[LKK]

MUDFORD, PHYLLIS
United Kingdom
Born 23 August 1905
Died 27 January 2006
Married Maurice Richard King, 30 April 1932

King (on right) with Polish player Jadwiga Jędrzejowska

 

[LKK]

MUIRHEAD, MOLLIE
Australia (Victoria)
Married a Mr Jackson by 13 March 1934

Victorian player of the 1920s and 1930s

 

[LKK]

MICHEL, "PEGGY" (Margaret Michel)
United States
Born 02 February 1949 in Santa Monica, California.
Active 1960s-76.

Major Doubles titles

Australian Open 1974 and 1975
Wimbledon 1974

Best known for 3 Grand Slam titles in doubles with Evonne Goolagong. Michel's aggressive serve and volley style was best suited to fast surfaces. Though usually seen as a doubles specialist, her singles game was good enough on grass to reach the 4R of Wimbledon in both 1969 and 1973.

In 1969 Peggy was also surprise finalist at Wimbledon with Patti Hogan-falling to seeds Margaret Court/Judy Dalton 7-5 6-2.

In 1970 she met Aussie coach Vic Edwards and his protegee Evonne Goolagong at Wimbledon. The connection proved fortuitous, "I learned more from them in three months than I did in the prior 8 years." Michel became best friends with Goolagong, often pairing with her in doubles.

It all came together in a magical spell in 1974 and 1975. Peggy and Evonne won the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 1974, following up the next year by repeating their Australian title. They also played World Team Tennis together-winning the WTT championships in 1974.

In 1975 a newspaper article mentions an impending marriage to Terry Chambers. This never happened. She helped the Triangles repeat as WTT champions in 1975, but was let go in 1976-the new coach (Edwards was coach in 1974 and 1975) citing her chronic shoulder trouble as the reason. Peggy disputed being injured at all and sued the team, which folded late in 1976.

On never playing the French due to World Team Tennis:

“Unfortunately, I never had a chance to player here,” Michel said. “When I played, World TeamTennis began May 1st and ended in August. Wimbledon was very important so the players were given two weeks off to compete; but for Roland Garros only one player from a team (in this case the Pittsburgh Triangles) was chosen to go, and Vitas Gerulaitis was selected.”

[From the ITA site]

Learning tennis on the public courts of Southern California, Michel entered Arizona State Univeristy in 1968 and was a collegiate singles an doubles finalist in her freshman year. Under Hall of Fame coach Anne Pittman, she helped lead the Sun Devils team to national titles in 1971 and 1972, and captured the doubles title both years.

Turning pro after graduation, Michel traveled to Australia where coach Vic Edwards paired her with his longtime student, Evonne Goolagong. The Michel-Goolagong duo took the world by storm, winning three Grand Slam events and heading up a championship Pittsburgh Triangles team in World Team Tennis. Staying in the game ever since, Michel coached the U.S. Young Cup senior team to four straight international victories from 1995-1998.

Career Highlights

• U.S. Collegiate Doubles Champion 1971, 1972
• U.S. Collegiate Singles Finalist 1968, 1971; Doubles Finalist 1968
• Team Member, U.S. Collegiate Championship Team, Arizona State University 1971, 1972
• Canadian Doubles Champion 1974, Finalist 1969
• Wimbledon Doubles Champion 1974, Finalist 1969
• Australian Doubles Champion 1974, 1975
• Queensland Lawn Tennis Open Doubles Champion 1974-1975
• New Zealand Hard Court Doubles Champion 1974-1975
• Australian Hard Court Doubles Champion 1974-1975
• New South Wales Hard Court Doubles Champion 1974-1975
• Western Australian Doubles Champion 1974-1975
• Team Member, Pittsburgh Triangles, World Team Tennis 1974-1975; Championship Winners 1975
• Team Captain, USTA Young Cup Team 1995-1998 (international competition for women 40 and over); Championship Winners 1995-1998
• B.A.’72 Arizona State University (Education)
• Inducted into the Arizona State University Sun Devils Hall of Fame 1975
• Outstanding Female Athlete, Dapper Dan Award, Pittsburgh 1975
• Twila Chilcott Memorial Volunteer of the Year Award, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Western Pennsylvania 1974

Sources:

"Tennis' Peggy Michel Finds Her Love Match"--The Pittsburgh Press, 08 February 1975
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19750208&id=rwscAAAAIBAJ&sjid=r1UEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4944,2384131&hl=en

