The amateur years
Australia · born Warrnambool, Victoria, 1937 · Wimbledon mixed doubles champion 1958, the first Australian woman to win a Wimbledon title
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1958
First Australian woman to win a Wimbledon event, the mixed with Bob Howe
6-3, 13-11
Wimbledon mixed final, against Kurt Nielsen and Althea Gibson
No. 1
Australian women's ranking in 1957, her first year in open play
1958
Australian Championships singles final, lost to Angela Mortimer
5
Australian Championships finals: singles 1958, doubles 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1967
Lorraine Georgina Coghlan was born in Warrnambool, in western Victoria, on 23 September 1937. She learned the game from her father, who had never had a lesson himself, and at 12 was noticed by Harry Hopman at a country week tournament in Melbourne, who advised her to move to the city for coaching. She won age-group and state titles, the Australian girls' singles in 1956, and in 1957, her first year in open competition, she was ranked No. 1 among Australian women. That season she won the New South Wales and Victorian singles titles, both in finals against the visiting British player Angela Mortimer.
In 1958 she reached the Australian Championships singles final, losing to Mortimer 6-3, 6-4, and then toured Europe, winning the Spanish, German, Swiss and Belgian singles titles, finishing runner-up in Rome and, with Bob Howe, in the French mixed doubles. At Wimbledon she and Howe, seeded fourth, won the mixed doubles, beating Kurt Nielsen and Althea Gibson in the final.
She married John Robinson on 19 December 1959 and her international career ended soon after, although she reached the Australian women's doubles final again in 1959, 1960 and 1967. She later raised a family, took up golf to a handicap of eight, and stayed in tennis as a player, coach and state selector after moving to Queensland.
| Wimbledon mixed 1958 | Seeded fourth with Bob Howe; beat the second seeds Kurt Nielsen and Althea Gibson 6-3, 13-11 on Centre Court, the long second set ending when Gibson lost her serve at 12-all |
|---|---|
| State titles 1957 | New South Wales singles: beat Angela Mortimer 6-4, 10-8. Victorian singles: beat Mortimer 7-5, 7-5. She lost the 1958 Victorian final to Sandra Reynolds 6-4, 8-6 |
| Australian Championships | Girls' singles champion 1956. Singles final 1958, lost to Angela Mortimer 6-3, 6-4. Women's doubles finals in 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1967 |
| Record book | The Wimbledon Compendium lists her 1958 mixed title as the first Wimbledon championship won by an Australian woman |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Mixed doubles | with Robert Howe |
| New South Wales Championships | ||
| 1957 | Women's singles†| |
| Victorian Championships | ||
| 1957 | 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
"Absolutely no money was received and it was very costly to play"
The person behind the player.
Warrnambool, 1940s
She grew up with her extended family behind her grandfather's paint shop in Timor Street, Warrnambool. At about ten she watched her father and her older sister, Val, play and fell for the game, preferring the court to the beach. Her father, who had never taken a lesson, became her coach. A 1950s photograph of her and her name on the honour board still hang at the Warrnambool Lawn Tennis Club.
Source: The Standard, WarrnamboolMelbourne, about 1949
At 12 she played a country week tournament in Melbourne, where Harry Hopman noticed her and recommended that she move to the city for proper coaching. By 1957, her first year in the open ranks, she was the No. 1 woman in Australia.
Source: The Standard, WarrnamboolEurope, 1958
On her first overseas tour she won the Spanish, German, Swiss and Belgian singles titles and was runner-up in the Italian singles and the French mixed doubles. She remembered that travel had to be paid for by wealthy parents or sponsors, and that women often had to keep playing in poor weather when men's matches were postponed.
Source: The Standard, WarrnamboolWimbledon, 1958
She and Bob Howe won the mixed final in front of more than 10,000 spectators. After taking the first set 6-3 they were locked at 12-all in the second when Althea Gibson, the ladies' champion that year, lost her serve, and the Australians took the set 13-11 and the title. The Compendium notes that her racquet was a Dunlop.
Source: The Standard, Warrnambool; Wimbledon Compendium 2025Queensland
After tennis she played golf off a handicap of eight, often five days a week, and stayed involved in tennis as a player, coach and state selector. In 2021 her daughter, Anne Maree Buttner, published her life story, From Warrnambool to Wimbledon and Beyond: The Lorraine Coghlan Story.
Source: The Standard, WarrnamboolFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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