Patricia Ward Hales (née Ward; 27 February 1929 – 22 June 1985) was a

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 from the United Kingdom who reached the singles final of the 1955 U.S. Championships, losing 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 ...

. Hales partnered Shirley Bloomer to reach the women's doubles final at the

1955 Wimbledon Championships The 1955 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 20 June until Saturday 2 July 1955. It was the 69th ...

, where they lost to the team of Angela Mortimer and

Anne Shilcock Jacqueline Anne Shilcock (later Spann, 13 June 1932 – April 2019) was a British tennis player who was active in the 1950s. She won 1955 Wimbledon Championships in women's doubles with Angela Mortimer, becoming the first all-British team to w ...

in two sets and at the

French Championships 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 ...

, where they lost to the team of Darlene Hard and Beverly Baker Fleitz in three sets. She again reached the women's doubles final at the

, where she and

Ann Haydon Ann Shirley Jones, (née Adrianne Haydon on 17 October 1938, also known as Ann Haydon-Jones) is a British former table tennis and lawn tennis champion. She won eight Grand Slam tennis championships in her career: three in singles, three in wome ...

lost to the team of Hard and Maria Bueno in straight sets. With George Worthington, she reached the semifinals of the mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 1953. She won the singles title at the

Italian Open Italian Open may refer to: *Italian Open (tennis), a Masters 1000 level tennis tournament played in Rome each year. *Italian Open (golf) The DS Automobiles Italian Open ( it, Open d'Italia) is the men's national open golf championship of Italy. It ...

in 1955, beating

Erika Vollmer Erika Vollmer (née Obst; 23 February 1925 - 25 July 2021) was a German professional female tennis player who lost the final of Italian Championships singles title to British player Patricia Ward by 4–6, 3–6 in 1955. She won the German nati ...

; she also won the doubles with

Christiane Mercelis Christiane Mercelis (born 5 October 1931) is a Belgian former tennis player active in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1949, Mercelis won the Girls' Singles of the Wimbledon Championships. She competed every year at Wimbledon between 1951 and 1968, and a ...

. Ward had been runner-up to Maureen Connolly in 1954. Also in 1955, she won Monte Carlo, beating Shirley Bloomer. She reached the semifinals at Wimbledon in 1956, beating Angela Mortimer in straight sets, then lost to

Angela Buxton Angela Buxton (16 August 193414 August 2020) was a British tennis player. She won the women's doubles title at both the French Championships and Wimbledon in 1956 with her playing partner Althea Gibson. Early life Buxton was born in Liverpool o ...

. She reached the final of the

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 ...

in 1957, scoring victories over Darlene Hard and Ann Haydon on the way, then losing in three sets to Shirley Bloomer. At Wimbledon in 1958, she defeated the seeded

Karol Fageros Karol Fageros (April 27, 1934 – April 4, 1988) was an American female tennis player who was active in the 1950s. Career As a junior, she won the Orange Bowl Championships in the under-18 category in 1951 and 1952. In 1954 she won the Canad ...

, then lost to Ann Haydon in three sets in the round of 16. According to Lance Tingay of ''The Daily Telegraph'' and the ''Daily Mail'', Hales was ranked in the world top 10 in 1955 and 1956, reaching a career high of world No. 8 in 1956.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 runner-up)

Doubles (3 runner-ups)

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hales, Patriacia Ward 1985 deaths 1929 births English female tennis players Tennis people from Greater London

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 runner-up)

Doubles (3 runner-ups)

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

See also

References