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Tennis · Interesting Facts

Chapter 10: Women's Tennis

10 parts · 10 tests · 100 facts · updated 15 October 2026 · markdown

A chapter on the women's game: the early champions, Lenglen, Wills, Gibson, King, Evert and Navratilova, Graf and Seles, the Williams sisters, new nations and the mothers and comebacks.

10.101Before the 1920s

The first great women champions: Lambert Chambers, Hillyard, Mallory and the founder of the Wightman Cup.

Test 1Early championsTake a test

  1. She won them between 1903 and 1914.

    Source: Wimbledon.com, champions; International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

  2. Lenglen saved them and won 10-8, 4-6, 9-7.

    Source: Wimbledon.com, champions; International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

  3. It was contested every year until 1989.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman · recall

  4. She was born in Norway and won her first in 1915.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Molla Mallory · recall

  5. The event was played in Philadelphia.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Ellen Hansell; US Open official site (usopen.org) · recall

  6. She played at the Championships over more than 20 years.

    Source: Wimbledon.com, champions · recall

  7. The United States had won it far more often than Britain.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman · recall

  8. 1887, 1903, 1923 and 1989.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com); Wimbledon.com, champions · recall

  9. 1864, 1878, 1884 and 1886.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

  10. The cup was given by Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman · recall

10.102Suzanne Lenglen

The first superstar of women's tennis: six Wimbledons, the match at Cannes, a royal snub and her only defeat.

Test 1La DivineTake a test

  1. She won every year from 1919 to 1923, and again in 1925.

    Source: Wimbledon.com, champions; International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

  2. Lenglen won 6-3, 8-6 in their only meeting.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Suzanne Lenglen · recall

  3. He trained her strictly from the age of eleven.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Suzanne Lenglen · recall

  4. The upset ended her amateur career; she turned professional weeks later.

    Source: Wimbledon.com, champions; International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

  5. She stopped, ill and coughing, early in their match in New York.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Suzanne Lenglen · recall

  6. Crowds flocked to watch her leaping, balletic style.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Suzanne Lenglen · recall

  7. Her family later moved to the Riviera, where she learned the game.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Suzanne Lenglen · recall

  8. 1919, 1921, February 1926 and August 1926.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Suzanne Lenglen · recall

  9. She never played at Wimbledon again.

    Source: Wimbledon.com, champions; International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

  10. The match at the Carlton Club drew crowds onto rooftops nearby.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Suzanne Lenglen · recall

10.103Helen Wills and the 1930s

Little Miss Poker Face, her rival Helen Jacobs, and Alice Marble, who spoke up for Althea Gibson.

Test 1Between the warsTake a test

  1. It was the record until Martina Navratilova won her ninth in 1990.

    Source: Wimbledon.com, champions; International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

  2. She rarely showed emotion on court.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Helen Wills Moody · recall

  3. Wills said she was injured; it was a rare defeat in her career.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Helen Jacobs · recall

  4. Eight Wimbledons, seven US titles and four French.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Helen Wills Moody · recall

  5. She had lost four Wimbledon finals before that.

    Source: Wimbledon.com, champions; International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

  6. It pushed the US association to let Gibson play at Forest Hills.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Alice Marble · recall

  7. She won the singles, the doubles and the mixed.

    Source: Wimbledon.com, champions; International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

  8. 1927, 1933, 1936, 1939 and 1950.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com); Wimbledon.com, champions · recall

  9. Five, eight and nineteen.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

  10. She studied art and illustrated her own book on tennis.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Helen Wills Moody · recall

10.104Althea Gibson and the 1950s

Gibson breaks the colour barrier, with Doris Hart's treble and Maureen Connolly's cut-short career alongside.

Test 1Breaking barriersTake a test

  1. She won Wimbledon and the US title in both 1957 and 1958.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Althea Gibson · recall

  2. She nearly beat the Wimbledon champion, Louise Brough.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Althea Gibson · recall

  3. Both had faced prejudice: Gibson as a Black woman, Buxton as a Jewish one.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Angela Buxton · recall

  4. She was the first Black champion at Wimbledon.

    Source: Wimbledon.com, champions; International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

  5. No Black woman had won the award before.

    Source: Associated Press; International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

  6. A truck hit the horse she was riding and crushed her leg.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Maureen Connolly · recall

  7. She overcame a serious knee infection as a child.

    Source: Wimbledon.com, champions; International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Doris Hart · recall

  8. 1950, 1951, 1954, 1956 and 1957.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com); Wimbledon.com, champions · recall

  9. 1925, 1927 and 1934.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

  10. Only Jesse Owens had been given one as a Black athlete before her.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Althea Gibson · recall

10.105Billie Jean King

Beyond the Battle of the Sexes: 39 major titles, a family in baseball, a magazine and a historic honour.

