Angie Cunningham

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.

Angie Cunningham

Full name	Angie Kate Cunningham nee Woolcock
Country (sports)	Australia
Born	2 February 1973 Launceston, Australia
Died	4 October 2016 (aged 43) Melbourne, Australia
Prize money	$67,087
Singles
Highest ranking	No. 318 (17 April 1995)
Doubles
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)

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 semi-final 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 10 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

Singles (3–3)

$50,000 tournaments

$25,000 tournaments

$10,000 tournaments

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	19 May 1991	Bournemouth, United Kingdom	Hard	Joanne Limmer	6–3, 3–6, 6–3
Runner-up	1.	27 April 1992	Sheffield, United Kingdom	Hard	Svetlana Parkhomenko	3–6, 6–4, 4–6
Winner	2.	13 March 1994	Warrnambool, Australia	Hard	Jane Taylor	w/o
Runner-up	2.	20 March 1994	Canberra, Australia	Grass	Tang Min	3–6, 0–6
Winner	3.	2 May 1994	Lee-on-the-Solent, United Kingdom	Clay	Christina Zachariadou	6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	3.	26 March 1995	Bendigo, Australia	Hard	Jane Taylor	0–6, 4–6

Doubles (7–6)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1.	5 March 1990	Newcastle, Australia	Grass	Kirrily Sharpe	Yuko Hosoki Ayako Hirose	3–6, 7–5, 6–4
Runner-up	1.	30 September 1990	Kuroshio, Japan	Clay	Catherine Barclay	Naoko Kinoshita Emiko Takahashi	4–6, 6–4, 2–6
Runner-up	2.	14 October 1990	Matsuyama, Japan	Clay	Catherine Barclay	Kerry-Anne Guse Kristine Kunce	7–6, 3–6, ret.
Winner	2.	19 May 1991	Bournemouth, United Kingdom	Hard	Joanne Limmer	Joannette Kruger Cindy Summers	6–0, 6–2
Runner-up	3.	8 July 1991	Erlangen, Germany	Clay	Louise Stacey	Viktoria Milvidskaia Maja Živec-Škulj	4–6, 4–6
Winner	3.	15 July 1991	Darmstadt, Germany	Clay	Louise Stacey	Martina Pawlik Lisa Seemann	6–1, 6–2
Winner	4.	3 February 1992	Jakarta, Indonesia	Clay	Nicole Pratt	Ruxandra Dragomir Irina Spîrlea	6–1, 6–0
Runner-up	4.	13 April 1992	Salerno, Italy	Hard	Kirrily Sharpe	Linda Ferrando Silvia Farina Elia	1–6, 4–6
Runner-up	5.	6 July 1992	Erlangen, Germany	Clay	Caroline Schneider	Chen Li-Ling Miki Yokobori	4–6, 2–6
Winner	5.	23 November 1992	Nuriootpa, Australia	Hard	Kerry-Anne Guse	Magdalena Feistel Kirrily Sharpe	4–6, 7–6, 6–2
Winner	6.	20 December 1992	Brisbane, Australia	Grass	Justine Hodder	Kerry-Anne Guse Kristine Kunce	6–4, 3–6, 6–2
Winner	7.	20 March 1994	Canberra, Australia	Grass	Kate McDonald	Atsuko Shintani Haruko Shigekawa	6–2, 6–2
Runner-up	6.	4 September 1995	Spoleto, Italy	Clay	Karen Nugent	Cristina Salvi Elena Savoldi	6–1, 6–7, 2–6

References

1. Baker, Mark (23 October 2016). "Angie leaves a legacy of love and laughter". The Examiner. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
2. "ITF Tennis - Juniors - Player Profile - Woolcock, Angie (AUS)". International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
3. Trollope, Matt (28 November 2016). "Angie Cunningham honoured with President's Spirit of Tennis Award". Tennis Australia. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
4. "Woolcock's title". The Canberra Times. Australia. 10 May 1994. p. 21. Retrieved 19 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
5. "Hong Kong improver wins". The Canberra Times. Australia. 21 March 1994. p. 19. Retrieved 19 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
6. Slatter, Sean (15 January 2018). "Angie Cunningham trophy awarded for the first time in Hobart". The Examiner. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
7. 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.
8. Livaudais, Stephanie (6 January 2018). "Hobart unveils new trophy to honor late Tasmanian favorite". WTA Tennis. Retrieved April 8, 2018.

External links

• Angie Cunningham at the Women's Tennis Association
• Angie Cunningham at the International Tennis Federation