Simonne Mathieu ( Passemard; (Spelled "Simone" in many sources.) 31 January 1908 – 7 January 1980) was a female

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 France, born in

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; literally 'Neuilly on Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is a commune in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in France, just west of Paris. Immediately adjacent to the city, the area is composed of mostly select residentia ...

, Hauts-de-Seine who was active in the 1930s. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

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

Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army (french: Armée française de la Libération or AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (french: Forces françaises libres, l ...

Career

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

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 ...

(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 "Hilde" Krahwinkel Sperling ( née Krahwinkel; 26 March 1908 – 7 March 1981) was a German tennis player who became a dual-citizen after marrying Dane Svend Sperling in December 1933. She won three consecutive singles titles at the F ...

, 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) du ...

, and once to

Margaret Scriven Margaret Croft Scriven-Vivian (née Scriven; 17 August 1912 – 25 January 2001) was a British tennis player and the first woman from that country to win the singles title at the French Championships in 1933. She also won the singles title at th ...

. 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. John ...

and

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

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 Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existed until 1 Februa ...

. Mathieu was succeeded in that position by Captain

Hélène Terré Hélène Marguerite Marie Terré (1903 - 1993) was a French Resistance fighter engaged in the Free French Forces during World War II. She served in London with the French Volunteer Corps and assumed corps command from Captain Simonne Mathieu. In ...

. For their service, each woman was named an

Officer of the Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

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, grass tennis courts, an indo ...

in 2006. In November 2017, the

French Tennis Federation The French Tennis Federation (french: Fédération française de tennis, 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 ...

(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 refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mathieu, Simonne 1908 births 1980 deaths Sportspeople from Neuilly-sur-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 women