Betty Hilton (born Elizabeth Evelyn Clements, 12 February 1920 – 3 July 2017) was a British

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player of the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

era. She reached the women's doubles final at the 1949

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

alongside

Joy Gannon Joy Mottram (née Gannon; born 21 March 1928) is a retired female tennis player from England who was active in the late 1940s and the 1950s. Career Her best singles performances at a Grand Slam tournament came in 1952 when she reached the quarte ...

. Clements also reached the quarterfinals in singles at the 1946 French Open and the quarterfinals at the

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

and

1950 Wimbledon Championships The 1950 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament was held from Monday 26 June until Saturday 8 July. It was the 64th stagi ...

Career

Clements reached her first singles quarterfinal and doubles semifinal at the 1946 French Championships. In 1947 she reached her first Wimbledon doubles semifinal with partner

Jean Bostock Jean Addie Bissett Bostock (née Nicoll, 14 December 1922 – 2 April 1965), was a female international table tennis and tennis player from England. Table tennis career At the age of 16, she won the singles gold medal at the 1939 English Open a ...

falling to

Doris Hart Doris Hart (June 20, 1925 – May 29, 2015) was an American tennis player from who was active in the 1940s and first half of the 1950s. She was ranked world No. 1 in 1951. She was the fourth player, and second woman, to win a Career Grand Slam in ...

and Pat Todd who went on to win the championships. The next year Clements partnered Kay Menzies and reached the third round. Clements partnered

in 1949 at Wimbledon and reached the semifinals for the second time in her career, they lost to

Louise Brough Althea Louise Brough Clapp (née Brough; March 11, 1923 – February 3, 2014) was an American tennis player. In her career between 1939 and 1959, she won six Grand Slam singles titles as well as numerous doubles and mixed-doubles titles. At the e ...

and Margarent du Pont. At the 1948

British Hard Court Championships The British Hard Court Championships is a defunct Grand Prix tennis and WTA Tour affiliated tennis tournament played from 1968 to 1983 and 1995 to 1999. The inaugural edition of the tournament was held in 1924 in Torquay, moving to the West Hant ...

Clements won the women's singles title defeating Pamela Bocquet 6–1, 6–4 in the final. At the 1949

Scandinavian Indoor Championships The Scandinavian Indoor Championships also known as the Scandinavian Covered Court Championships and the Scandinavian Indoor Open was a combined men's and women's tennis tournament held from 1936 through 1979. History The tournament was created ...

Clements won the women's doubles title with

Jean Quertier Jean Rinkel-Quertier (née Quertier; 12 November 1925 – 23 January 2019), was a female former tennis player from England who was active in the late 1940s and 1950s. Career Her best performance at a Grand Slam tournament was reaching the final ...

. In 1949 and 1950 Clements reached consecutive singles quarterfinals at Wimbledon, in 1949 falling to Margaret du Pont and in 1950 falling to Pat Todd.

Personal life

Clements married Raymond Hilton on 2 September 1942, he died during WWII. Clements played under the name Hilton until her second marriage to Andrew James Christopher Harrison on 19 June 1950 and Clements briefly played under the name Harrison until she retired later that year.

Career statistics

Grand Slam performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

. ¹In 1946 and 1947, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.

Grand Slam finals

Doubles (1 runner-up)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilton, Betty British female tennis players 1920 births 2017 deaths