Simonne Mathieu

Simonne Mathieu
Full name Simonne Passemard-Mathieu
Country (sports)  France
Born (1908-01-31)31 January 1908
Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France
Died 7 January 1980(1980-01-07) (aged 71)
Plays Right–handed
Int. Tennis HoF 2006 (member page)
Singles
Highest ranking No. 3 (1932, A. Wallis Myers)
Grand Slam Singles results
French Open W (1938, 1939)
Wimbledon SF (1930, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1936, 1937)
Doubles
Grand Slam Doubles results
Wimbledon W (1933, 1934, 1937)
US Open F (1938)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
French Open W (1937, 1938)
Wimbledon F (1937)

Simonne Mathieu (French pronunciation: [simɔn matjø]; 31 January 1908 – 7 January 1980) was a female tennis player from France, born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine who was active in the 1930s. Her first name is spelled "Simone" in many sources.

Career

Mathieu is best remembered for winning the singles title at the French Championships in 1938 and 1939 and for reaching the final of that tournament an additional six times, in 1929, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1936, and 1937. In those finals, she lost three times to Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling, twice to Helen Wills Moody, and once to Margaret Scriven-Vivian.

Mathieu won 11 Grand Slam doubles championships: three women's doubles titles at Wimbledon (1933–34, 1937), six women's doubles titles at the French Championships (1933–34, 1936–39), and two mixed doubles titles at the French Championships (1937–38). She completed the rare triple at the French Championships in 1938, winning the singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles titles.

Mathieu's 13 Grand Slam titles are second only to Suzanne Lenglen's 31 among French women.

According to A. Wallis Myers and John Olliff of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail respectively, Mathieu was ranked in the world top ten from 1929 through 1939 (no rankings were issued from 1940 through 1945), reaching a career high of world No. 3 in 1932.[1]

The winners' trophy of the Women's Doubles event at the French Open is named in her honour as the Coupe Simone-Mathieu.[2]

During the Second World War, Mathieu was head of the Corps Féminin Français, the women's branch of the Free French Forces, similar to the British Auxiliary Territorial Service.[3] She received the title of Officier de la Légion d'honneur.[4]

She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2006.[5]

Grand Slam tournaments finals

Singles: 8 (2 titles, 6 runners-up)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1929 French Championships Clay United States Helen Wills 3–6, 4–6
Runner-up 1932 French Championships Clay United States Helen Wills 5–7, 1–6
Runner-up 1933 French Championships Clay United Kingdom Margaret Scriven 2–6, 6–4, 4–6
Runner-up 1935 French Championships Clay Nazi Germany Hilde Krahwinkel 2–6, 1–6
Runner-up 1936 French Championships Clay Nazi Germany Hilde Krahwinkel 3–6, 4–6
Runner-up 1937 French Championships Clay Nazi Germany Hilde Krahwinkel 2–6, 4–6
Winner 1938 French Championships Clay France Nelly Landry 6–0, 6–3
Winner 1939 French Championships Clay Second Polish Republic Jadwiga Jędrzejowska 6–3, 8–6

Doubles: 13 (9 titles, 4 runners-up)

Outcome Year Championship Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1930 French Championships France Simone Barbier United States Elizabeth Ryan
United States Helen Wills
3–6, 1–6
Winner 1933 French Championships United States Elizabeth Ryan France Sylvie Jung Henrotin
France Colette Rosambert
6–1, 6–3
Winner 1933 Wimbledon Championships United States Elizabeth Ryan United Kingdom Freda James
United Kingdom Billie Yorke
6–2, 9–11, 6–4
Winner 1934 French Championships United States Elizabeth Ryan United States Helen Jacobs
United States Sarah Palfrey
3–6, 6–4, 6–2
Winner 1934 Wimbledon Championships United States Elizabeth Ryan United States Dorothy Andrus
France Sylvie Jung Henrotin
6–3, 6–3
Runner-up 1935 Wimbledon Championships Germany Hilde Sperling United Kingdom Freda James
United Kingdom Kay Stammers
1–6, 4–6
Winner 1936 French Championships United Kingdom Billie Yorke Poland Jadwiga Jędrzejowska
United Kingdom Susan Noel
2–6, 6–4, 6–4
Winner 1937 French Championships United Kingdom Billie Yorke United States Dorothy Andrus
France Sylvie Jung Henrotin
3–6, 6–2, 6–2
Winner 1937 Wimbledon Championships United Kingdom Billie Yorke United Kingdom Phyllis King
United Kingdom Elsie Goldsack
6–3, 6–3
Winner 1938 French Championships United Kingdom Billie Yorke France Nelly Adamson
France Arlette Halff
6–3, 6–3
Runner-up 1938 Wimbledon Championships United Kingdom Billie Yorke United States Sarah Palfrey
United States Alice Marble
2–6, 3–6
Runner-up 1938 US Championships Poland Jadwiga Jędrzejowska United States Sarah Palfrey
United States Alice Marble
8–6, 4–6, 3–6
Winner 1939 French Championships Poland Jadwiga Jędrzejowska Kingdom of Yugoslavia Alice Florian
Kingdom of Yugoslavia Hella Kovac
7–5, 7–5

Mixed doubles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runners-up)

Outcome Year Championship Partner Opponents Score
Winner 1937 French Championships France Yvon Petra Germany Marie-Luise Horn
France Roland Journu
7–5, 7–5
Runner-up 1937 Wimbledon Championships France Yvon Petra United States Alice Marble
United States Don Budge
1–6, 4–6
Winner 1938 French Championships Kingdom of Yugoslavia Dragutin Mitić Australia Nancye Wynne Bolton
France Christian Boussus
2–6, 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up 1939 French Championships Kingdom of Yugoslavia Franjo Kukuljević United States Sarah Palfrey
United States Elwood Cooke
6–4, 1–6, 5–7

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Key
W  F  SF QF R# RR Q# A NH
(W) Won tournament; reached (F) final, (SF) semifinal, (QF) quarterfinal; (R#) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; competed at a (RR) round-robin stage; reached a (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; or (NH) tournament not held.
Tournament 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 – 1944 1945 19461 Career SR
Australia A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A NH NH A 0 / 0
France QF QF 3R A F QF QF F F SF F F F W W NH R A A 2 / 14
Wimbledon A 1R 2R A 3R SF SF SF QF SF QF SF SF QF QF NH NH NH 1R 0 / 14
United States A A A A A A A A A A A A A QF 1R A A A A 0 / 2
SR 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 0 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 2 1 / 3 1 / 3 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 1 2 / 30

R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under German occupation. SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

1In 1946, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.

See also

References

  1. Collins, Bud (2008). The Bud Collins History of Tennis: An Authoritative Encyclopedia and Record Book. New York, N.Y: New Chapter Press. pp. 695, 701–2. ISBN 0-942257-41-3.
  2. "An A to Z of Roland Garros". www.rolandgarros.com. Fédération Française de Tennis (FFT).
  3. Hammerton, John (editor) (10 April 1941). "Free French 'A.T.S.'". The War Illustrated. London: William Berry (Volume 4, issue no. 84): 384. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
  4. Franck Lehodey (December 2010 – January 2011). "Simonne Mathieu, libre arbitre" (pdf). Tennis Info (in French) (428): 24. ISSN 0221-8127.
  5. "Hall of Famers – Simonne Mathieu". International Tennis Hall of Fame.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/16/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.