Penny Fellows Lumley

Last updated

Penny Fellows Lumley (born 1963), is a world real tennis singles and doubles champion and regarded as one of "the greatest female players in the history of tennis." [1]

Contents

Early life

Born Penny Bland, Lumley first played lawn tennis prior to taking up real tennis in 1985. Just 4 years later, she was the World Champion, beating British journalist and three-time World Champion Sally Jones in 1989 in Philadelphia. [2]

Career

Lumley secured a streak of impressive victories between 1989 and 2004, including securing 6 out of 8 World Championship titles (singles) (1989, 1991, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2003). In that same period she played in every World Championship doubles final, winning 6 times (1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2003) with various partners including Evelyn David, Jo Wood Iddles, Sue Haswell and Fiona Deuchar. [3] She won the doubles title in the 2007 World Championships in Manchester with her partner Charlotte Cornwallis.

She dominated the LRTA International tournament from its inception in 1998 through the next 3 tournaments. Penny was the British Open singles champion 12 times between 1989 and 2004, including an unbeaten run of 8 victories from 1995 to 2002. [4] She won the doubles title 10 times between 1991 and 2008. She was also successful abroad, winning the US Open (both singles and doubles) 6 times, the French Open singles 7 times and the doubles 10 times, and the Australian Open singles 3 times. In 1996–97 she won the Grand Slam, taking the British, French, American and Australian Opens as well as the World singles and doubles titles. [5]

Lumley continues to compete today. In 2014, she won the US Open Singles Title together with the US Open Doubles title with her daughter Tara. She won the French Open Singles in 2015. Lumley also recently retained the Ladies’ Masters Singles title. [6]

Awards

Lumley was the first female recipient of the Baerlein Cup bestowed by the Tennis and Rackets Association for the best tennis performance by an amateur. She was also the first woman to receive the Greenwood Trophy in 1989 for the most improved tennis player of the year. In 1999, her achievements in tennis and her 7 French Open singles titles were acknowledged with a Medal of the French Republic. In 2000 she won the Unsung Hero/Heroine category and the overall Grand Prix Prize at the Best of British Awards for Great Sporting Achievement.

She was inducted as a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, “M.B.E.” in 2004. In 2011 Penny was inducted into the International Hall of Fame of the US Court Tennis Association, only the second lady ever to receive this award. The award ceremony was held at the Racquet and Tennis Club. [7]

Personal life

Lumley has two children, Tara [8] and John who are also real tennis players. [9] She is a Founder Honorary Life Member of Prested Hall. Her hobbies include running.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martina Hingis</span> Swiss tennis player

Martina Hingis is a Swiss former professional tennis player. Hingis was the first Swiss player, male or female, to have won a major title and attain the world No. 1 ranking. She spent a total of 209 weeks as the singles world No. 1 and 90 weeks as doubles world No. 1, holding both No. 1 rankings simultaneously for 29 weeks. She won five major singles titles, 13 major women's doubles titles, and seven major mixed doubles titles, for a combined total of 25 major titles. In addition, she won the season-ending WTA Finals two times in singles and three in doubles, an Olympic silver medal in doubles, and a record 17 Tier I singles titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lindsay Davenport</span> American tennis player (born 1976)

Lindsay Ann Davenport Leach is an American former professional tennis player. Davenport was ranked singles world No. 1 for a total of 98 weeks, and was the year-end singles world No. 1 four times. She also held the doubles world No. 1 ranking for 32 weeks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evonne Goolagong Cawley</span> Australian aboriginal tennis player (born 1951)

Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Goolagong was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jana Novotná</span> Czech tennis player

Jana Novotná was a Czech professional tennis player. She played a serve and volley game, an increasingly rare style of play among women during her career. Novotná won the women's singles title at Wimbledon in 1998, and was runner-up in three other majors. Novotná also won 12 major women's doubles titles, four major mixed doubles titles, and three Olympic medals. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2 in 1997, and held the No. 1 ranking in doubles for 67 weeks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Joe Fernández</span> American tennis player

Mary Joe Fernández Godsick is an American former professional tennis player, who reached a career-high ranking of world No. 4 in both singles and doubles. In singles, Fernández was the runner-up at the 1990 and 1992 Australian Open, and the 1993 French Open. She also won a bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. In doubles, she won the 1991 Australian Open with Patty Fendick and the 1996 French Open with Lindsay Davenport, plus two Olympic gold medals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helena Suková</span> Czech tennis player

Helena Suková is a Czech former professional tennis player. During her career, she won 14 major doubles titles, nine in women's doubles and five in mixed doubles. She is also a two-time Olympic silver medalist in doubles, a four-time major singles runner-up, and won a total of 10 singles titles and 69 doubles titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jo Durie</span> British tennis player

