Lilí de Álvarez
Lilí Álvarez at the 1926 Wimbledon Championships ladies final
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| Full name | Elia Maria González-Álvarez y López-Chicheri |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) |
Spain (−1936) France (1936–) |
| Born |
9 May 1905 Rome, Italy |
| Died | 8 July 1998 (aged 93) Madrid, Spain |
| Plays | Right-handed |
| Singles | |
| Highest ranking | No. 2 (1927, A. Wallis Myers) |
| Grand Slam Singles results | |
| French Open | SF (1930, 1931, 1936, 1937) |
| Wimbledon | F (1926, 1927, 1928) |
| Doubles | |
| Grand Slam Doubles results | |
| French Open | W (1929) |
| Wimbledon | 3R (1937) |
| Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results | |
| French Open | F (1927) |
| Wimbledon | QF (1926, 1936) |
Elia Maria González-Álvarez y López-Chicheria , also known as Lilí Álvarezb (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈlili ˈalβaɾeθ]) (9 May 1905 – 8 July 1998) was a Spanish multi-sport competitor, an international tennis champion, an author, feminist and a journalist.
She was born at the Hotel Flora in Rome, Italy, during a stay by her affluent Spanish parents. She was raised in Switzerland and from an early age began competing in a variety of sports. At age eleven, she won her first ice skating competition, and then at age 16, she won the St. Moritz ice skating championship. She won her first tennis tournament at age fourteen. An all-around sportsperson, Álvarez was an alpine skier, equestrian, and an auto racer who won the "Campeonato de Cataluna de Automovilismo" at age nineteen.
Álvarez was a pioneer in women's tennis in Spain and was her country's most dominant player during the 1920s. Between 1926 and 1928, she reached three consecutive singles finals at Wimbledon. According to American Helen Wills Moody, who defeated Álvarez twice in Wimbledon singles finals, Álvarez' game was an "unusually daring one".
In 1929, Álvarez teamed up with the Dutch player Kea Bouman to win the women's doubles title at the French Championships. The following year, Álvarez won the singles title at the Italian Championships, an accomplishment that was not repeated by another female Spaniard for 63 years until Conchita Martínez won the Italian Open in 1993. Álvarez and Bill Tilden were the runners-up in the mixed doubles competition at the 1927 French Championships.
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