Angela Mortimer Barrett, former Wimbledon champion, has died at 93

LONDON (AP) — Angela Mortimer Barrett, who overcame partial deafness and an intestinal infection to win three Grand Slam singles titles including 1961 Wimbledon, died on Monday at age 93.

The All England Club made the announcement.

“We are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Angela Mortimer Barrett, Wimbledon’s oldest surviving ladies’ singles champion,” club chair Deborah Jevans said.

A late bloomer to tennis at 14, Mortimer Barrett was ready to play the Grand Slam events by 19 and won her first major title at the 1955 French Championships, beating Dorothy Knode of the U.S. 2-6, 7-5, 10-8 in the final. At 8-8 in the last set, she said she knew she was going to win when she heard Knode ask for a brandy.

By then, Mortimer Barrett's hearing was failing. Being able to hear the ball coming off the strings is a major aid to most.

“I could hear the applause of the crowd but not much else,” Mortimer told the International Tennis Hall of Fame website. “It helped me concentrate, shutting out distractions. When I hear players say they need to hear the ball, I smile. I couldn't.”

She returned to the French final in 1956 but lost to Althea Gibson.

Recurring bouts of illness were eventually diagnosed as entomoebic dysentry. She cured it with a three-week starvation diet but lost a lot of weight that made her weak.

Mortimer Barrett's comeback included her only trip to Australia in 1958, when she won her second Grand Slam singles title, beating fellow Brit Lorraine Coghlan 6-3, 6-4 in the final, and also reached the finals of the doubles and mixed doubles.

Later that year, she got to her first Wimbledon final unseeded — only five women have done so — but lost to Gibson.

Against the odds, again, she advanced to the 1961 final. She upset top-seeded Sandra Reynolds of South Africa 11-9, 6-3 in the semifinals. In the first all-British final since 1914, Christine Truman led 6-4, 4-3 but fell and lost momentum. Mortimer Barrett ground out a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory.

Two months later, she reached the semifinals of the U.S. Championships, her best finish at that event. It was the only year she reached No. 1.

She also won the 1955 Wimbledon doubles title with Anne Shilcock.

Mortimer Barrett was inducted into the International Hall of Fame in 1993, followed by her husband John Barrett in 2014. The only other married couple in the Hall is Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

FILE - Former Wimbledon champions Angela Mortimer, left, of 1961, and Anne Jones, right, of 1969, flank a bust of fellow champion, Virginia Wade, at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in London on April 27, 2004. (AP Photo/Dave Caulkin, File)

FILE - From left, Angela Mortimer, Hazel H. Wightman and Maureen Connolly are seen following a match between Mortimer and Connolly at the 25th Wightman Cup competition in Rye, N.Y., on Aug. 1, 1953. (AP Photo/Harry Harris, File)

DODOMA, Tanzania (AP) — Tanzania’s president has, for the first time since the disputed October election, commented on a six-day internet shutdown as the country went through its worst postelection violence.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Thursday expressed “sympathy” to diplomats and foreign nationals living in the country, saying the government would strive to ensure there is never a repeat of the same.

Hassan won the October election with more than 97% of the vote after candidates from the two main opposition parties were barred from running and the country’s main opposition leader remained in prison facing treason charges.

Violence broke out on election day and went on for days as the internet was shut down amid a heavy police crackdown that left hundreds of people dead, according to rights groups.

Hassan blamed the violence on foreigners and pardoned hundreds of young people who had been arrested, saying they were acting under peer pressure.

Speaking to ambassadors, high commissioners and representatives of international organizations on Thursday in the capital, Dodoma, she sought to reassure envoys of their safety, saying the government would remain vigilant to prevent a repeat of the disruption.

“To our partners in the diplomatic community and foreigners residing here in Tanzania, I express my sincere sympathy for the uncertainty, service restrictions and internet shutdowns you experienced,” she said.

Hassan defended her administration, saying the measures were taken to preserve constitutional order and protect citizens.

“I assure you that we will remain vigilant to ensure your safety and prevent any recurrence of such experiences,” the president told diplomats on Thursday.

Tanzania has, since the October elections, established a commission of inquiry to look into the violence that left hundreds dead and property worth millions of shillings destroyed in a country that has enjoyed relative calm for decades.

Foreign observers said the election failed to meet democratic standards because key opposition figures were barred.

FILE - Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan delivers remarks during a campaign rally ahead of the general elections in Iringa, Tanzania, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo, File)