Lesley Rosemary Turner Bowrey, AM (née Turner; born 16 August 1942) is a retired professional tennis player from Australia. Her career spanned two decades from the late 1950s until the late 1970s. Turner Bowrey won the singles title at the French Championships, one of the four Grand Slam events, in 1963 and 1965. In addition she won 11 Grand Slam events in doubles and mixed doubles. Turner Bowrey achieved her highest singles ranking of No. 2 in 1964.

Lesley Turner Bowrey
AM
Turner in 1964
Full nameLesley Rosemary Turner Bowrey
ITF nameLesley Bowrey
Country (sports) Australia
BornLesley Rosemary Turner
(1942-08-16) 16 August 1942 (age 82)
Trangie, New South Wales, Australia
PlaysRight-handed (1-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF1997 (member page)
Singles
Highest rankingNo. 2 (1964)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenF (1964, 1967)
French OpenW (1963, 1965)
WimbledonSF (1964)
US OpenSF (1967)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenW (1964, 1965, 1967)
French OpenW (1964, 1965)
WimbledonW (1964)
US OpenW (1961)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian OpenW (1962, 1967)
French OpenF (1962, 1963, 1964)
WimbledonW (1961, 1964)
US OpenF (1962)
Team competitions
Fed CupW (1964, 1965)

Career

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Lesley Turner at the 1964 Dutch Open in Hilversum.

Bowrey won 13 Grand Slam titles during her career: two in singles, seven in women's doubles, and four in mixed doubles. She lost in the finals of 14 other Grand Slam events.

Bowrey twice won the singles title at the French Championships. In 1963, she defeated Ann Haydon-Jones in the final, and in 1965, she defeated Margaret Smith in the final.[1][2]

Bowrey was the runner-up at four Grand Slam singles tournaments. She lost in the final of the French Championships to Court in 1962 and to Françoise Dürr in 1967. She lost in the final of the Australian Championships to Court in 1964 and to Nancy Richey in 1967.

She was runner-up at the Italian Championships in 1961, 1963 and 1964, and she won the title in 1967 against Maria Bueno and in 1968 against Margaret Court.

Bowrey captained the Australian Fed Cup team from 1994 to 2000.[3]

Honours and awards

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Bowrey was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985.[4] She was inducted into the NSW Hall of Champions in 1994. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame and received the Sarah Palfrey Danzig Award in 1997.[5] The award is given to the female player who by character, sportsmanship, manners, and spirit of cooperation has contributed to the growth of the game of tennis. In 1998 she was inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame.[6]

In the Queen's Birthday Honours 2009 Bowrey was appointed as Member of the Order of Australia "for service to tennis as a player, coach and mentor to junior players, and to the community".[7]

She married fellow Australian tennis star Bill Bowrey on 23 February 1968. They are the parents of tennis player Michelle Bowrey.

Grand Slam finals

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Singles: 6 (2 titles, 4 runners-up)

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Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1962 French Championships Clay   Margaret Smith 3–6, 6–3, 5–7
Win 1963 French Championships Clay   Ann Haydon-Jones 2–6, 6–3, 7–5
Loss 1964 Australian Championships Grass   Margaret Smith 3–6, 2–6
Win 1965 French Championships (2) Clay   Margaret Smith 6–3, 6–4
Loss 1967 Australian Championships (2) Grass   Nancy Richey Gunter 1–6, 4–6
Loss 1967 French Championships (3) Clay   Françoise Dürr 6–4, 3–6, 4–6

Doubles: 12 (7 titles, 5 runners-up)

