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#1,681 · (Edited by Moderator)
SAFINA, DINARA (Dinara Mikhailovna Safina)
Russia
Born 27 April 1986 in Moscow
Height: 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Career Span: 2000-2011.

Career record 360–173 (67.54%)
Career titles 12 WTA, 4 ITF
Highest ranking No. 1 (April 20, 2009)

Grand Slam results
Australian Open F (2009)
French Open F (2008, 2009)
Wimbledon SF (2009)
US Open SF (2008)
Olympic Games Silver medal (2008)

Daughter of Rausa Islanova, player from the early 1970s. Brother Marat won slams. Powerful off the ground, her emotional nature often got the better of her on court.

Appeared destined for a top 20 career when she broke out of the pack in 2008 and 2009. Though she reached #1 on the computer she never could win a major title. Back injuries led to difficulties in 2010 and early retirement in 2011, though she leaves open the possibility of a return.

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#1,682 · (Edited by Moderator)
MARJOLLET, PAULETTE
France
Married de Saint-Ferréol, circa 1932
Active at least 1928-1937

Winner: 1928 Nice; 1930 Monte Carlo (summer), Toulon; 1932 Cannes New Courts (summer); 1933 Monte Carlo (summer);
RU: 1931 Nice South of France Championships; 1933 Nice; 1935 Monegasque Championships; 1936 Cannes Championships, Cannes CLTC (summer).

Often listed as Mme St. Ferreol. Active at least until the 1937 French.

Active in the 1930s. Married as early as 1934.
 
#1,683 · (Edited by Moderator)
ST. GEORGE (SAINT GEORGE), FLORIS (Floris Eva Sterne St. George)
Australia (NSW)
Born July 1887 in Sydney, NSW, Australia
Died in 1968 in Sydney, NSW, Australia
Married Roland Conway (Stage name of actor James E Wayland) in Sydney on 16 April 1927

At the age of 38, traveling, at her own expense with the 1925 international team, she did surprisingly well on tour - particularly in doubles.

An actress herself, Floris wed fellow actor Roland Conway in 1927.

As Mrs Conway, she became one of the first women officials with the NSW and Australian LTAs. Today, schoolgirls in Sydney compete for the Floris Conway Cup.

Today her photo clipping are held by the University of Sydney.

Per GT: I suspect he [Wayland] changed his name by deed poll.

Mrs St. George at Wimbledon in 1925

Image



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Source:
https://sydney.edu.au/museums/collections/photography/work-and-leisure.shtml

[Thanks to GeeTee for this biography]
 
#1,684 · (Edited by Moderator)
SAINT-OMER-ROY, COSETTE
France
Born 16 March 1902 in Alès
Died 14 September 1985 in Cannes
Married probably Rigaud
Name variant: St-Omer-Roy
[Active 1926-1946]

French doubles champion with Alice Weiwers in 1941, 1942, and 1943. Her name was often abbreviated to St. Omer-Roy

Cosette was a member of the Cannes Tennis Club.

Active as early as 1926 on the Riviera, where she faced Helen Wills at the famous tournament in Cannes at the Carlton Hotel. Cosette was thrashed by Wills despite her good forehand, declaring that no woman hit as hard as Wills. She must have been small in stature, as an article from 1926 calls her "petite". Quite active on the Riviera, it is a mystery why she waited so many years to compete at the French Championships.

The lull may perhaps be explained by her role as manager and ambassadress of the Cannes Martinez Club in 1932-a club that hosted many celebrities.

First competing at Roland Garros in 1938, she was a semifinalist in the 1939 doubles with Alice Weiwers of Luxembourg. That same year she entered the doubles at Wimbledon with Weiwers-her steady partner. In 1941 they were French doubles champions-taking the title over Aimee Charpenel/Jacqueline Vives 6-3 6-4. They repeated as champions in 1942 and 1943-the last a tough 3 setter over Genevieve Grobois/Claude Manescau 3-6 9-7 7-5. During these years under German Occupation the tournament was known as the Tournoi de France.

Sources:

Cosette Saint-Omer-Roy - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

matchID - Moteur de recherche des décès

Moteur de recherche gratuit des décès en France, basé sur la source des fichiers des personnes décédées INSEE (1970 à aujourd'hui). Ce moteur est utilisé pour la généalogie ou l'identification des décès dans les fichiers clients'
deces.matchid.io deces.matchid.io

"French Tennis Star Felt More Inferior Against Helen Wills Than Lenglen', in the Reading Eagle, 14 February 1926.
Reading Eagle - Google News Archive Search

http://www.cannestennis.com/cannestennisclubhistorique.html


[Thanks to Rollo for this information]
 
#1,688 · (Edited by Moderator)
SALNIKOVA, JULIA (Julia Sergeyevna Salnikova)
Soviet Union/Russia/Greece
Born 13 August 1964 in Moscow, Russia
Married Apostolos Tsitsipas circa 1996
[Active 1978-74]

Daughter of the Soviet (Russian) football player and manager Sergei Salnikov (1925-84). Apostolos Tsitsipas is also a former tennis player. His and Julia’s eldest son, Stefanos Tsitsipas, broke into the world’s Top 100 earlier this year (2017).

