Simonne Mathieu ( Passemard;) (31 January 1908 – 7 January 1980) was a

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player from France, born in

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department just west of Paris in France. Immediately adjacent to the city, north of the ...

, Hauts-de-Seine, who was active in the 1930s. She won the French Championships singles title in 1938 and 1939. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, she created and led the Corps of French Volunteers in the

Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army ( ; AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (; FFL) during World War II. The military force of Free France, it participated ...

, the first female unit in the

military history of France The military history of France encompasses an immense panorama of conflicts and struggles extending for more than 2,000 years across areas including modern France, Europe, and List of former European colonies, a variety of regions throughout the ...

Tennis career

Mathieu is best remembered for winning two major singles titles at the

French Championships The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam tennis events eve ...

(in 1938 and 1939), and for reaching the final of that tournament an additional six times, in 1929, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1936, and 1937. In those finals, she lost three times to

Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling Hildegard Krahwinkel Sperling (née Krahwinkel; 26 March 1908 – 7 March 1981) was a German-Danish tennis player. She won three consecutive singles titles at the French Championships from 1935 to 1937. Krahwinkel Sperling is generally regarded ...

, twice to

Helen Wills Moody Helen Newington Wills (October 6, 1905 – January 1, 1998), also known by her married names Helen Wills Moody and Helen Wills Roark, was an American tennis player. She won 31 Grand Slam tournament titles (singles, doubles, and mixed doubles) ...

, and once to Margaret Scriven. Mathieu won 11 Grand Slam doubles championships: three women's doubles titles at Wimbledon (1933–34, 1937), six women's doubles titles at the French Championships (1933–34, 1936–39), and two mixed-doubles titles at the French Championships (1937–38). She completed the rare triple at the French Championships in 1938, winning the singles, women's doubles, and mixed-doubles titles. Mathieu's 13 Grand Slam titles are second only to

Suzanne Lenglen Suzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen (; 24 May 1899 – 4 July 1938) was a French tennis player. She was the inaugural world No. 1 from 1921 to 1926, winning eight Grand Slam titles in singles and twenty-one in total. She was also a four-time World ...

's 21 among French women. According to

A. Wallis Myers Arthur Wallis Myers (24 July 1878 – 17 June 1939) was an English tennis correspondent, editor, author and player. He was one of the leading tennis journalists of the first half of the 20th century. Family life Myers was son of the Rev. Joh ...

and

John Olliff John Sheldon Olliff (1 December 1908 – 29 June 1951) was an English tennis player, author and sports journalist. Life Olliff took part in the Wimbledon Championships from 1928. In singles, he advanced to the fourth round several times unti ...

of ''The Daily Telegraph'' and the ''Daily Mail'' respectively, Mathieu was ranked in the world top 10 from 1929 through 1939 (no rankings were issued from 1940 through 1945), reaching a career high of world No. 3 in 1932. The winners' trophy of the women's doubles event at the French Open is named in her honour as the Coupe Simonne-Mathieu.

World War II

During World War II, Captain Mathieu was founder of the Corps Féminin Français, the women's volunteer branch of the

, similar to the British

Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the World War II, Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existe ...

. Mathieu was succeeded in that position by Captain Hélène Terré. For their service, each woman was named an

Officer of the Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

Honours

She was inducted into the

International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, 13 grass tennis courts, an ...

in 2006. In November 2017, the

French Tennis Federation The French Tennis Federation (, FFT) is the governing body for tennis in France. It was founded in 1920, and is tasked with the organisation, co-ordination and promotion of the sport. It is recognised by the International Tennis Federation and by ...

(FFT) announced that the third show-court at Roland Garros will be named Court Simonne-Mathieu in her honor.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 8 (2 titles, 6 runner-ups)

Doubles: 13 (9 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Mixed doubles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under

German occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

. ¹In 1946, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mathieu, Simonne 1908 births 1980 deaths Sportspeople from Neuilly-sur-Seine Tennis players from Hauts-de-Seine French female tennis players French Championships (tennis) champions Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era) International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's singles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery French Resistance members French military personnel of World War II 20th-century French sportswomen