Everything about Maureen Connolly totally explained
Maureen Catherine ("Little Mo") Connolly (born
September 17,
1934 – died
June 21,
1969) was an American
tennis player who was the first woman to win all four
Grand Slam tournaments during the same calendar year.
Connolly was born in
San Diego,
California,
United States. As a child, she loved horseback riding, but her mother was unable to pay the cost of riding lessons. So, she took up the game of tennis.
Connolly's career began at the age of 10 on the municipal courts of San Diego. Her first coach, Wilbur Folsom, encouraged her to switch from a left-handed grip to right and she soon became a baseline specialist with tremendous power, accuracy, and an especially strong backhand. Aged 14, she won 56 consecutive matches and the following year became the youngest ever to win the U.S. national championship for girls 18 and under.
At the
1951 U.S. Championships, the 16 year old Connolly defeated
Shirley Fry to become, at that time, the youngest ever to win America's most prestigious tennis tournament.
Connolly successfully defended her U.S. title and won
Wimbledon in
1952. For the
1953 season, she hired a new
coach, the Australian
Davis Cup captain
Harry Hopman, and entered all four Grand Slam tournaments for the first time. She defeated
Julie Sampson Haywood in the
Australian Championships final and
Doris Hart in the finals of the
French Championships, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Championships to become the first woman, and only the second person, to win the world's four major titles in the same year, commonly known as a "Grand Slam." She lost only one set in those four tournaments.
In
1954, Connolly didn't defend her title at the Australian Championships but successfully defended her French and Wimbledon championships. On
July 20,
1954, just two weeks after she won her third straight Wimbledon title, she was horseback riding when an accident with a truck crushed her right leg, ending her tennis career at age 19.
Grand Slam singles results for Connolly's 11 appearances:
- Australian Championships - 1 time: Winner 1953
- French Championships - 2 times: Winner 1953, 1954
- Wimbledon - 3 times: Winner 1952, 1953, 1954
- U.S. Championships - 5 times (1949-1953): Winner 1951, 1952, 1953
Connolly won the last nine Grand Slam singles tournaments she played, including 50 consecutive singles matches.
During her
Wightman Cup career from 1951 through 1954, Connolly won all seven of her singles matches.
Connolly's achievements made her the darling of the media and one of the most popular personalities in the U.S. She was named
Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year for three straight years from 1951 through 1953. However, Connolly recognized the downside of her tennis career, saying, “I have always believed greatness on a tennis court was my destiny, a dark destiny, at times, where the court became my secret jungle and I, a lonely, fear-stricken hunter. I was a strange little girl armed with hate, fear, and a Golden Racket.”
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In June
1955, Connolly married Norman Brinker, a member of the
1952 Olympic equestrian team for the United States, who shared her love of horses. They had two children while she remained partially involved in tennis, acting as a correspondent for some U.S. and
British newspapers at major U.S. tennis tournaments and as a coach for the British Wightman Cup team during its visits to the U.S. In
Texas, where the couple lived, she and her husband established the "Maureen Connolly Brinker Foundation" to promote junior tennis.
Tragedy struck again in
1966 when she was diagnosed with
cancer. After a long battle with the disease, Connolly died at age 34 in
Dallas, Texas on
June 21,
1969, and was interred in the
Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery in Dallas.
Connolly was inducted into the
International Tennis Hall of Fame in
1969 and the
International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in
1987.
Grand Slam record
Australian Championships
- Singles champion: 1953
- Women's Doubles champion: 1953
- Mixed Doubles runner-up: 1953
French Championships
- Singles champion (2): 1953, 1954
- Women's Doubles champion: 1954
- Women's Doubles runner-up: 1953
- Mixed Doubles champion: 1954
- Mixed Doubles runner-up: 1953
Wimbledon
- Singles champion (3): 1952, 1953, 1954
- Women's Doubles runners-up (2): 1952, 1953
U.S. Championships
- Singles champion (3): 1951, 1952, 1953
- Women's Doubles runner-up: 1952
Grand Slam finals (18)
Singles (9)
Wins (9)
| Year |
Championship |
Opponent in Final |
Score in Final |
| 1951 |
U.S. Championships |
Shirley Fry Irvin |
6–3, 1–6, 6–4 |
| 1952 |
Wimbledon |
Louise Brough Clapp |
6–4, 6–3 |
| 1952 |
U.S. Championships (2) |
Doris Hart |
6–3, 7–5 |
| 1953 |
Australian Championships |
Julie Sampson Haywood |
6–3, 6–2 |
| 1953 |
French Championships |
Doris Hart |
6–2, 6–4 |
| 1953 |
Wimbledon (2) |
Doris Hart |
8–6, 7–5 |
| 1953 |
U.S. Championships (3) |
Doris Hart |
6–2, 6–4 |
| 1954 |
French Championships (2) |
Ginette Jucker Bucaille Grandguillot |
6–4, 6–1 |
| 1954 |
Wimbledon (3) |
Louise Brough Clapp |
6–2, 7–5 |
Women's doubles (6)
Wins (2)
Runner-ups (4)
Mixed doubles (3)
Win (1)
Runner-ups (2)
Further Information
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