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The British junior champion in 1956 and 1957 , Janes made her Wimbledon debut in 1957 at age 16 and reached the semifinals, where she lost to Althea Gibson .

In 1958 , Janes caused a sensation by defeating Gibson, the Wimbledon champion, in the Wightman Cup and helped bring the cup back to Great Britain after 21 consecutive defeats by the United States . A few weeks later at Wimbledon, however, Janes as the second seed was defeated in the fourth round by the American Mimi Arnold . That loss helped start Janes' reputation as an unpredictable player.

In 1959 , Janes became the youngest women's singles titlist at the French Championships at the age of 18. (That record has since been broken by Steffi Graf in 1987 , Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in 1989 , and Monica Seles in 1990 .) That year, by far her best, also saw her as the winner of the Italian Championships and runner-up at the U.S. Championships . She failed, however, to justify her top seeding at Wimbledon where she lost in the fourth round to the Mexican Yola Ramirez . In doubles at Wimbledon, Janes partnered Beverly Baker Fleitz to reach the women's doubles final and with her brother Humphrey to reach the mixed doubles quarterfinals.

In 1960 , Janes was the third seed at Wimbledon, where she lost in a semifinal to Maria Bueno in three sets. She teamed with Bueno to win the women's doubles title at the Australian Championships that year.

In 1961 , Janes was the sixth seed at Wimbledon and defeated the second seed, Margaret Smith Court , 3-6, 6-3, 9-7 in a quarterfinal after trailing 4-1 in the final set and saving two match points. She then beat Renee Schuurman Haygarth of South Africa 6-4, 6-4 in a semifinal before losing 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 to fellow Britain Angela Mortimer in the final.

In 1972 , Janes teamed with Winnie Shaw to reach the women's doubles final at the French Championships, where they lost to Billie Jean King and Betty Stove 6-1, 6-2.

Janes was ranked in the world top 10 six times between 1957 and 1965 , reaching a career high World No. 2 in 1959. She played Wightman Cup from 1957 through 1971 (winning the cup in 1958, 1960, and 1968 ). She also played Fed Cup in 1963 , 1965, and 1968, posting a 6-3 singles record and a 2-2 doubles record.

She retired from tennis in 1975 and became a commentator for BBC Radio the same year. She is married to former Wasps player Gerry Janes . In the 2001 Queen's Birthday's Honours list, she was awarded an MBE for her "services to sport."


GRAND SLAM SINGLES FINALS


Win (1)


Runner-ups (2)



GRAND SLAM SINGLES TOURNAMENT TIMELINE


A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.


See also