Angela Buxton – Ladies Tennis Star of the 50’s

“Curriculum vitae”

Wimbledon Doubles Champion 1956 Wimbledon Singles Finalist 1956 French Open Doubles Winner 1956 British Covered Court Singles Champion 1956 London Grass Court Singles Champion 1956 British Hard Court Doubles Champion 1956 Wightman Cup Player 1954/55/56 No. 5 in the World 1956

Angela was born in Liverpool , England in August 1934 , Angela began playing tennis as a youngster at Gloddaeth Hall School for Girls , a boarding school in Llanrhos , North Wales. Coach Bob Mulligan immediately recognized her talent and entered her into a junior tournament, where she won the under-14, under-15, and under-18 titles. After spending time in London and Los Angeles, in 1954 she earned the British No. 4 ranking. Angela then reached the 1955 Wimbledon singles quarterfinals and climbed to World No. 9 in the rankings. She played in Wightman Cup competition for the United Kingdom in 1954, 1955, and 1956. Her most successful tennis year was in 1956. She won the women’s doubles title and reached the singles final at Wimbledon. She won the English Indoor and London Grass Court singles championships and the English Hard Court doubles crown (with Darlene Hard). At the French Championships, she reached the singles semifinals and won the women’s doubles title with Althea Gibson, who was the first champion of African descent. An English newspaper reported their victory at Wimbledon under the headline “Minorities Win.” was ranked World No. 5 by World Tennis Magazine and World No. 6 by Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail. [1] Maccabiah Games Angela won the women’s singles title at the 1953 Maccabiah Games for Jewish athletes, easily defeating # 8 world seed Anita Kanter of the United States. She won the singles title again in 1957. [1] After suffering a serious hand condition in late 1956 (tenosynovitis), Angela was forced to retire following the 1957 season at the age of 22. Tennis players made no money in the 1950s, and the finances of her former teammate, Althea Gibson, worsened over the years. In 1992, Gibson suffered a stroke. A few years later, she called Angela and told her she was on the brink of suicide as she was living on welfare and unable to pay for rent or medication. Angela arranged for a letter about Gibson’s circumstances to appear in a tennis magazine. She told Gibson nothing about the letter, but Gibson knew something was up when her mailbox started to bulge with envelopes containing checks from around the world. [1] data from Wikipedia

Wimbledon Ladies Doubles Champion 1956

Co-Principal and founder of the Angela Buxton Centre – one of the most respected International Tennis Schools specialising in the advanced development of the game in the 1970’s and 1980’s . Consultant to establishing the International Veteran Tournaments at both Los Monteros and Monte Carlo Hon. Member : British Tennis Coaches’ Association Holder: Israel Order of Merit 1981 for outstanding contributions to Tennis Coaching and Competition Trustee: Health Promotion Research Trust – established by H. M. Government in July 1983 Author and Co-Author with C. M. Jones of several best selling tennis books from 1957-1980’s Merseyside Women of the Year 2004 in their year of faith . For services to Sport and Race. Invited to Buckingham Palace by H. M. Queen Elizabeth ll in recognition of Sporting Achievements and Health Promotion Florida Tennis Academia : Comparative investigation carried out regularly Special feature writer with “The Times and Sunday Times “ “The Daily and Sunday Telegraph” “The Independent“ “Ace“ Tennis Magazine “Tennis Today” and the “Daily Mail” Abroad with “The New York Times” “Florida Tennis” and “Australian Tennis” 

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