Karen Susman


Karen Susman is an American former tennis player. Susman won the women's singles title at Wimbledon in 1962. She won three Grand Slam women's doubles titles, all with Billie Jean King. She also won the 1960 Wimbledon junior girls' singles title.
Hantze Susman is currently the longest surviving Wimbledon ladies' singles champion, following the death of Angela Mortimer, the 1961 champion, who died in August 2025.

Tennis career

Aged 17, Hantze reached the Quarter Finals of the women's singles at the United States Championships in 1959. She made her debut at Wimbledon in the summer of 1960, reaching the Quarter Finals of the women's singles, but going on to win the Junior Girl's singles championship.
After reaching the singles Quarter Finals again in 1961, Hantze and Billie Jean Moffitt, as an unseeded team, won the 1961 women's doubles title at Wimbledon, defeating the third-seeded team of Jan Lehane and Margaret Smith in the final in straight sets. Their combined ages made them the youngest team to win the title at the time.
Returning as Mrs. Susman in 1962 and seeded eighth in the singles, Susman won the women's singles in 1962 without losing a set. She became the first player in Wimbledon history to win both the junior and adult singles' events. Susman and Moffitt successfully defended their doubles title in 1962, defeating the South African team of Renée Schuurman and Sandra Reynolds in a three-set final.
Due to her pregnancy, Susman did not play at Wimbledon in 1963, but she returned in 1964 and unseeded, lost in the last 32 to the top seeded Margaret Smith, 11-9 6-0. Susman and Moffitt reached the 1964 women's doubles final at Wimbledon, losing to the top-seeded team of Smith and Lesley Turner. For Wimbledon's centenary celebration in 1977, Susman and King teamed for the last time. As the eighth-seeded team, they were upset in the second round by the team of Mary Carillo and Trish Bostrom.
Susman and Moffitt won the 1964 women's doubles title at the U.S. Championships, defeating Smith and Turner in the final in three sets. Susman and Moffitt reached the 1962 women's doubles final at the U.S. Championships, losing to the team of Maria Bueno and Darlene Hard in three sets. They also reached the 1965 women's doubles final at the U.S. Championships, losing to the team of Nancy Richey and Carole Caldwell Graebner. Susman gave birth to her only child in October 1963 and played very little in 1963, deciding not to defend her Wimbledon singles and doubles titles. She returned to play in 1964, and at Wimbledon, she lost in a third-round match to Margaret Smith. She entered the U.S. Championships the same year, but withdrew before the tournament. Susman played little in the 1960s and 1970s, but joined the start of Team Tennis in the U.S. in 1974 and made occasional tournament appearances, returning to Wimbledon once and the US Open, where her last Grand Slam singles tournament was at the 1980 US Open. She defeated Tanya Harford in the first round and Janet Newberry in the second round, then lost to 14th-seeded Ivanna Madruga.
According to Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Susman was ranked in the world top 10 in 1961, 1962, and 1964, reaching a career high of world No. 4 in 1962. Susman was included in the year-end top 10 rankings issued by the United States Lawn Tennis Association from 1959 through 1962 and in 1964. She was the second-ranked U.S. player behind Hard from 1960 through 1962.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

Doubles: 6 (3 titles, 3 runners-up)

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Tournament19581959196019611962196319641965 – 196819691970 – 197519761977197819791980Career SR
AustraliaAAAAAAAAAAAA / AAAA0 / 0
FranceAAAAAAQFAAAAAAAA0 / 1
WimbledonAAQFQFWA3RAAAA2RAAA1 / 5
United States3RQF3R3R3RAQFA1RA1RAA2R3R0 / 10
SR0 / 10 / 10 / 20 / 21 / 20 / 00 / 30 / 00 / 10 / 00 / 10 / 10 / 00 / 10 / 11 / 16

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.