"Peggy Michel Pushing Junior Tennis"--The Pittsburgh Press, 04 March 1977
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19770304&id=xlQdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=IVcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6952,712181&hl=en

MARGARET ?PEGGY? MICHEL | ITA Women's Hall of Fame

http://www.scta.usta.com/news/peggy_michel_–_in_paris/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggy_Michel [but note the career stats are wildly inaccurate]

Archive - Draws Archive : Peggy Michel - 2015 Wimbledon Championships Website - Official Site by IBM

[Thanks to LKK for this information]

 

[LKK]

MULLER, “FAY” (Esme Fay Muller)
Australia (Queensland)
Born 4 November, 1933 at Laidley, Queensland.
Married (1) Arden Arthur Robinson on 27 February 1960 in Brisbane
Married (2) Robert William Colthorpe on 27 February 1971 in Brisbane
Played the Aussie from 1952-58, 1960, 1963.
Nickname: "The Golden Girls of Queensland Tennis" (with doubles partner Daphne Seeney)
[Active 1952-1963]

1957 Australian Mixed Doubles champion with Mal Anderson.

She grew up "as a little girl in the bush" from Mooloola, in rural Queensland. Luckily Muller's talent enabled her to be chosen as part a "country squad" to train at proper facilities at Frew Park in Brisbane around 1946.Gar Moon coached there. Her 1948 Wilson Cup victory for Queensland in Sydney was her first time outside the state. Muller and Mary Schultz won the cup, a junior competition for girls versus the other states. The next year she helped Queensland repeat the Wilson Cup at Adelaide.

When she was selected to tour the world as part of a women's team in 1955 Fay was the first female from Queensland to ever go abroad in this capacity. She was joined by fellow Queenslander Daphne "Daph" Seeney.

Best in doubles, Fay and Daphne Seeney had a dream run to the Wimbledon doubles in 1956. They lost the final to Angela Buxton and Althea Gibson 6-1 8-6. Later that summer they won the prestigious German Championships in Hamburg. This was all done as a private tour as the Australian LTA wouldn't sponsor the women annually as it did for the men. With an upset of titleholders Mortimer and Shilcock on Court 1 ("my favorite court", Fay recalls) they found thrmselves surprise finalists. Ted Tinling made the Aussies special dresses put together the night before the final. In Muller's words, "I felt like Christmas." After a nervous start (it was their first time on Centre Court) they made a good effort in the second set.

There are a series of wonderful interviews online (see Interview with Fay Muller done by Frew Park YT Channel (former Milton Courts).) that shed light on her career.

Alan Little's "Wimbledon Compendium" (2013) has the same wedding day and the same place of marriage for both occasions.

Quality finishes in slams

Aussie singles QF 1955,56,58,60.
Aussie Doubles SF-1956, RU-1957, SF-1958, SF-1960
Aussie Mixed Champion in 1957 (w/Mal Anderson)

Wimbledon Doubles F (1956)

Fay and Jenny Hoad (on right) in 1955 at Wimbledon

Links and Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fay_Muller
"Australian Open player profile – Fay Muller". www.ausopen.com. Tennis Australia.
"Wimbledon player profile – Fay Muller". www.wimbledon.com. AELTC.

Interview with Fay Muller done by Frew Park YT Channel (former Milton Courts).

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/queensland-tennis-golden-girls-call-for-role-models-for-young-players-20150103-12hggn.html

[Thanks to Newmark for providing information on marriages and Wolbo for interview link]

 

[LKK]

MULLER, MARY (nee Mary Dorothy Van Zijl)
South Africa (West Province)
Born 15 September 1914 in Cape Town, South Africa.

Died 20 May 2001 in Cape Town, South Africa
Married William Frederick "Billy" Muller on 17 September 1938. Born 05 October 1908. He was alive at 100 in 2008.
Name Variant: Dorothy
[Active 1941-1953]

Only West Province native among females to win the South African Nationals, doing this twice, in 1946 and 1947. Won W. Province title in 1941, and 1947-50.

In 1947 Mrs Muller also won the Eastern Province Chmps, Hurlingham (England), and Villars (Switzerland). She competed at Wimbledon in both 1947 and 1948, making the QF at the 1947 event. The Wimbledon site lists her as Dorothy Muller. The overwhelming majority of sources call her "Mary" however.

She equals the Mrs Mary Muller who sailed from Southampton for Cape Town on June 15 1948.

In 1941 she first won the West Province Championships. Mary was active as late as 1953-winning the West Province doubles in that year. She was Capetown born and bred. The 1950 Dunlops even gives her address as "Greystones", Classens Road, Wynberg, Capetown.