Test 1A champion off the court tooTake a test

  1. She shared the honour with the basketball coach John Wooden.

    Source: Sports Illustrated; International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

  2. Twelve singles, sixteen doubles and eleven mixed.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Billie Jean King · recall

  3. She married Larry King in 1965.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Billie Jean King · recall

  4. Randy Moffitt pitched in the majors for twelve seasons.

    Source: Major League Baseball (mlb.com) · recall

  5. It was called womenSports.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Billie Jean King · recall

  6. She won six Wimbledon singles titles in all.

    Source: Wimbledon.com, champions; International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

  7. She learned on the public courts of Long Beach.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Billie Jean King · recall

  8. 1966, 1972, 1974 and 2018.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com); Sports Illustrated · recall

  9. Eleven, twelve and sixteen.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Billie Jean King · recall

  10. She grew up in Long Beach, not far from Los Angeles.

    Source: Los Angeles Dodgers (mlb.com/dodgers) · recall

10.106Evert and Navratilova

Beyond their rivalry: Evert's run of majors and million, Navratilova's training revolution and her last title at 49.

Test 1Chris and MartinaTake a test

  1. Her run lasted until 1986.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com); International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Chris Evert · recall

  2. She went on to win 157 singles titles.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com); International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Chris Evert · recall

  3. She was known for never showing nerves.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Chris Evert · recall

  4. Their programme of strength work and diet was new to tennis.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com); International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Martina Navratilova · recall

  5. She partnered Bob Bryan.

    Source: US Open official site (usopen.org); WTA (wtatennis.com) · recall

  6. Wills Moody had won eight.

    Source: Wimbledon.com, champions; International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

  7. She won the French Open and Wimbledon that summer.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com); International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Chris Evert · recall

  8. 1976, 1978, 1990 and 2006.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com); Wimbledon.com, champions · recall

  9. 1975, 1981, 1990 and 2006.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com); International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

  10. The press called it the 'love double'; the engagement was later called off.

    Source: Wimbledon.com, champions; International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

10.107Graf and Seles

Seles's rise and return, Graf's last major and her early farewell.

Test 1Steffi and MonicaTake a test

  1. She had won seven of the previous eight majors she entered.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com); International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Monica Seles · recall

  2. She returned in August 1995 and reached the US Open final.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com); International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Monica Seles · recall

  3. It was her ninth and last major title.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com); International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Monica Seles · recall

  4. She became a US citizen in 1994.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Monica Seles · recall

  5. She came back from a set and a break down.

    Source: Roland-Garros official site (rolandgarros.com); International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

  6. They had both won the French Open in 1999.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Steffi Graf · recall

  7. She was still ranked No. 3 in the world.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Steffi Graf · recall

  8. 1990, 1996, 1999 and 2001.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com); International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

  9. Five, nine and twenty-two.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

  10. She beat Steffi Graf in the final.

    Source: Roland-Garros official site (rolandgarros.com); International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

10.108The Williams Sisters

Venus's five Wimbledons and equal pay, Serena's Slams, a title won while pregnant and a farewell in New York.

Test 1Venus and SerenaTake a test

  1. She won in 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008.

    Source: Wimbledon.com, champions; WTA (wtatennis.com) · recall

  2. She had argued for equal pay in a newspaper essay the year before.

    Source: Wimbledon.com, champions; WTA (wtatennis.com) · recall

  3. It was her 23rd major singles title.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com), Serena Williams · recall

  4. She did it twice, in 2002-03 and 2014-15, but never in one calendar year.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com), Serena Williams · recall

  5. She was the first Black woman to win a major since Althea Gibson.

    Source: US Open official site (usopen.org); WTA (wtatennis.com) · recall

  6. Serena took over the top spot later that year.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com), rankings history · recall

  7. The match was played to a full house in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

    Source: US Open official site (usopen.org); WTA (wtatennis.com) · recall

  8. 1999, 2002, 2007, 2017 and 2022.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com); Wimbledon.com, champions; US Open official site (usopen.org) · recall

  9. Five, fourteen and twenty-three.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com) · recall

  10. They never lost a major doubles final together.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com) · recall

10.109New Champions, New Nations

First major titles for Japan, Canada, Poland and Latvia, a qualifier champion and an unseeded Wimbledon winner.