Joanna Mary Durie is a former world No. 5 tennis player from the United Kingdom. During her career, she also reached No. 9 in doubles, and won two Grand Slam titles, both in the mixed doubles with Jeremy Bates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Françoise Dürr</span> French tennis player

Françoise Dürr is a retired French tennis player. She won 50 singles titles and over 60 doubles titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman</span> American tennis and badminton player

Hazel Virginia Hotchkiss Wightman, CBE was an American tennis player and founder of the Wightman Cup, an annual team competition for British and American women. She dominated American women's tennis before World War I, and won 45 U.S. titles during her life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilana Kloss</span> South African tennis player, coach, and commissioner

Ilana Sheryl Kloss is a former professional tennis player, tennis coach, and commissioner of World TeamTennis from 2001–21. She was the World's No. 1 ranked doubles player in 1976, and World No. 19 in singles in 1979. She won the Wimbledon juniors singles title in 1972, the US Open juniors singles title in 1974, and the US Open Doubles and French Open Mixed Doubles titles in 1976. She won three gold medals at the 1973 Maccabiah Games in Israel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Siegemund</span> German tennis player (born 1988)

Laura Natalie Siegemund is a German professional tennis player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margarita Betova</span> Russian tennis player

Margarita Melikovna Betova is a Russian tennis player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kateřina Siniaková</span> Czech tennis player (born 1996)

Kateřina Siniaková is a Czech professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in doubles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbora Krejčíková</span> Czech tennis player

Barbora Krejčíková is a Czech professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2, achieved on 28 February 2022, and became world No. 1 in doubles on 22 October 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Veronika Kudermetova</span> Russian tennis player (born 1997)

Veronika Eduardovna Kudermetova is a Russian professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 9, achieved on 24 October 2022, and a best WTA doubles ranking of No. 2, reached on 6 June 2022. She also has won three WTA 1000 titles, and won the 2022 WTA Finals with Elise Mertens. In addition, she reached the doubles final of Wimbledon in 2021, with Elena Vesnina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Markéta Vondroušová</span> Czech tennis player (born 1999)

Markéta Šimková is a Czech professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 6 by the WTA. Vondroušová is the reigning Wimbledon champion, winning the tournament in 2023, the first unseeded woman to win the singles title. She was also the runner-up at the 2019 French Open, where she became the first teenage Major finalist in nearly a decade. She has won two singles titles out of six finals on the WTA Tour and a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Kalinskaya</span> Russian tennis player (born 1998)

Anna Nikolayevna Kalinskaya is a Russian professional tennis player. Ranked by the WTA, she reached a career-high of No. 38 in singles in January 2024, and No. 49 in doubles in February 2023. On the WTA Tour, she has won three doubles titles. She also has won one singles title on the WTA Challenger Tour, and seven singles and nine doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. Her best singles performance at the majors is reaching the quarterfinals at the 2024 Australian Open.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diede de Groot</span> Dutch wheelchair tennis player

Diede de Groot is a Dutch professional wheelchair tennis player who is the current world No. 1 in both singles and doubles.

Marjorie Leeming was a Canadian tennis player, badminton player and teacher. She won the Canadian Open ladies' singles title twice and was runner-up on four occasions. Leeming took the Canadian doubles championship three times and the mixed doubles twice. She won seven titles in British Columbia and was the Oregon State Tennis Championship singles winner in 1926. After her tennis ended due to injury, Leeming moved into education, co-authoring a 1935 school textbook on modern composition for use in schools in British Columbia. She taught badminton, golf and tennis to female students at the University of British Columbia before becoming assistant dean to its dean of women. Leeming is an inductee of the BC Sports Hall of Fame, the Tennis Canada Hall of Fame and the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame.

Claire Fahey is a British real tennis player and current real tennis Ladies World Champion.

References

  1. ↑ "Annual Dinner a Fantastic Success". United States Court Tennis Association. 19 December 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  2. ↑ "Real Tennis". London, England: The Observer. 24 December 1989.
  3. ↑ "Past Champions". Ladies Real Tennis Association. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  4. ↑ "Parting Shots, Tennis Gets Real in Holyport". London: The Guardian. 19 April 1999.
  5. ↑ "Royal Tennis Anyone?". Aramco ExPats. 29 October 2002. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  6. ↑ "Current Top Players". Ladies Real Tennis Association. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  7. ↑ "Penny Lumley Enters International Tennis Hall of Fame" . Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  8. ↑ "Team Lumley Wins in Australia". Queenswood. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  9. ↑ Tamara Prenn (25 November 2021). "Real Tennis British Open makes triumphant return to Queen's Club". SW Londoner. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.