Suzanne Lenglen
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| Full name | Suzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen | ||||||||||||
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| Country (sports) |
 France
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| Born |
24 May 1899 Paris, France |
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| Died | 4 July 1938 (aged 39) Paris, France |
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| Int. Tennis HoF | 1978 (member page) | ||||||||||||
| Singles | |||||||||||||
| Career record | 341–7 (97.99%) | ||||||||||||
| Career titles | 81 | ||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | No. 1 (1919, A. Wallis Myers) | ||||||||||||
| Grand Slam Singles results | |||||||||||||
| French Open | W (1925, 1926) | ||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | W (1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1925) | ||||||||||||
| US Open | 2R (1921) | ||||||||||||
| Other tournaments | |||||||||||||
| WHCC | W (1914, 1921, 1922, 1923) | ||||||||||||
| Doubles | |||||||||||||
| Grand Slam Doubles results | |||||||||||||
| French Open | W (1925, 1926) | ||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | W (1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1925) | ||||||||||||
| Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results | |||||||||||||
| French Open | W (1925, 1926) | ||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | W (1920, 1922, 1925) | ||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Suzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen (French pronunciation: [sy.zan lɑ̃.glɛn]; 24 May 1899 – 4 July 1938) was a French tennis player who won 31 Championship titles between 1914 and 1926. She dominated women's tennis from 1914 until 1926 when she turned professional. A flamboyant, trendsetting athlete, she was the first female tennis celebrity and one of the first international female sport stars, named La Divine (the Goddess) by the French press. Lenglen's 241 titles, 181 match winning streak and 341-7 (98%) match record are hard to imagine happening in today's tennis atmosphere.
A daughter of Charles and Anaïs Lenglen, Suzanne Lenglen was born in Paris. During her youth, she suffered from numerous health problems including chronic asthma, which also plagued her at a later age. Because his daughter was so frail and sickly, Charles Lenglen, the owner of a carriage company, decided that it would be good for her to compete in tennis and gain strength. Her first try at the game was in 1910, when she played on the tennis court at the family property in Marest-sur-Matz. The young girl enjoyed the game, and her father decided to train her further in the sport. His training methods included an exercise where, the story goes, he would lay down a handkerchief at various places on the court, to which his daughter had to direct the ball.
Only four years after her first tennis strokes, Lenglen played in the final of the 1914 French Championships, aged only 14 (the tournament was open only to members of French clubs until 1925). She lost to reigning champion Marguerite Broquedis in the final 5–7, 6–4, 6–3. That same year, she won the World Hard Court Championships held at Saint-Cloud, turning 15 during the tournament. This made her the youngest winner of a major championship in tennis history, a record she still holds. The outbreak of World War I at the end of the year stopped most national and international tennis competitions in Europe, and Lenglen's burgeoning career was put on hold for the next 5 years, until Wimbledon in 1919.
The French championships were not held again until 1920, but Wimbledon resumed in 1919 and Lenglen debuted in the tournament – her first on grass – meeting seven-time winner Dorothea Douglass Chambers in the final. The match, which became one of the hallmarks of tennis history, was played before 8,000 spectators, including King George V and Queen Mary. After splitting the first two sets, Lenglen took a 4–1 lead in the final set before Chambers rallied to take a 6–5 (40–15) lead. Lenglen saved the first match point when her service return trickled off the wood of her racket and dropped over the net. Lenglen survived the second match point when Chambers hit a drop shot into the net. Lenglen then went on to win the match 10–8, 4–6, 9–7.
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