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Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1961 U.S. Championships Grass   Darlene Hard   Edda Buding
  Yola Ramírez
6–4, 5–7, 6–0
Win 1964 Australian Championships Grass   Judy Tegart   Robyn Ebbern
  Margaret Smith
6–4, 6–4
Win 1964 French Championships Clay   Margaret Smith   Norma Baylon
  Helga Schultze
6–3, 6–1
Win 1964 Wimbledon Grass   Margaret Smith   Billie Jean Moffitt
  Karen Hantze Susman
7–5, 6–2
Loss 1964 U.S. Championships Grass   Margaret Smith   Billie Jean Moffitt
  Karen Hantze Susman
3–6, 6–2, 6–4
Win 1965 Australian Championships (4) Grass   Margaret Smith   Robyn Ebbern
  Billie Jean Moffitt
1–6, 6–2, 6–3
Win 1965 French Championships (2) Clay   Margaret Smith   Françoise Dürr
  Janine Lieffrig
6–3, 6–1
Loss 1966 Australian Championships (3) Grass   Margaret Smith   Carole Caldwell Graebner
  Nancy Richey
6–4, 7–5
Win 1967 Australian Championships (2) Grass   Judy Tegart   Lorraine Robinson
  Évelyne Terras
6–0, 6–2
Loss 1968 Australian Championships Grass   Judy Tegart   Karen Krantzcke
  Kerry Melville
4–6, 6–3, 2–6
Loss 1976 Australian Open Grass   Renáta Tomanová   Evonne Goolagong
  Helen Gourlay
1–8
Loss 1978 French Open Grass   Gail Sherriff   Mima Jaušovec
  Virginia Ruzici
5–7, 6–4, 8–6

Mixed doubles: 9 (4 titles, 5 runners-up)

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Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1961 Wimbledon Grass   Fred Stolle   Edda Buding
  Bob Howe
11–9, 6–2
Win 1962 Australian Championships Grass   Fred Stolle   Darlene Hard
  Roger Taylor
6–3, 9–4
Loss 1962 French Championships Clay   Fred Stolle   Renée Schuurman
  Bob Howe
6–3, 4–6, 4–6
Loss 1962 U.S. Championships Grass   Frank Froehling   Margaret Smith
  Fred Stolle
5–7, 2–6
Loss 1963 Australian Championships Grass   Fred Stolle   Margaret Smith
  Ken Fletcher
5–7, 7–5, 4–6
Loss 1963 French Championships Clay   Fred Stolle   Margaret Smith
  Ken Fletcher
1–6, 2–6
Loss 1964 French Championships Clay   Fred Stolle   Margaret Smith
  Ken Fletcher
3–6, 6–4, 6–8
Win 1964 Wimbledon Grass   Fred Stolle   Margaret Smith
  Ken Fletcher
6–4, 6–4
Win 1967 Australian Championships Grass   Owen Davidson   Judy Tegart
  Tony Roche
9–7, 6–4

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
Tournament 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 Career SR
Australia QF 2R 3R QF SF F 3R 3R F SF 2R A 2R A 3R A 1R QF 1R A A 0 / 16
France A A 4R F W SF W A F A SF A QF A A A A A A 3R 2 / 9
Wimbledon A A 2R QF 4R SF QF A QF QF QF A 4R A A A A A A 2R 0 / 10
United States A A QF 4R A 2R A A SF A 2R A A A 2R A A A A A 0 / 6
SR 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 4 0 / 4 1 / 3 0 / 4 1 / 3 0 / 1 0 / 4 0 / 2 0 / 4 0 / 0 0 / 3 0 / 0 0 / 2 0 / 0 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 2 2 / 41

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December. Bowrey participated only in the January edition.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Lesley Bowrey super service returned". News.com.au. 16 August 2009.
  2. ^ "Aussies at Roland Garros – Lesley Turner 1965". tennis.com.au. Tennis Australia. 17 May 2012.
  3. ^ "Hall of Fame – Lesley (Turner) Bowrey". ausopen.com. Tennis Australia.
  4. ^ "Lesley Bowrey". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  5. ^ "The Sarah Palfrey Danzig Award". USTA. Archived from the original on 21 June 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  6. ^ "Player Profiles – Lesley (Turner) Bowrey". Tennis Australia. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  7. ^ "The Queen's Birthday 2009 Honours List". Government House of The Commonwealth of Australia. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
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