Grass Court Championships (South Orange) | ||
| 1960 | Women's singles†| |
| 1961 | Women's singles†| |
| US Championships | ||
| 1964 | Women's doubles | with Billie Jean King |
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 priorities in my life were different."
The person behind the player.
La Jolla
She learned at the La Jolla Recreation Center, where her parents played for fun. She would swing on the swings, then sit on the bench and maybe hit after they had finished. She called herself a tomboy who played softball, basketball, soccer and field hockey.
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune, 2012Wimbledon, 1961
King recalled that Hantze kept telling her they could win the doubles and she kept saying there was no way. They had so little money they could not go to the Wimbledon Ball, because neither could afford a dress. "So, we giggled our way through the championships," King said.
Source: NPR, 2011San Antonio, 1962
After her marriage she moved with Rod Susman to San Antonio, worked as a file clerk for $1.25 an hour and barely hit a ball until a month before leaving for London. She played three warm-up events and did not win a match.
Source: Tennis.com, 2022Final day, 1962
On the morning of the final she was due up at 8:00 and overslept until 9:30. Her husband, who had been awake since 5:00, said he was going ballistic trying to organise the car and the practice. She won 6-4, 6-4 that afternoon.
Source: Tennis.com, 2022Match point
Rod Susman said that on the final point she pulled Suková wide and, thinking she had a winner, turned to look at him in the box. The crowd gasped as Suková got the ball back; she turned, found it sitting there, and volleyed it away to win.
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune, 2012At home
She kept her Wimbledon replica plate almost hidden in a butler's pantry with her doubles trophies, and once lost track of it until she found it beside some cans of tuna. She has declined invitations to be honoured at Wimbledon: "It's not me," she said. "I'm not a travel person."
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune, 2012; Tennis.com, 2022Free membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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