Ranked #1 in South Africa in 1946. #5 in 1950.

Photo on page 61 of The South African Story. The caption calls her "An athletic player of great determination."

The following short piece on her husband also gives us information on Mary from
http://www.ictennis.net/NoticeBoard/...-birthday.aspx

Billy Muller is 100 not out.

Our congratulations to Billy Muller, a prominent figure in Capetown and a long-time member of the International Club of South Africa who, on 8th October last year, became the first member of the worldwide IC family to celebrate a 100th birthday.

This landmark was suitably celebrated last December with a party organised by IC Cape Chairman Mike Wolffe at ‘Greystones’, Billy’s home in the Constantia Valley, where his late wife Mary was
renowned for her gardening skills.

With his two daughters, Dot and Sue and his two sons Dirk and Nicky all present, as well as eight IC members, Mike Wolffe paid tribute to the contribution Billy had made to the Capetown
community throughout his business life as a director and part owner of the family company ‘Spilhaus’.

Encouraged by his father to enjoy the outdoor life, Billy developed a love of trout fishing and shooting as well as becoming an accomplished ballroom dancer. In later life he and Mary became
keen bridge players and Billy also discovered the joys and frustrations of golf. It was as a boy at ‘Hohenhort’, the original family home in Capetown built by his German-born grandfather, that Billy was introduced to tennis. In time he would join the Kelvin Grove Sports Club where he also discovered an aptitude for squash - a skill which earned him representative honours
for Western Province.

Perhaps the most significant decision Billy ever made was to join the Wynberg Tennis Club for it was there that he met Mary van Zijl, who would become his wife. The daughter of a prominent
Capetown family, Mary was already well known for her tennis prowess and it was no surprise when she became the South African champion [from Western Province] in 1947. That year she was chosen to join Eric Sturgess, Eustace Fannin and Sheila Summers in the South African overseas touring team that would play at Wimbledon.

The following year Mary returned to Wimbledon where she reached the fourth round. This time she was accompanied by Billy who also made an appearance at The Championships. In the singles Billy was beaten by the experienced British county player Gordon Fitt. In the doubles Billy played with Tiny Musgrove and they were unlucky to have been drawn against the top seeded Americans, Bob Falkenburg and Frank Parker, who saw them off in straight sets.

During this trip Billy met the British player Stanley Harris who would become a good friend. It was Stanley who proposed Billy for membership of the International Club.
There was much to celebrate at the 100th birthday party. The birthday cake itself was a subtle work of art. Shaped as an IC tie, it was blue instead of pink (blue for a boy) with the familiar stripes - thin, thick, thin - in white . In the centre was a simple ‘100'.

As he proudly cut the cake, it was good to think that tennis and the comradeship of International Club members, in South Africa and overseas, had enriched Billy Muller’s long and productive life
and helped him to celebrate this impressive milestone.

Sources:

Mr. Billy Muller of IC South Africa celebrates his 100th birthday > IC Tennis.NET

Biographical sketch of page 309 of the 1951 Dunlop Lawn Tennis Annual and Alamanck.

The Championships, Wimbledon 2018 - Official Site by IBM

gendatabase.com for South Africa provides dates for birth and marriage

[Thanks to Jimbo, Rollo, and Wolbo for this information]

 

[LKK]

MUNDEL, JENNIFER
South Africa
Born 20 January 1962
Married D. Reinbold

Used hyphenated name of Mundel-Reinbold after marriage.

 

[LKK]

MUNRO, CHARMIAN
Australia (NSW)
Married Jim Litchfield

Twice junior hard-court champion of NSW

 

[LKK]

MURDOCH, E or K
Australia (Victoria)

Player in 1929 Vic Champs draw

 

[LKK]

MYERS, ANITA
United States

Prominent San Francisco player circa 1910-11

 

[LKK]

NAESER, JENNY
Norway

1918 Norweigian Champ.

 

[LKK]

NAGELSEN, “BETSY” (Helen Elizabeth Nagelsen)
United States
Born 23 October 1956 in St. Petersburg, Florida
Married Mark Hume McCormack, 1 March 1986, deceased 16 May 2003
Height: 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
[Active 1973-1996]

Beat both Olga Morozova and Virginia Wade at her first pro event at Newport, Rhode Island in 1974. A back injury in 1975 sidelined her most of the season.

Nagelson won the doubles championship at the 1978 and 1980 Australian Opens (with Renáta Tomanová and Martina Navratilova). She reached the singles final of the 1978 Australian Open, losing to Christine O'Neil 6-3 7-6.

