Mary Arnold Prentiss (née Arnold; October 26, 1916 – January 26, 1975)"Mary Prentiss, Former Tennis Champ, Dies" ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', January 29, 1975 was an amateur American adult

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 from September 1934 through May 1968. She also participated in United States National Seniors Championships through 1972. She was educated at the Los Angeles City College where she became a member of the Los Angeles Olympia L.T.C. She participated in the

1939 Wightman Cup The 1939 Wightman Cup was the 17th edition of the annual women's team tennis competition between the United States and Great Britain. It was held at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Queens in New York City N ...

, the women's team tennis competition between the United States and Great Britain. She won a doubles match partnering with

Dorothy Bundy Cheney Dorothy "Dodo" May Sutton Bundy Cheney (September 1, 1916 – November 23, 2014) was an American tennis player from her youth into her 90s. In 1938, Bundy was the first American to win the women's singles title at the Australian National Champi ...

and helped the U.S. team to a 5–2 victory. She was coached by

Eleanor Tennant Eleanor "Teach" Tennant (1895 – May 11, 1974) was a tennis player and coach from the U.S., notable for the being the first female player to turn professional. Tennant was once ranked third in America and was the coach of Grand Slam winners Alice ...

from 1939 through 1941. Arnold was ranked in the U.S. Top 10 from 1939 through 1947. Her highest ranking was fifth in both 1942 and 1944. At the 1948

French Championships The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

, she paired with future International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee

Shirley Fry Shirley June Fry Irvin (née Fry; June 30, 1927 – July 13, 2021) was an American tennis player. During her career, which lasted from the early 1940s until the mid-1950s, she won the singles title at all four Grand Slam events, as well as 13 dou ...

to reach the wonen's doubles final. She also 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 ...

that year and reached the third round in singles and women's doubles and the quarterfinals in mixed doubles. At the Tri-State Tennis Tournament, she reached five finals, winning three doubles titles: 1940, 1944 and 1946. She also was a singles finalist in 1941 (losing to Pauline Betz), and was a women's doubles finalist in 1945 (with Fry). Her women's doubles titles there were in partnership with

Alice Marble Alice Marble (September 28, 1913 – December 13, 1990) was an American tennis player who won 18 Grand Slam championships between 1936 and 1940: five in singles, six in women's doubles, and seven in mixed doubles. She was ranked world No. 1 in 193 ...

in 1940, Dorothy Bundy Cheney in 1944, and Fry in 1946.

Grand Slam finals

Doubles (2 runner-ups)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold, Mary 1916 births 1975 deaths American female tennis players Tennis players from Los Angeles 20th-century American women