HAZEL HOTCHKISS WIGHTMAN Biography - Famous Sports men and women

 
 

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HAZEL HOTCHKISS WIGHTMAN

Name: Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman                                                         
Born: 20 December 1886                                                                 
Died: 5 December 1974                                                                   
                                                                                       
Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman (December 20, 1886 – December 5, 1974) was an American       
tennis player.                                                                         
                                                                                       
Wightman was born in Healdsburg, California and married to George Wightman of           
Boston in 1912. She died in Newton, Massachusetts                                       
                                                                                       
Wightman was an American who dominated American women's tennis before World War         
I and who had an unparalleled reputation for sportsmanship. Wightman won a             
lifetime total of 45 U.S. titles, the last at age 68. She won 16 titles overall         
at the U.S. Championships, four of them in singles (1909-11, 1919). Nine of her         
titles at the U.S. Championships came in 1909-11, when she swept the singles,           
women's doubles, and mixed doubles competitions three consecutive years.               
                                                                                       
Wightman is known as the "Queen Mother of American Tennis” or "Lady Tennis" for       
her lifelong participation in and promotion of women's tennis and because she           
was instrumental in organizing the Ladies International Tennis Challenge between       
British and American women's teams, better known as the Wightman Cup. The Cup           
was first held in 1923 and continued through 1989. She played five years on the         
American team and was the captain of the American team from inception of the           
competition through 1948. The Cup was composed of five singles and two doubles         
matches. The cup itself was donated in 1923 by Wightman in honor of her husband.       
The first contest, at Forest Hills, New York on August 11 and 13, 1923, was won         
by the United States.                                                                   
                                                                                       
Born during the early days of American tennis, Wightman was a frail and awkward         
child. Her doctor recommended that she take up a sport to strengthen herself.           
Her brother suggested tennis as it was considered a 'genteel' sport. Wightman           
learned to play at the nearby courts of the University of California at                 
Berkelely where she graduated in 1911. Her rivalry with fellow Californian, May         
Sutton, shaped a new women's game, with Wightman attacking the net to counter           
Sutton's dominating forehand.                                                           
                                                                                       
Wightman was the mother of five children and devoted herself to teaching other         
young people, opening her home near Boston's Longwood Cricket Club to aspiring         
champions. In recognition of Wightman's contributions to tennis, the USTA               
Service Bowl was donated in her honor. In 1973, Queen Elizabeth II named               
Wightman an honorary Commander of the British Empire.                                   
                                                                                       
17 Grand Slam titles (4 singles, 7 women's doubles, 6 mixed doubles)                   
                                                                                       
Won all three titles at the U.S. Championships: 1909-1911                               
                                                                                       
Won singles title at the U.S. Championships: 1909-1911, 1919                           
                                                                                       
Runner-up in singles at the U.S. Championships: 1915                                   
                                                                                       
Won women's doubles title at the U.S. Championships: 1909-1911, 1915, 1924, 1928       
                                                                                       
Runner-up in women's doubles at the U.S. Championships: 1919, 1923                     
                                                                                       
Won mixed doubles title at the U.S. Championships: 1909-1911, 1915, 1918, 1920         
                                                                                       
Runner-up in mixed doubles at the U.S. Championships: 1926                             
                                                                                       
Won women's doubles title at Wimbledon: 1924                                           
                                                                                       
Olympic gold medalist in women's doubles and mixed doubles: 1924                       
                                                                                       
Won singles title at the U.S. Indoor: 1919, 1927                                       
                                                                                       
Won women's doubles title at the U.S. Indoor: 1919, 1921, 1927-1931, 1933, 1943         
                                                                                       
Won mixed doubles title at the U.S. Indoor: 1923, 1924, 1926-1928                       
                                                                                       
Won doubles title at the U.S. Grass Court Championships (for age 40 and over):         
1940-1942, 1944, 1946-1950, 1952, 1954                                                 
                                                                                       
U.S. Wightman Cup team member: 1923, 1924, 1927, 1929, 1931                             
                                                                                       
U.S. Wightman Cup team captain: 1923, 1924, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1933, 1935, 1937-1939,   
1946-1948                                                                               
                                                                                       
Winner of USTA Service Bowl, donated in Wightman's honor: 1940, 1946                   
                                                                                       
Author of Better Tennis                                                                 
                                                                                       
Coached several women champions, including Sarah Palfrey Cooke, Helen Wills             
Moody, and Helen Jacobs                                                                 
                                                                                       
Inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1957                             
                                                                                       
Named Honorary Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1973           
                                                                                       
Inducted into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 1986                     
                                                                                       
First honoree in the University of California women’s athlete hall of fame