Nagelson's longevity was remarkable. She entered Wimbledon 23 consecutive years from 1974 to 1996.

Question: What a great tennis career you have had so far ! How old were you when you started playing and where did you play ?


I grew up in St. Petersburg Florida and when I was six years old my mom got invited to go watch a tennis tournament at the St. Pete Tennis center which was then called Bartlett Park. It was part of the Caribbean tour and attracted the best tennis players at that time. She took me and I got hooked then and there and begged for months for my mom to let me play tennis. A few months later she did and I’ve been playing ever since!
Question: Tell us about your Junior tennis — you were #1 in the Country !
In 1972 I won the 16 and under national’s and that same year lost in the finals of the 18 and under nationals and was co-ranked number one in the country.


Question: You had some great Doubles Wins as a player – is there one victory in particular that you enjoyed the most?

I did have some success in doubles as my game was more suited for it. I loved to serve and volley and it was also more fun with a partner. I want 2 grand slam doubles, one with Martina Navratilova, and got to the finals of Wimbledon one year losing a close one. Wendy Turnbull from Australia and I won the richest tournament at that time with all the greats in it and we each won a car. Some of my most fun doubles memories were in mixed doubles. One year in a Wimbledon semi final Scott Davis and I played up until then the longest match ever played losing to Martina Navratilova and Emilio Sanchez in a little over four hours. One year in a US open final Paul Annacone and I had a match point against Martina and Emilio again and lost that in three close sets. Peter Fleming and I won a world mixed doubles title which was also memorable.

Question: Your religion has always been a very important part of your life – how does your strong Christian faith help you in sports?


Yes, my relationship with the Lord has been the most important part of my life. I became a Christian at 16 and now many years later have found that His love for me and my wanting an ever closer relationship with Him has not only sustained me both through difficult circumstances but has helped me put things in proper order in a way that only knowing Him can do. I can not imagine any life which mine included competing seriously in a sport to dealing with the loss of a husband and being a single mom to all the other equally tough things people go through without the help from a perfect Savior.

Betsy is good friends with Monica Seles, and helped Seles get through the dark period following her 1993 stabbing in Hamburg.

Best singles ranking: #25
Best doubles ranking: #11

With the 2003 Invitational doubles trophy-partner Joann Russell is on the right.

Sources:

1978 World of Tennis, page 335.

http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/scores/draws/archive/players/486b9897-e846-49c1-83c3-cdccddba0f7e/index.html

BETSY NAGELSEN MCCORMACK | ITA Women's Hall of Fame

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betsy_Nagelsen

http://www.perfectgamefound.org/q-a-with-betsy-nagelsen-mccormack/

 

[LKK]

NASUELLI, "MARIA" (Anna-Maria Teresa Nasuelli)
Italy
Born 19 July 1947
Married Pierre Joly
[Active 1966-1980]

Winner: 1969- Athens, Catania; 1972- Athens;

Finalist: 1966- Deauville; 1969- Palermo, Reggio Calabria; 1971- River Plate Champs.; 1974- Mombasa;

Ranked #90 in 1975 computer rankings.
Perennial top 10 in Italian rankings, #4 in her country as late as 1979.

Source:

https://www.itftennis.com/procircuit/players/player/profile.aspx?playerid=20003697 (which lists her in error as Mara-Teresa Nasuelli)

 

[LKK]

NAUD, "PAT" (Patricia Naud)
United States
Born 1st June 1937 (source USLTA Yearbook And Tennis Guide 1956)
Married Brenton Lewis Mattes 18th June 1960 San Mateo, California. Divorced in September 1976.
[Active 1953-1957]

Went to San Mateo High School in California-class of 1954. Ranked #3 in US Girls ranking in 1955.

Sources Wimbledon Programme 29th June 1968

[Thanks to Rosamund for this information]

 

[LKK]

NAVRATILOVA,GABRIELA
Czech Republic
Born 2 June 1976
Married Chmelin

No relation to Martina.

 

[LKK]

SLAUGHTER, MARY (Mary H Slaughter)
United States
Born 26th September 1934, Charlottesville,Virginia

Played US Championships 1951 to 1954.

First woman to play a Varsity sport at University of Virginia 1954.

Later teacher at University of Illinois.

Sources

1952 USLTA Yearbook.

https://explore.lib.virginia.edu/exh...en-s-athletics

 

[LKK]

NAY, FRANCOISE
France

Also listed as F Ney Lemal. Played the French in 1960. Did she marry a Lemal?

