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Simonne Mathieu

Simonne Mathieu
Simone Mathieu 1926.jpg
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.

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.

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

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. She received the title of Officier de la Légion d'honneur.


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Wikipedia

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