Angie Cunningham
Full name | Angie Kate Cunningham nee Woolcock |
---|---|
Country (sports) | Australia |
Born | Launceston, Australia | 2 February 1973
Died | 4 October 2016 Melbourne, Australia | (aged 43)
Prize money | $67,087 |
Singles | |
Career titles | 3 ITF |
Highest ranking | No. 318 (17 April 1995) |
Doubles | |
Career titles | 7 ITF |
Highest ranking | No. 111 (10 May 1993) |
Grand Slam doubles results | |
Australian Open | 2R (1993) |
French Open | 2R (1992) |
Wimbledon | 1R (1991, 1993) |
US Open | 1R (1993) |
Angie Kate Cunningham (2 February 1973 – 4 October 2016) was a professional tennis player from Australia. She competed during her career under her maiden name Angie Woolcock.
Biography
Tennis career
Born in Launceston, Cunningham won the Pardey Shield tennis title at the age of 13, which made her the youngest winner of the prestigious Tasmanian schools competition. Soon after, she moved to Melbourne to pursue a career in tennis and was accepted into the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.[1]
Cunningham was runner-up in three junior Grand Slam doubles finals, twice at the Australian Open and once at Wimbledon. She partnered with Nicole Pratt to make the final of the 1989 Australian Open, then in 1991 was a finalist again, with Joanne Limmer. Later in 1991, after beating Limmer to win her first ITF tournament in Woking, England, she partnered with the same player to reach the girls' doubles final at Wimbledon.[2] She reached a highest junior doubles ranking of two in the world.[3]
As a professional tennis player, she competed primarily in doubles. Her best performance on the WTA Tour was a semifinal appearance partnering Jo-Anne Faull at the Malaysian Women's Open in 1993. With a career best doubles ranking of 111 in 1993, she competed in the women's doubles main draws at all four grand slam tournaments that year. In 1994, she won two ITF singles titles, at Lee on Solent and Ballarat.[4][5]
Retiring from tennis in 1996, Cunningham studied for a business degree at La Trobe University, then in 2000 began working for the Women's Tennis Association, through which she was based in London. Her roles during her ten year career at the WTA included being the Vice President of Player Relations and On-Site Operations.[6]
Personal life and illness
Cunningham was the middle of three children born to Bill and Susie Woolcock. Her father ran local real estate company Woolcock Partners for 40 years, before it was bought by her elder brother Sam in 2013. She had a husband Pat and two daughters.[1]
In 2012, she was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND).[1] She died on 4 October 2016 at her home in Melbourne, at the age of 43. Her death occurred three and a half years after that of Australian tennis player Brad Drewett and a year before another former Australian player Peter Doohan died, both from motor neurone disease.[7]
Honours
At the 2016 Newcombe Medal awards ceremony, she posthumously received the President's Spirit of Tennis Award for her efforts to raise awareness of MND.[3]
The trophy for the Hobart International is named the Angie Cunningham Trophy in her honour.[6][8]
ITF finals
$50,000 tournaments |
$25,000 tournaments |
$10,000 tournaments |
Singles (3–3)
Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Win | 1. | 19 May 1991 | ITF Bournemouth, United Kingdom | Hard | Joanne Limmer | 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 |
Loss | 1. | 27 April 1992 | ITF Sheffield, United Kingdom | Hard | Svetlana Parkhomenko | 3–6, 6–4, 4–6 |
Win | 2. | 13 March 1994 | ITF Warrnambool, Australia | Hard | Jane Taylor | w/o |
