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Blast Encyclopedia of Female Tennis Players

654K views 6K replies 43 participants last post by  Peter2003 
#1 · (Edited)
Welcome to the Blast Encyclopedia of Female Tennis Players. While this is very much a work in progress, we intend to create an A to Z Encyclopedia of women who have played competitive tennis.

Finding players:

Players are listed from A to Z alphabetically by last name. Thus Daphne Akhurst will be listed alphabetically under "Akhurst".

Daphne also played under her married name of Cozens. Cozens will be redirected to look under "Akhurst".

Example of the entry for Akhurst:

AKHURST, Daphne Jessie (Australia) [22 April 1903-9 Jan 1933] [Mrs. Royston Stuckey Cozens, from 26 Feb 1930] [Active 1919-31]

Last Name, First and Middle names. (Country) [Date of Birth-Date of Death] [other identities] [Years active]

Finding more biographical details,links, and pictures:

Notice the underlined name here: AKHURST, Daphne Jessie. Clicking on the name will work as a hyperlink, and will take you to a fuller biography.

Please enjoy using this as we grow, and don't hesitate to contact us with corrections, suggestions, pictures, or new entries.

Finding names by letter:

[Aa-Al] [Am-Az]
[Ba-Bh]
[Bi-Bo] [Br-Bz]
[Ca-Ch]
[Ci-Co] [Cr-Cz]
[Da-Dn] [Do-Dq] [Dr-Dz]
[E]
[Fa-Fl]
[Fm-Fq] [Fr-Fz]
[Ga-Gl]
[Gm-Gz]
[H-Ha]
[Hb-He] [Hf-Hq]
[Hr-Hz]
[I]
[J]
[Ka-Kh] [Ki-Kz]
[La-Lh]
[Li-Lz]
[Ma]
[Mb-Mi] [Mj-Mz]
[N]
[O]
[Pa]
[Pb-Ph] [Pi-Pz]
[Q]
[Ra-Rg]
[Rh-Ri] [Rj-Rz]
[Sa]
[Sb-Sf] [Sg-Sl] [Sm-Ss] [St] [Su-Sz]
[Ta-Tn]
[To-Tz]

[U]
[Va] [Vb-Vz]
[Wa]
[Wb-Wh] [Wi] [Wj-Wz]
[X]
[Y]
[Z]


In memory of William "Rollo" Rollins (1965-2021), a tennis historian, our friend and co-worker.
 
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#1,071 ·
Added

PUTNAM, LOIS
United Kingdom
Born 1885 in Dagnall, Buckinghamshire, England
Died 23 October 1962 in Pennsylvania, United States
Married Rowland Hawker in 1910 in Lymington, Hampshire, England.

There is an E.B. Hawker who played Wimbledon in 1906 and 1907, but there is no known connection to this person and Lois.

http://www.tennisforum.com/showpost.php?p=29824577&postcount=2640
 
#1,073 ·
Added entry at:

RETALLACK, JOAN
United Kingdom
Born 1875 in Saint Enoder, Cornwall, England
Died 25 November 1937 in Budleigh Salterton, Devon, England

Did not marry. Joan Retallack had a long association with the Exmouth Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club where, in addition to talking part in tournaments, she was involved in the administrative side of things. She never competed at Wimbledon.

http://www.tennisforum.com/showpost.php?p=29824585&postcount=2641
 
#1,074 · (Edited)
We already had an entry for Manser. Thanks for adding to it Mark. Note that I do want to clear up a minor issue with her middle name just in case there was more than one Olive Manser.


MANSER, OLIVE (Olive Braikenridge Manser)
United Kingdom
Born 1885 in Tunbridge Wells, England
Died 27 December 1965 in Saint-Georges-de-Didonne, Charente-Maritime, France

Did not marry. Note we originally had Olive N Manser rather than middle name of Braikenridge. Double check this.

Wimbledon record (competed in 1910, 1912-1913, 1919-20 and 1922).
She entered all 3 events every year after 1910 and 1912, when she competed in the singles only.

Singles: 3-6
Doubles: 8-4 (Seminfinalist in 1914 with Armstrong, falling in 3 sets to Chambers/Sterry), and QF in 1919
Mixed Doubles: 3-4
http://www.tennisforum.com/showpost.php?p=25491730&postcount=1212
 
#1,089 · (Edited)
Hi Rollo:
Could you combine these 2 bios in the post No. 266 ?
http://www.tennisforum.com/showpost.php?p=25279490&postcount=266
http://www.tennisforum.com/showpost.php?p=29155105&postcount=2573

----
Conflicting information in the post No. 265:
http://www.tennisforum.com/showpost.php?p=25279426&postcount=265
Did not marry. Probate was granted to Barclays Bank and Wilfred L. Hollick, retired stockbroker and retired tennis player, husband of Ada Margaret (Spencer), herself a former tennis player who appears in several draws as "Mrs W.L. Hollick".

