Hawai'i tennis lost one of its most treasured personalities and dominant players Sunday when Muriel Ann Osborne passed away peacefully at home at age 83. She had been suffering from congestive heart failure.

Osborne and her husband Jim raised a family full of tennis stars, including Jim Jr., the highest ranked player ever to come out of the Islands. But the kids struggled to outshine their folks on the court.

Few in Hawai'i have come close to matching Osborne's exploits. She won more than 200 trophies, was the state's top-ranked female player a record four years and Honolulu Quarterback Club Female Athlete of the Year in 1970, at age 46. Her game was good to the last drop shot, imaginative and versatile, with a wicked volley that served her particularly well in doubles.

"When I was growing up I could beat my dad much easier than my mom," said Jim Jr., who had wins over Arthur Ashe, Rod Laver and Jimmy Connors during a career that saw him rise to No. 7 in the American rankings. "It took me much longer to beat my mom. She was so smart and hit all these different slices. Dad hit hard and fast and it was easy to get the ball back. She was much smarter and very crafty."

"She was a thinker, an absolute thinker," said longtime friend Hattie Somerville, the latest inductee in the Hawai'i Tennis Hall of Fame. "She really sized up the point before she even served the ball. She took her time and pretty much decided how the point was going to be played before she even served."

Osborne, of Hawaiian and Irish ancestry, grew up in Kaimuki and didn't pick up a racket until Royal Hawaiian pro Elizabeth "Bunny" Ryan showed up at Roosevelt High School offering a series of 10 group lessons. The self-professed tomboy and accomplished athlete never took another lesson, but she was "intrigued" by the game. It took over her life.

She won her first tournament a year later, was ranked No. 1 in the 18's soon after and played pretty much every chance she got the next 40 years. She dominated her age-group — if not state and national — rankings much of that time and won two "silver balls," emblematic of national runner-up finishes, with doubles partner Doris Hakman.

Osborne met her husband, an electrical engineer for the Navy and Hawai'i junior tennis champion, on the court and they married in 1943. She scheduled social games almost every weekday with a wide variety of friends and saved the weekends for family tennis and tournaments.

"We didn't have a lot of money. We were kind of struggling when we were young," Jim recalled. "Tennis was something she did well but it also seemed to be an outlet for her. She could fit in with any group of players.

"She was the one who taught me all my tennis etiquette. Dad helped more with the strokes, but she prided herself on knowing all the rules and how to act on court and doing all the little things. She felt really comfortable in that environment. And she was a really good athlete and just got better and better."

They all did. Twin sisters Carol and Diane were accomplished players. Gerry won the 1964 state high school championship, after Jim Jr. — who coached Brigham Young for 15 years — won the previous two. David was the only Osborne the sport could not capture. He preferred to hang out with his dad, also a decorated Hawai'i player, and work on cars and electronics.

The Osbornes' tennis success bordered on the outrageous. In 1970, Jim Jr. won the men's championship of the Hawai'i VASSS Open the same day his mother captured the women's title. She "turned pro" the same day to accept the $25 first prize.

Osborne left the Islands for the first time to watch Jim Jr., one of the inaugural inductees in Hawai'i's Tennis Hall of Fame, play at Wimbledon. He had hoped to enter mixed doubles qualifying with his mother, but advanced too far in the NCAA Tournament to get to England in time. When he finally got there she was waiting. It was the first time he had seen her wearing anything but "tennis clothes, shorts or pedal pushers."

Osborne paid for that trip with $1,000 she won in a radio contest. She was still entering sweepstakes two weeks before she died and "won a million prizes" according to her kids, from cash to fur coats and scooters. Contests were in her blood and she also loved cards, taking $16 off her daughter and son-in-law in a poker game late one night just before she died.

Her other passions were books, jury duty and stringing tennis rackets. Her knack for that, and a huge market created by her vast assortment of tennis buddies, allowed her to invest a little in the stock market — just another one of the "games" she adored.

Her kids describe her as the "perfect combination of sportsmanship and competitive instincts" and a person who "loved living in Honolulu because she could always find a dry court somewhere."

Life was good.

"When I think of my mom I think of this big smile," Jim Jr. said. "No matter how she felt there was always this big smile. What comes to my mind most is her friendly smile on the tennis court, masking this unbelievable competitiveness inside that would just destroy you. But she'd smile so nicely. To me, that is her essence."

Osborne is survived by husband Jim and children Jim Jr. (Kimberly), David (Linda), Carol Surratt and Diane Treskon; 11 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. A private family memorial will be held. In lieu of flowers, her family "hopes you will spend some time with a friend on the tennis court and think of her."