Phyllis Mudford King (23 August 1905 – 27 January 2006) was an English female tennis player and the oldest living Wimbledon champion when she died at age 100.

Phyllis Mudford King
Country (sports) United Kingdom
Born(1905-08-23)23 August 1905
Wallington, Surrey, England, UK
Died27 January 2006(2006-01-27) (aged 100)
Horley, Surrey, England, UK
Singles
Highest rankingNo. 7 (1930)
Grand Slam singles results
French Open3R (1930)
WimbledonQF (1930)
US OpenSF (1935)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
WimbledonW (1931)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
WimbledonSF (1930)

Phyllis Evelyn Mudford was born in 1905 in Wallington, Surrey.[1] She was educated at Sutton High School, where she was Captain of Tennis,[2] and one of the school's four houses is named in her honour.[3] She won the Wimbledon Ladies' Doubles Championship in 1931 with partner Dorothy Shepherd-Barron,[4] and last took part in the tournament in 1953.[2]

In 1931, she won the singles title at the Kent Championships after defeating Dorothy Round in the final in straight sets. In 1934, she again won the title beating Joan Hartigan in the final.[5] She played for Britain in the Wightman Cup in 1930, 1931, 1932 and 1935.[6]

In a codicil to her will, dated 14 February 1983, King left a legacy to the All England Club Wimbledon for "a Trophy to be competed for annually".[7]

Marriage

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Mudford married Maurice Richard King at St Mark with St Philip, Reigate on 30 April 1932.[8][9][10][11]

Grand Slam finals

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Doubles (1 title, 1 runner-up)

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Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1931 Wimbledon Grass   Dorothy Shepherd-Barron   Doris Metaxa
  Josane Sigart
3–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss 1937 Wimbledon Grass   Elsie Pittman   Simonne Mathieu
  Billie Yorke
3–6, 3–6

References

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  1. ^ "Phyllis King". The Times. London. 2 February 2006. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011.
  2. ^ a b Henderson, Jon (27 June 2004). "It was a sport in my day". The Observer.
  3. ^ "Our House System". Sutton High School. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  4. ^ Gilbert, Helen (2006). "100 year old Former Champion Dies". Wimbledon. Archived from the original on 30 April 2008.
  5. ^ "Kent Championships – Ladies' Singles Roll of Honour" (PDF). Beckenham Tennis Club. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2012.
  6. ^ Lowe, Gordon (1936). Lowe's Lawn Tennis Annual. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode. pp. 157–58.
  7. ^ Codicil to will of King, Phyllis Evelyn, died 27 January 2006, probate date 5 April 2006, available from https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk
  8. ^ Surrey, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1937 for Maurice Richard King
  9. ^ Alamy, Smith Archive. "Stock Photo - Tennis star to marry London businessman. Miss Phyllis Mudford , the Wightman Cup lawn tennis international and one of the leading English girl players at Wimbledon , is to". Alamy.
  10. ^ January 27, 2006, August 23, 1905-. "Phyllis King" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Lake, Robert J. (5 February 2019). Routledge Handbook of Tennis: History, Culture and Politics. Routledge. ISBN 9781315533551 – via Google Books.