Ann Haydon-Jones

Ann Haydon-Jones at the trophy ceremony after the Isner Mahut game at Wimbledon 2010

Ann Haydon Jones CBE (* 7. October 1938 as Adrianne Shirley Haydon in Birmingham ) is a former British tennis player .

Career

Her parents Adrian and Doris Haydon (née Jordan) were national table tennis players and so she began to play table tennis, but later gave up this sport and developed as a tennis player. In 1954 and 1955 she won the British Youth Championships. She played tennis at a time when many of the greatest tennis players were active, including Billie Jean King , Margaret Smith Court and Maria Bueno .

Ann Haydon won the 1961 French International Tennis Championships and reached the finals of the US Open , where she was defeated by defending champion Darlene Hard . In 1962 she married PF Jones and won the 1966 French International Tennis Championships as Ann Jones for the second time.

In 1967 she reached the finals at both Wimbledon and the US Open, but lost to Billie Jean King. Two years later, the two players met again in the final at Wimbledon, where this time Ann Haydon-Jones was victorious. At the same tournament she also won the mixed competition with Fred Stolle . During the women's singles at Wimbledon in 1969, the Beatles stopped recording the song "Golden Slumbers" to listen to live radio coverage when Jones beat Billie Jean King. In the same year she was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year , Sportsman of the Year in Great Britain. In 2014 she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire .

At the beginning of the professional era in tennis in 1968, Ann Haydon-Jones was one of the first players on the women's tour, along with Billie Jean King.

In 1970 she became a co-commentator on the BBC .

In 1958 she wrote the book Tackle table tennis this way (edited by Stanley Paul, London).

Career in table tennis

Ann Haydon's father Adrian Haydon took part in 17 table tennis world championships between 1928 and 1953 . Ann herself played at five TT world championships. The left-hander achieved her best results at the 1957 World Cup, where she finished second in singles, doubles and mixed. She lost all the finals - almost tragically - in the fifth set. After this World Cup she shifted the focus to tennis ("Tennis is played outdoors and is therefore healthier for me than table tennis"), but took part again in the 1959 TT World Cup.

In the English rankings she was led in 1959 at number one.

Participation in TT World Championships

• 1954 at Wembley : Finalist in doubles (with Kathleen Best ), 3rd place with the English team
• 1955 in Utrecht : 3rd place with the British team
• 1956 in Tokyo: 3rd place in doubles (with Diane Rowe ), finalist in mixed (with Ivan Andreadis ), finalist with the English team
• 1957 in Stockholm: finalist in singles, finalist in doubles (with Diane Rowe ), finalist in mixed (with Ivan Andreadis )
• 1959 in Dortmund: 3rd place in doubles (with Diane Rowe )

More Achievements

• 1956 English Open Championship: double title (with Diane Rowe )
• 1958 Open English Championship: double title (with Pat Mortimer)

Results from the ITTF database

Association	event	year	place	country	singles	Double	Mixed	team
CLOSELY	European Championship	1958	Budapest	HUN	silver	Semifinals	Quarter finals	1
CLOSELY	World Championship	1959	Dortmund	FRG	Quarter finals	Semifinals	Quarter finals	4th
CLOSELY	World Championship	1957	Stockholm	SWE	silver	silver	silver	4th
CLOSELY	World Championship	1956	Tokyo	JPN	Quarter finals	Semifinals	silver	2
CLOSELY	World Championship	1955	Utrecht	NED	Quarter finals	Quarter finals	last 64	3
CLOSELY	World Championship	1954	Wembley	CLOSELY	last 64	silver	Quarter finals	3

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Table Tennis News November 1973, p. 3 ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on November 26, 2012)  
2. ↑ Doris Jordan Results from the ITTF database on ittf.com (accessed July 24, 2014)
3. ↑ https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/269031/New-Year-Honours-2014-PM-list.pdf
4. ^ Ann Haydon-Jones results from the ITTF database on ittf.com (accessed September 8, 2011)

Web links

Commons : Ann Haydon-Jones  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• WTA profile of Ann Haydon Jones (English)
• ITF profile Ann Haydon Jones (English)
• Ann Haydon-Jones in the "International Tennis Hall of Fame" (English; with picture)