She may have been born and raised in Devon and be the face of the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage but, according to the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen – the trophy awarded to the women’s singles champion at the French Open – Britain’s Sue Barker is actually Australia’s Sue Barker.
When Ashleigh Barty won the title on Saturday she thought she was the first Australian woman to lift the cup since Margaret Court in 1973. However, she was bemused to discover Barker’s name with the letters ‘AUST’ next to them, rather than ‘GB’.
Barker’s 1976 victory over the Czech Renata Tomanova at Roland Garros was the only grand slam final of her career and, though she reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon and the Australian Open in 1977, she may have been disappointed not to have her one major tennis triumph accurately recorded on the French Open trophy itself.
It is not the only error on the trophy as under Barker comes 1977 champion Mima Jausovec, whose name is mis-spelt ‘Jausevec’.
The name of the women’s doubles trophy, the Coupe Simonne Mathieu, created in 1990, has also been mis-spelt with ‘Simone Mathieu’ on the plaque and on the cup itself.
French Open organisers said on Sunday that the mistakes would be fixed.
