Queen’s 2025: Olga Morozova – girls’s singles champion since 1973

For Moscow-born Morozova, prize cash was once no longer particularly related.

“I came from the Soviet Union. We were not professional, we were amateurs. The money which I won not only here but in Wimbledon, everywhere else, was going to our federation,” the 76-year-old stated.

“They paid for my trip, they paid for my coach, they paid for my whatever.”

That “whatever” would have incorporated shipping and lodging.

“We arrived at Queen’s by Tube,” she stated. “We were staying in Earl’s Court in a B&B. It was not a very good B&B, I think the toilets and the showers were three floors [apart]… You shared with other people, it was normal for everyone at that time.

“For Wimbledon, we had a automotive – consider popping out of the B&B, down the steps and you’ve got the Rolls Royce with the motive force with white gloves looking forward to you and opening the door.”

It may not have been Wimbledon but Queen’s was a prestigious event. Chris Evert and Margaret Court were in the field, along with Evonne Goolagong, whom a 24-year-old Morozova upset in straight sets in the final without dropping serve.

It was a surprise result to most, but not to Morozova.

“I be mindful I performed neatly,” she said. “Beforehand I used to be feeling the ball excellent and I already knew Evonne and knew tips on how to play her, and grass was once my very favorite floor.”

Since the prize cheque was not going to her pocket and there was no replica trophy to take away, the main benefit – prestige aside – was relief that the decision to seed her for Wimbledon for the first time had been vindicated.

In the days before the computerised rankings system, seedings – which ensure top players do not meet very early in a tournament – were decided by panels of experts.

“I used to be seeded 8 at Wimbledon, and everyone was once pronouncing ‘Oh, my God, why is she seeded?’ But after all I gained the event and I used to be in fact feeling moderately excellent as a result of now they know why I used to be seeded!”

Morozova’s serve-and-volley game was well suited to grass – she was the Wimbledon junior champion in 1965 and won several titles on the surface.

She reached the Wimbledon ultimate in 1974, dropping to Evert simply weeks after dropping the French Open ultimate to the American. But in combination, they earned the ladies’s doubles identify at Roland Garros, making Morozova the primary Russian to win a Grand Slam identify.