Helen Antoinette Pedersen (July 16, 1916 – July 5, 1998) was an American amateur

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player. She competed as Helen Rihbany in the 1940s from her marriage to Edward H. Rihbany and was later married to William McLaughlin. Pedersen, raised in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

, was national junior champion in 1934 and made the semi-finals of the 1936 U.S. National Championships. She won the singles title at the

U.S. Women's Indoor Championships The U.S. Women's Indoor Championships, was a national tennis championship for women that was sanctioned by the United States Tennis Association and held 79 times from 1907 through 2001 at various locations and on various surfaces. The event was af ...

in 1945 and 1946. In 1949 she made the singles semi-finals at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

and was also a quarter-finalist at the French Championships. During her career she was regularly ranked in the nation's top 10.

References

1916 births 1998 deaths American female tennis players Tennis people from Connecticut Sportspeople from Stamford, Connecticut {{US-tennis-bio-stub