Test 1New facesTake a test

  1. She beat Serena Williams in the US Open final.

    Source: US Open official site (usopen.org); WTA (wtatennis.com) · recall

  2. She won the US Open at 19.

    Source: US Open official site (usopen.org); WTA (wtatennis.com) · recall

  3. She won the French Open without dropping a set.

    Source: Roland-Garros official site (rolandgarros.com); WTA (wtatennis.com) · recall

  4. Chris O'Neil had won it in 1978.

    Source: Australian Open (ausopen.com); WTA (wtatennis.com) · recall

  5. She had turned 20 two days before the final; it was her country's first major.

    Source: Roland-Garros official site (rolandgarros.com); WTA (wtatennis.com) · recall

  6. She beat Ons Jabeur in the final.

    Source: Wimbledon.com, champions; WTA (wtatennis.com) · recall

  7. It was her first major singles title.

    Source: US Open official site (usopen.org); WTA (wtatennis.com) · recall

  8. 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com) · recall

  9. Andreescu, Raducanu, Swiatek, Ostapenko and Osaka.

    Source: Atlas · recall

  10. She did not drop a set in ten matches.

    Source: US Open official site (usopen.org); WTA (wtatennis.com) · recall

10.110Mothers, Comebacks and Farewells

Champions who came back as mothers or after long breaks, and those who left at the top.

Test 1Coming back and saying goodbyeTake a test

  1. Goolagong Cawley's daughter was three at the time.

    Source: Wimbledon.com, champions; International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

  2. She grew up in Barellan, in New South Wales.

    Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Evonne Goolagong Cawley · recall

  3. She added the French Open that year and another Australian Open in 2002.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com); International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com) · recall

  4. She played her last matches at the end of that season.

    Source: US Open official site (usopen.org); WTA (wtatennis.com) · recall

  5. She said her body could no longer cope.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com); Wimbledon.com, champions · recall

  6. She was 25 and had just won the Australian Open.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com), Ashleigh Barty · recall

  7. She played her last match in 2017.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com), Kimiko Date · recall

  8. 1980, 2001, 2009, 2015 and 2022.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com); Wimbledon.com, champions; US Open official site (usopen.org) · recall

  9. 25, 33 and 46.

    Source: WTA (wtatennis.com) · recall

  10. She had come out of retirement only weeks before.

    Source: US Open official site (usopen.org); WTA (wtatennis.com) · recall

Sources

Primary/official sources only, no Wikipedia citations: the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the WTA, the majors' sites, the Associated Press. The Original 9, the WTA's founding, equal pay at the majors and the all-time records are asked in Knowledge Testing and left out on purpose.

  • Wimbledon.com, champions; International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com)13
  • US Open official site (usopen.org); WTA (wtatennis.com)9
  • International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Suzanne Lenglen7
  • International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Billie Jean King5
  • International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com)4
  • WTA (wtatennis.com)4
  • International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman3
  • International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com); Wimbledon.com, champions3
  • International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Helen Wills Moody3
  • International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Althea Gibson3
  • WTA (wtatennis.com); International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Chris Evert3
  • WTA (wtatennis.com); International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com)3
  • WTA (wtatennis.com); International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Monica Seles3
  • Wimbledon.com, champions; WTA (wtatennis.com)3
  • WTA (wtatennis.com); Wimbledon.com, champions2
  • Roland-Garros official site (rolandgarros.com); International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com)2
  • International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Steffi Graf2
  • WTA (wtatennis.com), Serena Williams2
  • WTA (wtatennis.com); Wimbledon.com, champions; US Open official site (usopen.org)2
  • Roland-Garros official site (rolandgarros.com); WTA (wtatennis.com)2
  • International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Molla Mallory1
  • International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Ellen Hansell; US Open official site (usopen.org)1
  • Wimbledon.com, champions1
  • International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Helen Jacobs1
  • International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Alice Marble1
  • International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Angela Buxton1
  • Associated Press; International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com)1
  • International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Maureen Connolly1
  • Wimbledon.com, champions; International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Doris Hart1
  • Sports Illustrated; International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com)1
  • Major League Baseball (mlb.com)1
  • International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com); Sports Illustrated1
  • Los Angeles Dodgers (mlb.com/dodgers)1
  • International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Chris Evert1
  • WTA (wtatennis.com); International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Martina Navratilova1
  • International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Monica Seles1
  • WTA (wtatennis.com), rankings history1
  • Australian Open (ausopen.com); WTA (wtatennis.com)1
  • Atlas1
  • International Tennis Hall of Fame (tennisfame.com), Evonne Goolagong Cawley1
  • WTA (wtatennis.com), Ashleigh Barty1
  • WTA (wtatennis.com), Kimiko Date1