FORMER Wimbledon tennis star, Kay Maule of Bournemouth, has died at the age of 94.

Born in Godalming in Surrey to Charles and Agnes Tuckey, Katherine Lilian Agnes Tuckey, who was known as Kay, attended St Catherine's School at Bramley before the family moved to Bournemouth where she attended Talbot Heath School.

She joined the West Hants Lawn Tennis Club at the age of 12 where she gained recognition for being a talented young player in the sport, with encouragement coming from her mother, Agnes, and brother, Charles, who were already established tennis stars. When Kay's mother Agnes was in her fifties, she partnered with her son Raymond in the mixed doubles at Wimbledon, which is the only time in history that a mother and son have teamed up to compete at the championships.

After leaving school, Kay took a job as a secretary and did not play tennis for five years. Towards the end of the war, she travelled to Germany where she met the person who was organising the Rhine Army Women's Tennis Tournament and decided to pick up her tennis racket again.

Once she had arrived back home, she decided to have another go at taking the sport seriously and qualified for Wimbledon in 1947. However, she cut her hand the weekend before the tournament and was forced to withdraw from participating.

She qualified again in 1948 and the following year, she reached the third round and made the Wightman Cup team for the first time.

In 1950, she played abroad and at home, partnering with Betty Hilton to win the Bournemouth Hardcourt Doubles Championship.

Just a year later, Kay had her best year in her tennis career where she reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals, as well as in her private life when she met her future husband, John Maule. The ceremony took place at St Peter's Church in Bournemouth and was attended by many well-known tennis stars.

Kay continued to play tennis at county level and after the happy couple welcomed their four children, David, Diana, Elizabeth and Nicola, she became the team's non-playing captain to allow more time for her family.

Kay and John moved around the country several times due to John's work managing and owning many hotels and later worked at an estate agents, which he would go on to take over.

The couple later settled in Bransgore before John died in 2009. Kay continued to be an active part of the community before she died on May 14th. A service to celebrate her life was held at Saint Michael and All Angels Church in Sopley on June 7th with donations going to Royal Bournemouth Hospital's care for the elderly.