Essay on Press Coverage of Nancy Wynne Bolton’s Sixth Australian Tennis Championship in 1951

It is known that tennis in Australia has always been one of the most popular sport activities. In fact, Australian tennis has always served a dual purpose ”“ recreation activity and sport competitions (Robertson, 1974, p.12).  It is found that the climate of Australia and the topography of the country are appropriate for different outdoor games, including tennis. That is why the popularity of the game is rather high in Australia. According to James Jupp (2001), “tennis in Australia rapidly became a mass sport and public tennis courts were to be found even in quite small rural settlements”(p.344). Moreover, Australia has produced a great number of great tennis players in the past years. Among them are Rod Laver, Margaret Smith Court, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Pat Cash, Wendy Turnbull, John Newcombe, Nancye Wynne Bolton and some other tennis players (Hill & Stockley, 2009, p.3).

The Australian Open is considered to be one of the world’s prestigious tennis tournaments, which produced many champions. The Australian Open was first held in 1905. Initially this tournament was called The Australasian Championships (Wijesinghe, 2010, p.11). The Australian Championships of 1951 was held at the White City Stadium. The seeded players Joyce Fitch, Thelma Long, Mary Hawton, Esme Ashford, Nell Hopman, Sadie Newcombe, Beryl Penrose, and Nancye Wymme Bolton ”“ the Champion. It is found that Nancye Bolton defeated a very experienced tennis player Thelma Long 6”“1 7”“5 in the final of the tournament and won the Women’s Singles title at the 1951 Australian Tennis Championships.

WOMEN’S TENNIS: BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON NANCY WYNNE BOLTON

It is known that Nancye Wynne Bolton was one of the famous Australian tennis players. Although her sport career was disrupted by the World War II, she is regarded as one of the best tennis players in women’s tennis. Nancye Wynne Bolton is “an enduring figure in her nation, she was a force from the middle of the 1930s until the early 1950s” (Nancye Wynne Bolton, 2012). According to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Nancye Wynne Bolton was “tall and powerful, determined and reliable” person whose victories were the result of the force of her will (Grasso, 2011, p.73).

In addition, it is found that Nancye Wynne Bolton had 20 Australian titles which she got between 1936 and 1952. They included six singles, 10 doubles with Thelma Coyne Long, and four mixed. Nancye Wynne Bolton was regarded as the standard in Australian tennis “until Margaret Court’s 11th singles and eighth doubles in 1973 gave her 21” (Legends of the Court, 2005). Nancy Wynne was described as “a tall, rollicking Melburnian, often topped by an Anzac hat” (Legends of the Court, 2005).



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