| American tennis champion, considered one of the greatest female players in the sport's history. She won a total of 19 singles titles at the French championships, Wimbledon, and the United States championships.
Helen Newington Wills was born in Centerville (now part of Fremont), California, and educated at the University of California, where she became a member of Phi Beta Kappa. In 1922, when she was 16 years old, she reached the finals of the U.S. championships. Because of her unemotional playing style, she quickly became known as Little Miss Poker Face. Wills's greatest playing strength was her powerful forehand, which she used to dominate women's tennis in the 1920s. She won a gold medal in both singles and doubles at the 1924 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France. She also won the U.S. women's singles championship from 1923 through 1925 and again from 1927 through 1929.
After her marriage in 1930, Wills played as Helen Wills Moody, the name by which she is best known. She did not enter the U.S. championships that year, but she returned in 1931 to claim her final U.S. title. Wills Moody was also a member of the winning women's doubles team at the U.S. championships in 1922, 1924, and 1925. She amassed eight Wimbledon women's singles championships (1927-1930, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1938) and four French singles titles (1928-1930, 1932) before retiring from competition in 1938. In 1959 she was elected to the U.S. Lawn Tennis Hall of Fame. |
USA