Angela Mortimer and Ann Jones, who were part of a golden age for women’s tennis in Britain, hold a special place in the sport’s history. The French Open this week is a reminder that Mortimer and Jones are the only two Britons who triumphed in the ladies’ singles at both Wimbledon and Roland Garros.

For Jones in particular it is an especially significant moment as this is the 50^th anniversary of the second of her two triumphs in Paris. She had also won the French title in 1961 and went on to record an unlikely victory at The Championships in 1969, winning the ladies’ singles title at her 14^th and last attempt.

Mortimer was another whose persistence was eventually rewarded on Centre Court, in her 11^th appearance at The Championships in 1961. She had won in Paris for the only time in her career six years earlier.

The period between 1955 and 1977 was a fine era for women’s tennis in Britain. Between them, Mortimer, Jones, Virginia Wade, Christine Truman, Sue Barker and Shirley Bloomer won 12 Grand Slam singles titles. Their success has been all the more remarkable for the drought that has followed. No British woman has won a Grand Slam singles title since Wade’s victory at The Championships in 1977.

Mortimer, who hailed from Plymouth, did not start playing tennis until she was 15, but her talent was quickly evident. Athletic and fast around the court, she was a great competitor with a solid all-round game, including a powerful forehand. She was partially deaf, but said that could help her concentration in that she could shut out distractions.

Her baseline game was well suited to clay and in 1955 she won the title at Roland Garros, beating the American Dorothy Knode in a marathon final. At Wimbledon that year Mortimer won the ladies’ doubles with Anne Shilcock to record the first British success at The Championships in any competition since Dorothy Round’s triumph in 1937.

In singles Mortimer reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 1953, 1954 and 1956 before making the final in 1958, when she lost to Althea Gibson. A quarter-finalist again in 1959 and 1960, it seemed that her chance of ultimate glory might have passed her by, but in 1961 she made the final once more.

The 1961 final against Christine Truman was the first all-British ladies’ singles final since Dorothea Chambers beat Ethel Larcombe at the old Worple Road site in 1914. It remains the only all-British ladies’ singles final ever played at the current Church Road site.

Truman was the No.6 seed and Mortimer the No.7 seed, but nobody could argue that they did not deserve to be in the final. Truman had beaten both Margaret Court, the No 2 seed, and Renee Schuurman, who had knocked out Jones, the No.3 seed. Mortimer had eliminated Sandra Reynolds, the No.1 seed.

There was huge public interest in the final. Mortimer, aged 29 and highly experienced, was essentially a defensive baseliner, while 20-year-old Truman was a more attacking player.  The match turned after Truman fell in the second set following a rain break at the end of the first and Mortimer went on to win 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Jones, who was from Birmingham, was another essentially defensive player who brought great intelligence to her game. Like Fred Perry, she had learned much from her early days playing table tennis. She reached three finals at the world table tennis championships in 1957.

Between 1961 and 1969 she played in five finals at Roland Garros, winning the title in 1961 and 1966 with comfortable victories over Yola Ramirez and Nancy Richey.

Jones, who played under her maiden name of Haydon until her marriage in 1962, had won the Wimbledon girls’ title, but the thinking at the time was that her baseline game was not made for grass.

However, at the age of 30 and in her 14^th and last appearance at The Championships, she proved the critics wrong. Jones’ victory in 1969 was arguably the greatest performance ever by a British woman at Wimbledon as she beat the world’s top two players, Court and Billie Jean King, in the last two rounds.

Jones, who also won the mixed doubles that year in partnership with Fred Stolle, still played mostly from the baseline, but her willingness to come to the net from time to time stopped Court and King, two of the great serve-and-volley players, from dominating.

In the semi-finals Jones recovered from the disappointment of losing a gruelling first set to Court to triumph 10-12, 6-3, 6-2. In the final against King she again went behind before winning 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. The pattern of both matches underlined Jones’ intelligence as she worked out how to beat her illustrious opponents.