Jane O'Hara

Major Accomplishments

Winner of the U12, U14, U16, U18 National Championships (1963-1969).
Competed at Wimbledon in singles and doubles from 1968-1971. Reached the quarter-finals of mixed doubles with John Bartlett of Australia in 1971.
Competed at the US Open in singles and doubles from 1968-1974. Reached the Round of 16 in singles in 1972.
Winner of the European Women’s Championship Hamburg in 1972.
Represented Canada in Fed Cup play 1969-1971, 1973-1975.

Biography

Jane O’Hara was an internationally recognized player as she competed at Wimbledon from 1968-1971 in both singles and doubles and at the US Open from 1968-1974 in singles and doubles. In 1972, O’Hara reached the round id 16 in singles at the US Open. O’Hara also captured the 1972 European Women’s singles Championship in Hamburg. She competed on the Canadian Fed Cup team from 1969-1971 and from 1973-1975.

O’Hara started playing tennis at the age of 10 from when she was discovered on a local Toronto court by John Banko, who was a renowned tennis coach at that time. He could see that she displayed raw talent and after speaking to her father, he was able to convince her that she is good enough to enter tournaments. The first tournament that she competed in was the Tely tournament and she won the title.

“I next played in the Ontario juniors and won that. Then, my parents entered me in the Eastern Canada championship and I won that. Finally, I played in the Canadian championships in Ottawa and I won that, too. Prime Minister Lester Pearson came to watch us play,” said O’Hara (George Gross, Sports Media Canada).

Her success continued from that point on as she captured every Canadian junior title, before venturing outside her country to experience tennis at the international level. She held the singles national championship title for seven years, from 1963-1969. She was ranked No. 1 in Canada in singles in 1975 as well as in doubles with Andrée Martin. She was a Top 10 player in Canada from 1967-1974 and represented Canada on the Fed Cup team for seven years (1969-1971, 1973-1975). O’Hara played singles and doubles and helped the team win ties against Hungary, Norway, Italy, Israel and Spain.

O’Hara has been recognized for several accomplishments. She was awarded the Dunlop Award from Sun Media, she received two National Magazine Awards for her investigative journalism and she published three books. Lastly she earned the Sports Media Canada Achievement Award for her hard work, dedication and success on the tennis court and in the media.