When court queen Ann conquered Wimbledon
JUNE 1969. The average UK house costs £4,640, a gallon of petrol sets you back 6/2d (that’s 31p) and the Beatles are top of the charts with The Ballad of John and Yoko.
The moon landing is still a month off and popular sketch show Monty Python’s Flying Circus, in which Ann Jones was often parodied during its hugely successful run, has yet to air on TV.
Her recollections of her most momentous triumph are unsurprisingly hazy, but she can still rekindle her feelings heading into the tournament as a worldly wise and grounded 30-year-old.
A two-time French Open champion, Ann already had form in reaching the business end of Grand Slams. She had been a Wimbledon and US Open finalist two years earlier and had peaked at number two in the world rankings. Yet not once had she dared to dream about winning the big one.
“I don’t think I felt any different going into the tournament,” Ann said. “I’d played for 13 years there. It’s the pinnacle and the one you want to win, and you make every effort to do as well as you can.
“I was seeded four. As I wasn’t number one in the world, I didn’t really expect to win it.
“As a tennis player, that’s what you aim for – but I never thought I could win it.
“I didn’t even think I would win it until right at the end when I obviously had a good chance.
“You don’t think about it, you just drift on, unless you set out to be a Wimbledon champion in the first place – but I never did that.”
Ann defeated legendary Aussie Margaret Court, the reigning Australian Open and French Open champion, in the semi-final to set up a showdown with another icon of the game – King who had twice denied Ann in Grand Slam finals in 1967. For Ann, it would be third time lucky.
“It was nice to beat Margaret and Billie-Jean, but we’re all still friends!” jokes Ann, a former pupil at Colmore Road School and Kings Norton Girls’ School.
“I beat the number two seed and the number one seed, and that was extremely gratifying.
“It was lovely to hold the Wimbledon trophy up.
“It’s the pinnacle of your career. After the birth of my children, I started in the administrative side with the Lawn Tennis Association and the International Federation, and spent 24 years on the side, running Wimbledon. I wouldn’t have had a platform to do any of that if I hadn’t have won. It afforded me a wonderful life.”
On occasion, Ann allows her mind to wander back to her most famous win on grass. But only when she takes her seat in Centre Court will all the memories come flooding back.
“People expect you to think about it all the time, but I don’t,” she says. “I think about it when I’m asked questions, or when I go to Wimbledon on finals day.
“You sit in the Royal Box and watch someone go through what you went through. Then I think about it and the emotion comes flooding back.”
In 1969, Ann was vying to become only the second female British champion since Dorothy Round in 1937, so her showdown with King was a big deal.
So big a deal that The Beatles paused the recording of Fab Four classic Golden Slumbers so they, and the rest of the crew, could follow the match on the radio.
“I understand that’s true. It’s been mentioned in the past,” smiles Ann. “I didn’t hear about it until much later. Somebody told me and it was a very sound source.
“I’ve never spoken to them, but it sounds like they were big tennis fans.”
Regrettably, Ann was unable to toast her maiden Wimbledon win with much of a celebration. In many respects, she was the victim of her own success.
“Because it was played on a Friday, I had the mixed doubles final the next day so I couldn’t really celebrate,” she remembers. “That night it was the LTA ball so I had to go and sit next to the former president, Carl Aarvold.
“I was sat at the top table, making polite conversation, so I didn’t have much chance to celebrate until I got home.”
Ann lifted her eighth and final career Grand Slam title in the mixed doubles alongside Australia’s Fred Stolle, and was later voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in recognition of her Wimbledon double. She remains to this day the pride of Birmingham.
Wimbledon 2019 continues, with full coverage on the BBC
truly
I didn’t even think I would win it until right at the end when I obviously had a good chance.
Ann Jones