| Kathleen "Kitty" Godfree (nee McKane), twice Wimbledon Champion, was one of the outstanding women players in the 1920s. She and her husband, Leslie, were the only married couple to have won the Wimbledon Mixed Doubles Championship (1926) and Kitty was the only player to beat Helen Wills Moody in singles at Wimbledon. This occurred in the legendary final of 1924 when she fought back from being 4-6, 1-4 down to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Kitty also reached the finals of the US and French Championships in 1925 and won five Olympic medals at the Games of 1920 in Antwerp and 1924 in Paris.
Kitty was a natural athlete, representing England in lacrosse in 1918 and won the All-England badminton singles title. Without any formal coaching, she soon found that tennis was her forte and became that rarity in those days, a good volleyer. Perhaps her real strength, though, what is termed these days "mental toughness".
The Kitty Godfree Cup for women players in the 65 age category was introduced in 1994 by the Veterans Lawn Tennis Association of Great Britain in honour of Kitty Godfree. The trophy was kindly donated by the Godfree family. |
Great Britain