50 years later, champ Hart remembers

Women's tennis was less colorful in 1954, and not just because the balls and dresses were white. Former champion Doris Hart, remembers...

Women's tennis was less colorful in 1954, and not just because the balls and dresses were white. Entourages, demanding parents and outrageous outfits came later. There was no prize money but plenty of camaraderie, with opponents sometimes meeting after their match for sodas.

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Still, the US Championships were serious business, and Doris Hart was annoyed to find herself one point from defeat in the final - especially since she had settled for runner-up four of the previous five years.

Now 79, Hart has the large hands, erect posture and graceful bearing of a champion athlete. And her memory's so sharp she can vividly describe match point when she trailed Louise Brough 50 years ago.

"I missed my first serve, and I sort of poofed in the second serve to her backhand," Hart recalls, rolling her eyes. "Louise had a terrific backhand. I thought, 'Oh, my God. I'm in trouble.' "But she hit it right in the bottom of the net." If Hart was a little lucky, she was also very good. She rallied to beat Brough that day in 1954 for the first of two successive titles at the US Championships, which later became the US Open. She won the French Open twice, won Wimbledon and the Australian Open once each, totaled 29 major doubles titles and ranked No. 1 in the world in 1951.