Jenny Staley Hoad

Jenny Staley Hoad (3 March 1934 – 14 February 2024) was an Australian tennis player who was mainly active in the 1950s.

Career

In January 1951 Staley won the junior doubles title at the Australian Championships partnering Margaret Wallis. In 1953 she also won the junior Australian singles title.

As Jenny Staley she reached the singles final of 1954 Australian Championships, played in Sydney, but lost in straight sets to top-seeded Thelma Coyne Long. Also in 1954, Staley won the women's singles title at the Australian Hard Court Championships, defeating the defending champion Beryl Penrose in a close match. In November 1954 she reached the final of the New South Wales Championships which she lost in three sets to Beryl Penrose. In December 1954 she was runner-up to Coyne Long at the Victorian Championships, played in Kooyong.

Staley won the women's singles title at the South Australian Championships at Memorial Drive Park in Adelaide in January 1955 defeating Fay Muller in the final in straight sets. Her best singles performance at the Wimbledon Championships was reaching the fourth round in 1955, losing to eight-seeded Angela Buxton, and 1956 when she was defeated by fifth-seeded and eventual champion Shirley Fry.

Personal life

Lew Hoad proposed to Staley on her 21st birthday party in March 1955, and they planned to announce their engagement in June in London while both were on an overseas tour. After arriving in London Staley discovered that she was pregnant, and the couple decided to get married straight away. The marriage took place the following day on 18 June 1955 at St Mary's Church, Wimbledon in London on the eve of Wimbledon. They had two daughters and a son. After Hoad's retirement they moved to Fuengirola, Spain, near Málaga, where they constructed and operated the tennis resort Lew Hoad's Campo de Tenis for more than 30 years, entertaining personal friends that included actors Stewart Granger, Sean Connery, Richard Burton, Peter Ustinov, Deborah Kerr and her husband Peter Viertel, Kirk Douglas, singer Frank Sinatra and saxophonist Stan Getz. Lew Hoad was diagnosed with a rare and incurable form of leukemia on 13 January 1994, which caused his death on 3 July 1994, at the age of 59.

Jenny Hoad sold the club in April 1999 but continued to live at the accompanying residential complex. In 2002, she published My Life with Lew with Jack Pollard.

Jenny Staley Hoad died in Fuengirola, Spain on 14 February 2024, at the age of 89.

Grand Slam tournament finals Singles: (1 runner-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 1954 Australian Championships Grass Thelma Coyne Long 3–6, 4–6

Mixed doubles: (2 runner-ups) ResultYearChampionship SurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1955 Australian Championships Grass Lew Hoad Thelma Coyne Long George Worthington 2–6, 1–6Loss 1955 French Championships Clay Luis Ayala Darlene Hard Gordon Forbes 7–5, 1–6, 2–6

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

Singles