Elia Maria González-Álvarez y López-Chicheri, also known as Lilí de Álvarez (; 9 May 1905 – 8 July 1998), was a Spanish multi-sport competitor, an international tennis champion, an author, feminist and a journalist.

Life

She was born at the Hotel Flora in Rome,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, during a stay by her affluent Spanish parents. She was raised in Switzerland and from an early age began competing in a variety of sports. At age eleven, she won her first

ice skating Ice skating is the Human-powered transport, self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. ...

competition, and then at age 16, she won the St. Moritz ice skating championship. She won her first tennis tournament at age fourteen. An all-around sportsperson, Álvarez was an alpine skier, equestrian, and an auto racer who won the Campeonato de Cataluña de Automovilismo at age 19. Álvarez was a pioneer in women's tennis in Spain and was her country's most dominant player during the 1920s. Between 1926 and 1928, she reached three consecutive singles 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 * W ...

. According to American Helen Wills Moody, who defeated Álvarez twice in Wimbledon singles finals, Álvarez' game was an "unusually daring one". She also competed at the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...

. In 1929, Álvarez teamed up with the Dutch player Kea Bouman to win the women's doubles title at the French Championships. The following year, Álvarez won the singles title at the Italian Championships, an accomplishment that was not repeated by another female Spaniard for 63 years until

Conchita Martínez Conchita Martínez Bernat (born 16 April 1972) is a Spanish former professional tennis player and current coach. She was the first Spaniard to win the women's singles title at Wimbledon, doing so in 1994. Martínez also was the runner-up at th ...

won the Italian Open in 1993. Álvarez and Bill Tilden were the runners-up in the mixed doubles competition at the 1927 French Championships. In 1927, Álvarez authored a book in English published in London under the title ''Modern Lawn Tennis''. In 1931, she shocked the staid tennis world by playing at Wimbledon in a divided tennis skirt specially made by designer Elsa Schiaparelli that was the forerunner of shorts (pictured). That year, Álvarez began reporting on the political events in Spain for the British newspaper the ''Daily Mail''. According to Wallis Myers of ''The Daily Telegraph'' and the ''Daily Mail'', Álvarez was ranked in the world top 10 from 1926 through 1928 and in 1930 and 1931, reaching a career high of World No. 2 in those rankings in 1927 and 1928. In 1934, Álvarez married Jean de Gaillard de la Valdène, the Count of Valdene, a French aristocrat and diplomat, and from 1936 she played for three years on the international tennis circuit as "Countess Valdène". In 1939, she lost her only child and the couple soon separated. She returned home to Spain in 1941 where she continued to be active in sports and began writing on religious and feminist topics, publishing her book ''Plenitud'' (''Fullness'') in 1946. She actively supported the worldwide

feminist movement The feminist movement, also known as the women's movement, refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for Radical politics, radical and Liberalism, liberal reforms on women's issues created by inequality between men and wom ...

and in 1951 gave a speech entitled "''La batalla de la feminidad''" at the Hispanic-American Feminist Congress. Over the years, she wrote several more books. When asked in 1993 about modern Spanish tennis, Álvarez favored a combative and bold playing style rather than ''a defensive and thus negative conception'' and criticized the lack of fast courts in the country, claiming that no champions can be born on clay court. She was disappointed that

Sergi Bruguera Sergi Bruguera i Torner (; born 16 January 1971) is a Spanish tennis coach and former professional player . He won consecutive men's singles titles at the French Open in 1993 and 1994, a silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in men's singl ...

didn't take part in Wimbledon after winning Roland Garros and showed enthusiasm for

's Wimbledon semifinals run, noting that while she had previously shown talent it was the first time she had shown a champion's disposition.Para Lilí Álvarez, "ha nacido una nueva estrella"

Mundo Deportivo ''Mundo Deportivo'' (; ) is a Spanish nationwide daily sports newspaper published in Barcelona. History and profile ''Mundo Deportivo'' was first published on 1 February 1906, as a weekly newspaper, and since 1929 daily. It is the oldest sports ...

, 3 July 1993 Álvarez died in Madrid in 1998.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (3 runner-ups)

Doubles (1 title)

Mixed doubles (1 runner-up)

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez, Lili 1905 births 1998 deaths Spanish female tennis players Spanish female racing drivers Spanish female single skaters Spanish feminist writers Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles 20th-century Spanish women writers 20th-century Spanish writers French Championships (tennis) champions Olympic tennis players for Spain Tennis players at the 1924 Summer Olympics 20th-century Spanish journalists Spanish expatriates in Switzerland Expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland 20th-century Spanish sportswomen