Known as "Miss G. Bracewell", who also took part in lawn tennis tournaments, usually at the same time as her sister Margaret, with whom she appears in several draws. It is possible that Margaret was actually the latter player's second name, but, as sometimes happens, that she had become known by that name, like other players such as (Edith) Maud Shackle and (Florence) Angela Mortimer.

The early Censuses of England and Wales contain biographical information on a Bracewell family with several children, including two daughters, Emily Margaret and Gertrude Mary. These two girls were the daughters of Edmund Bracewell, a cotton manufacturer, and his wife Jane, and were born six years apart, in Gargrave in Yorkshire. (The Bracewell sisters took part in tournaments in several of the Yorkshire tournaments during their lawn tennis careers.)

Both sisters latter married, (Emily) Margaret’s husband being a George Moore...

---
Again two bios for one player (the post No. 1900 is already linked, so combine info in it):
http://www.tennisforum.com/showpost.php?p=25515906&postcount=1990
http://www.tennisforum.com/showpost.php?p=29154929&postcount=2561

Was her middle name May or Mary ?
 
#1,094 ·
Paula Smith
United States
Born 10 January, 1957

A doubles specialist who was the lesser known of two Smiths on tour during the late 70's/80's, Paula was widely known for her fun, carefree attitude on and off court. Paula rarely made an impact on a singles tournament, yet she reached the French Open final in women's doubles in 1981 with Candy Reynolds and was seeded as high as #5 with Reynolds in both Wimbledon and US Open events in the early 80's. She won 10 doubles titles in her career with partners such as Reynolds, Anne Smith, Pam Shriver and Betsy Nagelsen, and reached the French mixed final in 1985 with Francisco Gonzalez.
 
#1,095 ·
Sandy Collins
United States
Born 13 October 1958

A good doubles player who reached a high doubles ranking of #17, Sandy also reached #28 in singles. She played 17 consecutive US Opens from 1978 until 1994. She reached 18 doubles finals in her career and won four of those. In 1991, Sandy reached the quarterfinals of both the French Open (w/ Mary Pierce) and the US Open (w/ Rachel McQuillan) along with three other Slam semifinals. Her career results show a revolving door of doubles partnerships.
Sandy was recognized by Oakley Sunglasses and became the first tennis player to be endorsed by the company. After retirement, Sandy coached at several colleges and universities, including being the Head Tennis Coach at Texas Tech University.
She is currently the Assistant Director Events Management at Texas Tech University.
 
#1,096 · (Edited)
Discovered Mozilla Firefox-now I can edit at home. Yippee!

Fixed Margaret Bracewell LKK-but still need to find out Grace's spouse. I will ask Mark or follow his trail.

Catherine Prescott merged into one file at:
http://www.tennisforum.com/showpost....postcount=1990

I will check on her middle name when I can get into ancestry.

Chris Koutros added at:
http://www.tennisforum.com/showpost....postcount=2573


I will find and add info for brenda kirk-thanks Jimbo

Originally Posted by LKK
KIRK, Brenda (South Africa) [11 Jan 1951- ] [Mrs. Dimitriou] [Active 1970s.]

Married Dimitriou, circa 1974
 
#1,097 · (Edited)
#1,098 ·
HOLLADAY, TERRY (updated)
United States
Born 28 November 1955
Married (1) ??, divorced 1985
Married (2) Philip Arthur Higginbottom (1947-2009)
Active in the late 70s and 1980s

Tour player in the 70s/80s, Holladay was ranked #10 for the year 1976 in World Tennis. She was often ranked in the top 20 in the late 70s. She had one 4R appearance at the US Open and two 4R showings at Wimbledon in her career. 1976 was her best year. She had three semifinal appearances on winter VS circuit where she lost a 3-setter to Evert at Detroit and defeated Navratilova in her run at San Francisco. She also qualified for the inaugural Colgate series championship (the richest women's tennis event to date), and navigated through an upset-filled draw to reach the semifinals where she lost to Francoise Durr. In 1977, she reached the finals of the VS of Dallas, where she lost to Sue Barker, and Tokyo in 1980 where she defeated Wendy Turnbull before losing to Billie Jean King. She won a minor tournament, the Pacific Coast Indoors, in 1977 over Mona Schallau Guerrant.

Perhaps Terry's most famous accomplishment in the tennis world was the Terry Holladay Rule, the WTA's maternity leave policy. In 1982, Holladay gave birth to her daughter Tasha. In 1983, the WTA gave her special entry into six tournaments so she could earn a computer ranking. The maternity leave policy that developed from this was named after Holladay.
 
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