Hartigan learnt to play tennis at the
Loreto Convent. She won the NSW junior singles and doubles title and the Australian girls' championship in 1931. In March that year she won the singles title at the
New South Wales Championships after a straight-sets victory in the final against Molesworth. Hartigan won the singles title at the
Australian Championships in 1933, 1934 and 1936 and was a semifinalist at
Wimbledon in 1934 (losing to first-seeded
Helen Jacobs) and 1935 (losing to eventual champion
Helen Wills Moody). During her stay in Britain in 1934 she won the singles titles at the
North of England Championships and the
Scottish Championships, both after a win in the final against
Susan Noel. Hartigan three times reached the women's doubles final at the Australian Championships, in 1933, 1934, and 1940. Bathurst teamed with
Edgar Moon to win the mixed doubles title at the 1934 Australian Championships. According to
A. Wallis Myers of
The Daily Telegraph and the
Daily Mail, Bathurst was ranked in the world top 10 in 1934 and 1935, reaching a career high of world No. 8 in these rankings in 1934. Hartigan hit her backhand with the same side of the racket as her forehand. ==Personal and family life==