 Janet
Hopps Adkisson
A superb athlete who played baseball
and football as a girl, janet Hopps Adkisson (b.1934) took up
a tennis raacket at age 12 and three years later claimed theh
California state singles and doubles titles. When her family
moved to Seattle in 1953, Adkisson became a top student at Seattle
University while playing No.1 on the men's tennis team. She also
pioneered national intercollegiate play for women, sweeping the
All-College Girls' Championships three years in a row.
Dominating Northweest tennis, Adkisson
broke into the national Top 10 in 1956 and enjoyed great success
on the international circuit. In 1962 she married university
administrator William Adkisson, with whom she raised seven children.
Described as 'unselfishly devoted to the sport 100 percent,'
Adkisson has worked tirelessly as a professional, including a
10-year term as coach of the Seattle University tennis teams.
In 1998, marking a half-century of service to tennis, she was
inducted into the Washington State Sports Hall of Fame.
Career Highlights
Ranked in the USTA Top 10 1956-60;
No.1 in Doubles 1960
World Top 15 Rankings in Singles,
Top 5 in Doubles 1958-60; No.2 in Mixed Doubles 1959-60
California State Singles and
Doubles Champion 1950
USTA/Northern California Section
Sportsmanship Award 1951
National College Girls' Tennis
Tournament Singles Champion 1954-1956; Doubles Champion 1955-56
No. 1 Player on Seattle University
men's tennis team 1954-1956
U.S. Clay Court Doubles Champion
1955
South American Singles Champion
1958
U.S. Mixed Doubles Finalist 1959
Wimbledon Semifinalist Doubles,
Mixed Doubles 1960
U.S. Indoor Triple Crown (Singles,
Doubles, Mixed Doubles) 1961
U.S. Hard Court Doubles Champion
1962
U.S. Junior Wightman Cup Team
Member 1954-56; Team Captain 1956
U.S. Wightman Cup Team Member
1958-1960; Team Captain 1959-1960
U.S. Senior Indoor Singles and
U.S. Hard Court Doubles Champion 1974
Director, Nordstrom-Kodel Cup
(national mixed doubles competition) 1974 -1978
President, USPTA/Pacific Northwest
Section 1977-1978 (first woman sectional director)
Director, Avon Championships
of Seattle 1980-1982
USPTA Master Professional 1989
Coach, Seattle University men's
and women's tennis teams 1983-1994; 5-time NAIA Division Coach
of the Year; competed in nationals 1991-1994
Captain, U.S. Alice Marble Cup
Team 1996 - present
Pacific Northwest Tennis Pro
of the Year 1978
Centennial Alumni Award, Seattle
University 1991; Member, Seattle University Sports Hall of Fame
Inducted into the Northwest Sports
Foundation Hall of Fame 1981; State of Washington Sports Hall
of Fame 1998
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