Hilda Lane (1877 – 17 December 1916) was an English tennis player active during the first decade and a half of the 20th century.

Career

Between 1902 and 1914 she participated in the single event of the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pla ...

and achieved her best result in her first appearance in 1902 when she reached the quarterfinal in which eventual champions

Muriel Robb Muriel Evelyn Robb (13 May 1878 – 12 February 1907) was an English female tennis player. She is best remembered for her ladies' singles title at the 1902 Wimbledon Championships. She also won the Irish and Scottish singles titles in 1901 and ...

beat her in straight sets. In 1914 she also competed in the doubles event with Madeline O'Neill but lost in the first round. In 1902 she won the all-comer's tournament at the

Kent Championships The Kent Championships also known as the Kent All-Comers' Championships was a tennis tournament held in Foxgrove Road, Beckenham, Kent, England between 1886 and 1996 and was held in the first half of June. From 1887 until 1910 the tournament was ...

after her opponent Edith Greville retired at one set all but subsequently lost the challenge round match against

Dorothea Douglass Dorothea Lambert Chambers (née Dorothea Katherine Douglass, 3 September 1878 – 7 January 1960) was a British tennis player. She won seven Wimbledon women's singles titles and a gold medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Tennis In 1900, Dougla ...

. The challenge round match was postponed from 14 June to 5 July due to rain. In 1903 she took part in the East Grinstead Open tennis tournament held at the East Grinstead,

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

she would win the title eight times from (1903–1906, 1908, 1911–1913). In 1905 she defeated Gladys Eastlake Smith in the singles final of the British Covered Court Championships, played on wood courts at the Queen's Club in London. The following year, 1906, she lost her title in the challenge round to

. In August 1913 she was runner-up at the Derbyshire Championships in

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Ethel Thomson Larcombe Ethel Larcombe (née Ethel Warneford Thomson, 8 June 1879 – 11 August 1965) was a British female tennis player and badminton player. She won the ladies' singles tennis title at the 1912 Wimbledon Championships as well as 11 badminton titles ...

in straight sets. Her other career singles highlights include winning the Norfolk Championships five times (1909-11, 1913-14), and the Mid-Kent Championships three times (1898-1900).

Personal

She was the daughter of Wilmot Lane, a barrister-at-law who had been a civil servant in India having been appointed to the Bengal civil service in 1854, in 1877 around the time of Hilda's birth he was a civil and sessions judge based at Moradbad, Uttar Pradesh, and the sister of tennis player Elsie Lane.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Hilda British female tennis players 19th-century births 1916 deaths Year of birth missing Date of death missing Place of birth missing