The amateur years
South Africa · born Johannesburg, 1919 · died 2005 · Wimbledon mixed doubles champion 1949 and South Africa's first Wimbledon women's semi-finalist
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1949
Wimbledon mixed doubles title with Eric Sturgess
48
Games in the 1949 final, the most in a Wimbledon mixed final
1947
Wimbledon singles semi-final, the first by a South African woman
11-4
Wimbledon singles record, 1938 to 1949
11-3
Wimbledon mixed doubles record, 1938 to 1949
Sheila Piercey was born in Johannesburg on 18 March 1919. She first played Wimbledon in 1938 under her maiden name, losing in the third round to Alice Marble, and was runner-up at the South African Championships in 1939 and 1940. After the war she returned as Mrs Summers.
In 1947 she was seeded seventh at Wimbledon and reached the semi-finals, the first South African woman to do so, before losing to Margaret Osborne. That August she won the Swiss Championships at Lausanne, beating Doris Hart in the final. With Eric Sturgess she won the French mixed doubles in 1947 and 1949, and in 1949 the pair won Wimbledon, the first Wimbledon title for South African players. She won the South African singles in 1948, 1949 and 1951.
After her playing days she coached for most of her life, including the South African Federation Cup team. She died in her sleep in Johannesburg on 14 August 2005, aged 86.
| Wimbledon mixed final 1949 | With Eric Sturgess, seeded fourth, beat the top seeds John Bromwich and Louise Brough 9-7, 9-11, 7-5; earlier beat Bill Sidwell and Margaret duPont 6-4, 7-9, 6-3 in the semi-final |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon singles 1947 | Seeded seventh; beat Pat Todd 7-5, 6-4 in the quarter-final, lost to Margaret Osborne 6-1, 6-2 in the semi-final |
| Wimbledon singles, other years | 1938: lost to Alice Marble in the third round. 1948: seeded sixth, lost to Jean Quertier in the fourth round. 1949: third round |
| Wimbledon mixed, earlier years | 1947: quarter-final with Sturgess, lost to Bromwich and Brough 2-6, 7-9. 1948: fourth round |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1949 | Mixed doubles | with Eric Sturgess |
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 person behind the player.
Wimbledon, 1949
On the final Saturday Louise Brough had already won the singles and the ladies' doubles. Summers and Sturgess then beat Brough and John Bromwich 9-7, 9-11, 7-5 in a 48-game mixed final. Brough played 117 games on the Centre Court that day, over five hours and twenty minutes.
Source: Wimbledon Compendium 2025 (AELTC)1938 and 1947
The Wimbledon records list her as Sheila Piercey when she made her debut in 1938 and as Sheila Summers from 1947 onwards; the club's archive keeps both names on one record.
Source: AELTC player archive1947
In 1947 she became the first South African woman to hold a top-five world ranking, in a list headed by Margaret Osborne.
Source: Sapa, Mail & Guardian, August 2005Johannesburg
She coached the South African Federation Cup team and two Wimbledon junior champions, Joan Cross and Ilana Kloss, and kept coaching for most of her life until hip problems stopped her.
Source: Sapa, Mail & Guardian, August 2005Free membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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