Born Perth WA
29 May 1950
Lesley Hunt traded tennis strokes with the best in the world when she joined the international women’s circuit in the 1960’s – and she stayed in that elite company for more than a decade.
She grew up in a sports-loving family in suburban Perth. Her parents were keen social players at the Bayswater Tennis Club and all six of their children took to the grass courts.
Educated at Perth’s Our Lady’s College, Lesley staked a claim to national recognition with a rare double, winning the WA Women’s Open and Junior titles in 1964 at the age of 14.
She won the Australian Junior title in 1967 and 1968, reached the final of the 1968 Wimbledon Junior invitation event and won the French and United States Junior crowns the same year.
She rose to No 3 in Australia’s senior rankings and No 7 in the world in 1974. From 1967 to 1979 she was never outside the top six in Australia at a time when international stars such as Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Wendy Turnbull, Kerry Reid and Judy Dalton were part of Australia’s formidable line-up.
Seeded 12 times for the Wimbledon and US championships, she reached the quarter-finals of Grand Slam events consistently. Her first major final was the New York Virginia Slims singles in 1971, when she lost to Margaret Court, and in 1976 she was again runner-up, this time in the Italian Open.
In 1978 she broke through for her maiden international victory at the Swiss Open and was runner-up that year in the Canadian and Italian Opens.
Lesley won numerous doubles titles, including the US Open hardcourt and clay court events, both with Evonne Goolagong as her partner.
She earned a place in Australian tennis history as a member of the winning 1971 Federation Cup team, along with Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong, in Perth.