Loss | 2. | 20 March 1994 | ITF Canberra, Australia | Grass | Tang Min | 3–6, 0–6 |
Win | 3. | 2 May 1994 | ITF Lee-on-the-Solent, United Kingdom | Clay | Christina Zachariadou | 6–3, 6–4 |
Loss | 3. | 26 March 1995 | ITF Bendigo, Australia | Hard | Jane Taylor | 0–6, 4–6 |
Doubles (7–6)
Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Win | 1. | 5 March 1990 | ITF Newcastle, Australia | Grass | Kirrily Sharpe | Yuko Hosoki Ayako Hirose |
3–6, 7–5, 6–4 |
Loss | 1. | 30 September 1990 | ITF Kuroshio, Japan | Clay | Catherine Barclay | Naoko Kinoshita Emiko Takahashi |
4–6, 6–4, 2–6 |
Loss | 2. | 14 October 1990 | ITF Matsuyama, Japan | Clay | Catherine Barclay | Kerry-Anne Guse Kristine Kunce |
7–6, 3–6, ret. |
Win | 2. | 19 May 1991 | ITF Bournemouth, United Kingdom | Hard | Joanne Limmer | Joannette Kruger Cindy Summers |
6–0, 6–2 |
Loss | 3. | 8 July 1991 | ITF Erlangen, Germany | Clay | Louise Stacey | Viktoria Milvidskaia Maja Živec-Škulj |
4–6, 4–6 |
Win | 3. | 15 July 1991 | ITF Darmstadt, Germany | Clay | Louise Stacey | Martina Pawlik Lisa Seemann |
6–1, 6–2 |
Win | 4. | 3 February 1992 | ITF Jakarta, Indonesia | Clay | Nicole Pratt | Ruxandra Dragomir Irina Spîrlea |
6–1, 6–0 |
Loss | 4. | 13 April 1992 | ITF Salerno, Italy | Hard | Kirrily Sharpe | Linda Ferrando Silvia Farina Elia |
1–6, 4–6 |
Loss | 5. | 6 July 1992 | ITF Erlangen, Germany | Clay | Caroline Schneider | Chen Li-Ling Miki Yokobori |
4–6, 2–6 |
Win | 5. | 23 November 1992 | ITF Nuriootpa, Australia | Hard | Kerry-Anne Guse | Magdalena Feistel Kirrily Sharpe |
4–6, 7–6, 6–2 |
Win | 6. | 20 December 1992 | ITF Brisbane, Australia | Grass | Justine Hodder | Kerry-Anne Guse Kristine Kunce |
6–4, 3–6, 6–2 |
Win | 7. | 20 March 1994 | ITF Canberra, Australia | Grass | Kate McDonald | Atsuko Shintani Haruko Shigekawa |
6–2, 6–2 |
Loss | 6. | 4 September 1995 | ITF Spoleto, Italy | Clay | Karen Nugent | Cristina Salvi Elena Savoldi |
6–1, 6–7, 2–6 |
References
- ^ a b c Baker, Mark (23 October 2016). "Angie leaves a legacy of love and laughter". The Examiner. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
- ^ "ITF Tennis - Juniors - Player Profile - Woolcock, Angie (AUS)". International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
- ^ a b Trollope, Matt (28 November 2016). "Angie Cunningham honoured with President's Spirit of Tennis Award". Tennis Australia. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
- ^ "Woolcock's title". The Canberra Times. Australia. 10 May 1994. p. 21. Retrieved 19 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Hong Kong improver wins". The Canberra Times. Australia. 21 March 1994. p. 19. Retrieved 19 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ a b Slatter, Sean (15 January 2018). "Angie Cunningham trophy awarded for the first time in Hobart". The Examiner. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
- ^ Te Koha, Nui (23 November 2017). "Jimmy Barnes will put on a concert to help Neale Daniher's fight against motor neurone disease". Herald Sun. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
- ^ Livaudais, Stephanie (6 January 2018). "Hobart unveils new trophy to honor late Tasmanian favorite". WTA Tennis. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
External links
- 1973 births
- 2016 deaths
- Australian female tennis players
- Tennis people from Tasmania
- Sportspeople from Launceston, Tasmania
- Sportswomen from Tasmania
- Australian Institute of Sport tennis players
- La Trobe University alumni
- Neurological disease deaths in Victoria (state)
- Deaths from motor neuron disease
- 20th-century Australian women