Helena Bertha Grace "Lena" Rice (21 June 1866 – 21 June 1907) was an Irish tennis player (then a British home nation) who won the singles title at the
1890 Wimbledon Championships
The 1890 Wimbledon Championships was a combined men's and women's tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from 30 June until 7 July. ...
. She is to date the only female player from Ireland ever to win a singles title at Wimbledon.
Biography
Lena Rice was born the second-youngest of the eight children of Spring Rice and Anna Gorde in 1866. Her family lived in a two-storied Georgian building at Marlhill, half a mile from
Cahir
Cahir (; ) is a town in County Tipperary in Ireland. It is also a civil parish in the barony of Iffa and Offa West.
Location and access
For much of the twentieth century, Cahir stood at an intersection of two busy national roadways: the Dublin ...
Lawn Tennis club.
Rice's first tournament outside
County Tipperary
County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...
were the
Irish Championships Irish Open may refer to:
*Irish Open (golf), a golf tournament on the European Tour
**Irish Senior Open, a golf tournament on the European Seniors Tour
**Ladies Irish Open, a golf tournament on the Ladies European Tour
* Irish Open (darts), annual ...
at
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
in May 1889. There she lost in straight sets to Blanche Bingley Hillyard in the semifinals. In doubles competition, she reached the final partnering Hillyard, and in mixed doubles she won the title along with
Willoughby Hamilton
Willoughby Hamilton (born as James Willoughby Hamilton; 9 December 1864 – 27 September 1943) was a co-world No. 1 Irish male tennis player, a footballer and international badminton player.
Tennis career
Hamilton played his first tournament ...
.
Later that year, Rice played at the
Wimbledon Championships
The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...
. She reached the final where she met Hillyard once again. She won the first set 6–4 and had three match points at 5–3, 40–15 and advantage in the second, but Hillyard managed to come back and eventually won 4–6, 8–6, 6–4.
The next year, only four players participated at the singles event at Wimbledon. After winning over Mary Steedman in two sets in the first round, her opponent in the All-comers' final was
May Jacks
May Jacks was a British tennis player at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1890 she was the losing finalist in the Wimbledon Ladies Singles Championship, being defeated by Lena Rice 6–4, 6–1.
Only four competitors entered, the smallest ...
. Rice won 6–4, 6–1 and as defending champion Blanche Hillyard was pregnant and did not enter the tournament, Rice won the title, the 50-
guineas
The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from t ...
challenger trophy and a cash prize of 20 guineas.
She is credited with inventing the Overhead Smash, employing it in her match-winning point against May Jacks in that 1890 final.
After her 1890 Wimbledon title, there is no record of Rice playing tennis at a tournament. She did not defend her Wimbledon title in the challenge round the following year. As her mother died in 1891, it seems likely that family ill health prevented her from continuing her tennis career.
Rice, who never married, died of
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
on her 41st birthday in 1907. She was buried at the New Inn cemetery, close to her parents, her brother Samel and her sister Agnes.