Birgit "Bibbi" Gullbrandsson (married name Sandén, 22 August 1916 – 6 January 2006), was a Swedish tennis player. She won the women's

Swedish Open Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

in 1954.

Tennis career

Beginning in 1938 when she was 22, Bibbi Gullbrandsson won 49 Swedish national championships, 16 in singles. She often partnered in doubles with Mary Lagerborg. Like many others, she lost several years of international competitive opportunities to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After the war, she won the women's

in 1954, defeating Milly Vagn-Nielsen in straight sets, and in 1955, when she was 39, she won the German Tennis Championship.

Personal life

Gullbrandsson was born in

Kalmar Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 36,392 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of ...

."Gullbrandsson, Birgit (Bibbi)", ''Vem är det?: Svensk biografisk handbok, Volume 20'' (1950 ed.
p. 362
. She lived in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

for most of her life, and worked in

cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

. For most of her playing career she belonged to the ; at the end of her career she transferred to the .

References

Sources

* Mats Hasselqvist, ''Salkbollen'', 2006, no. 1. * Göran Tholerus, ''Ett sekel av svensk tennis'', centennial celebration volume, Stockholm: Kungliga lawn tennis klubben, 1996, .

External links

"Bibbi Gullbrandsson (SWE)"
Ladies' singles, Wimbledon.com (pdf)
"Bibbi Gullbrandsson (SWE)"
Ladies' doubles, Wimbledon.com (pdf)
"Bibbi Gullbrandsson (SWE)"
Mixed doubles, Wimbledon.com (pdf) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gullbrandsson Sanden, Birgit Swedish female tennis players 1916 births 2006 deaths