 

[LKK]

NELSON, VICKI
United States
Born 25 September 1962
Married Keith Dunbar. Sons Ethan and Jacob, daughter Emily.

Went by name of Neslon-Dunbar after marriage.

In 1983 won a marathon 1R match at Richmond by score of 6-5 7-6 (13-11) over Jean Hepner. One rally lasted 29 minutes and 643 shots. The total match time was 6 hours 31 minutes. Won a tier IV event at Sao Paulo in 1986.

 

[LKK]

NEPPACH, NELLY (nee Nelly Bamberger)
Germany/Austria
Born 16 September 1898 in Frankfurt-am-Main.
Died 08 May 1933 in Berlin.
Married Robert Neppach (02 March 1890-18 August 1939) circa 1919
[Active 1910-1933]

The luckless Nelly Neppach was twice a victim of her heritage-first in being German, and then because she was Jewish.

A child prodigy as Nelly Bamberger, she won her first event in 1910 at the age of 12. World War One (1914 to 1918) severely stymied German tennis, as many struggled just for survival by 1918.

After the war she moved to Berlin and married Robert Neppach, who was Austrian by birth who was an architect and designer in expressionist German films. Her home club in Berlin was the Bororussia Club.

When peace came Germans like Neppach took up the game again to find themselves shunned as pariahs by other nations. Play was more or less limited to Germany. By the mid 1920s things were looking up-Neppach won the German Championships in 1925. She took home at least 8 singles titles in that year and ended as German #1. The next year she defied the ban on Germans and journeyed to the Riviera in France against the likes of Suzanne Lenglen and Helen Wills.

Though forced home by the German Federation, her actions helped to reintegrate Germans into the larger tennis community. As a result Neppach was able to play at the French Championships in 1927.

The Nazi takeover of 1933 would prove to be tragic. Jews such as Nelly found themselves systematically shut out of society. Jews could no longer enter tournaments. Depressed, she took her own life just weeks after Hitler came to power by swallowing poison in her Berlin flat.

Her Austrian husband fled to Switzerland where he remarried, but was unable to make a success as a film producer as he had in Germany. On 21 August 1939 he shot and killed his second wife, then turned the gun on himself.

German ranking:

1924: #2
1925: #1
1932: #9

Nelly (on left) next to Karel Kozeluch with Suzanne Lenglen on right at an 1925 Ausrtrian exhibition

Another photo from 1925

Memorial plaques for Nelly and her husband in Berlin-located near the location of their former house.

Sources:

Four Great Early German Female Lawn Tennis Players (Includes a translation by newmark of the Eichel article listed below and several photos)
https://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?t=696890

Eichler, Christian. "Ein Schicksal". In Deutscher Tennis Bund. Tennis in Deutschland. Von den Anfängen bis 2002. [Tennis in Germany. From the beginnings to 2002.] (in German). Berlin: Duncker & Humblot. pp. 122–123.

Eine Mutige Frau:
http://www.tebe.de/artikel2234.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelly_Neppach

https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/b.../12432824.html

[Thanks to Jimbo, Newmark, and Rollo for this information]

 

[LKK]

NERESHEIMER, HEDWIG
Germany/Hungary
Born circa 1885
Died
Married [] von Satzger (md by 1914)
Sometimes listed as N Neresheimer.

In the years circa 1906-12, this German-born player enjoyed much success in German tournaments and tournaments held on the French Riviera. She obtained a doctorate at some point – some German sources refer to her as “Frau Doktor Neresheimer” – though she probably wasn't a medical doctor. She married a Hungarian by the name of von Satzger (first name unknown) thus acquiring Hungarian nationality.

[Thanks to Mark for providing information on this player]

 

[LKK]

NETTLETON, "PAT" ( Patricia Margaret Nettleton)
New Zealand
Born 28 January 1935
Married Lester Guiney (31st May1930 to 16th December 1988) in 1962
[Active as early as 1953 to at least 1959]

Ranked #4 in NZ in 1953

Played singles Wimbledon 1958 and 1959 and French 1959 reaching 3rd round losing to eventual chamion Christine Truman.

Job was teacher.

Sources:

UK incoming passenger lists 1878 to 1960 within Ancestry? | Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records

Frederick Jehu Godden Barnard(Som) -Website Home
http://winsomegriffin.com/Barnard/FredJehuGoddenBarnard.html

http://www.ictennis.net/Portals/27/Newsletters/ICNZ Newsletter 60 February 2016.pdf

[Thanks to Rosamund for this information]