The following extract is taken from an interview Julia Salinikova gave to the Italian website spaziotennis.com in 2015. The text can be accessed in full at the following link Julia Salnikova: ?Vi presento Tsitsipas e non solo..? ? SPAZIO TENNIS

By Luca Brancher

“I played a great deal at national level, and around the age of 16-17, I became the Russian number one. But I also had modest results abroad, in the form of three finals in continental youth championships. At the age of 20, however, I decided to stop playing in order to devote myself to studying, and attended Moscow State University, where I was a student in the Faculty of Journalism [graduating in 1990]. After that, I tried to resume playing tennis, especially in Europe, and I reached a position close to number 100 in the rankings.”

However, times had clearly changed. “It’s all very different, the level is now dizzyingly higher, but it’s noteworthy that after a period of widespread growth and popularity, there are less and less conditions in which everyone is able to compete. There are basically two big differences between the conditions today and the conditions when I competed – the greater attention paid to the athletic side of things, and the fact that there is a team of specialists around each player, not just a coach.”

We are particularly curious about the fact that, in her opinion, there are limited opportunities for tennis players, and we ask that she explain why this is so in greater detail.“It is ridiculous that tournaments for professionals, such as the ITF circuits, don’t guarantee the provision of hospitality.” Ah, the old dilemma…

For more on Julia Salnikova (in Russian), see here: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90...B2%D0%BD%D0%B0

[Thanks to Newmark for this information]
 
#1,689 · (Edited by Moderator)
SALO, THELMA (nee Thelma Löfgren)
Finland
Born 1921
Died 1999
Married Sakari Salo (December 21, 1919 - December 13, 2011 Espoo) by 1946

Active in the 1940s and 1950s. Stil single in 1940 when she won Finnish Chmps. Married by 1946 when she wins mixed with husband. Her husband Sakari played Davis Cup for Finland. A 2011 exhibition on Finnish tennis history featured the 240 Finnish championship medals won by Thelma and Sakari.
 
#1,695 · (Edited by Moderator)
SAMPSON, “JULIE” (Julia Ann Sampson)
United States
Born 2 February 1934
Died 27 December 2011 in Newport Beach, California
Married Daniel A. Hayward, 4 October 1958-divorced, May 1975
[Active 1951-1959]

Connolly’s autobiography Forehand Drive indicates she went by Julie. A Southern Californian like Maureen "Mo" Connolly, teen Sampson was picked by Perry Jones to accompany Mo to Australia. The trip Down Under proved to be the highlight of Julie's career.

As the second seeded foreign player, Hayward reached the singles final of the 1953 Aussie, losing to Connolly 6–3, 6–2. She later made the QF at Wimbledon that year. Hayward and Rex Hartwig teamed to win the mixed doubles title at the 1953 Australian Championships. Hayward and Hartwig reached the mixed doubles final at the 1953 U.S. Championships, losing to Hart/Seixas 6–2, 4–6, 6–4.

Connolly and Sampson teamed to win the women's doubles title at the 1953 Australian. At both the French and Wimbledon in 1953 Julie and Mo lost in the final to Fry/Hart. The score in the Wimbledon final was 6–0, 6–0, which was the only double bagel in the history of Wimbledon women's doubles finals. At the 1953 U.S. Championships, Connolly and Sampson again lost to Fry/Hart and Irvin, this time in the semifinals 6–4 6–3.

She was ranked tenth in the year-end rankings issued by the USTA for 1952 and 1953.

After 1953 Julie would never enter another grand slam. College would seem to be the most likely reason; from 1954 to 1956 she limited herself to Californian events while attending the University of Southern California. In the spring of 1957 she played the European clay circuit but did not enter the French or Wimbledon. After her marriage in 1958 Julie would retire in 1959 and go on to raise 3 children.

The net was much favored by Sampson. Under pressure she could at times be erratic. In full flight her strong serve and smashes got her past all but the best in 1953; her game never really challenging Connolly, who drove through Sampson at net with sizzling passing shots.

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#1,696 · (Edited)
SAN DONNINO, “WALLY” (Maria Valeria San Donnino)
Italy
Born 1910
Died 1987
Never married

[Active as early as 1937 to at least 1949]

Name sometimes wrongly written Sandonnino. She had a strong topspin backhand.

She was a marquise, and during WWII was commander of the auxiliaries of the Italian Waffen-SS. Later she was a severe tennis teacher, always dressed in black, with two dachshunds on the leash. She taught Adriano Panatta.

Archivio Corriere della Sera

Her ancestors were possibly Jewish, later being converted to Christianity.
Her family house, Villa San Donnino, near Modena and at present a farm of balsamic vinegar, is an Art Nouveau villa, that appears in Bernardo Bertolucci's movie "Novecento" (in English "1900").
VillaSanDonnino.com is for sale | HugeDomains
Modena** Villa San Donnino

"Wally was my mother's cousin. She is buried in the cemetery of the little town of Sandonnino, a few kms from Modena, Italy. She belonged to an originally Jewish family of Modena . Her grand grand grandfather (trisavolo, in italian) Pier Paolo Sandonnini was originally called Sanson Sanguinetti and converted to Christianity in 1815. She was NOT a a marquees but her family was a very rich family of the high middle class of Modena. It had a palace in Modena and landed properties and a villa in Sandonnino, now called Lonardi-Sandonnino villa (because the owner now is Mr. Lonardi who has an acetaia, vinegar factory ) that was built by Wally's father, Claudio, in 1911. He also founded the Modena Tennis Club in 1909. You can find informatin about villa Lonardi Sandonnino here in english: Villa San Donnino - Acetaia villa San Donnino. The information that I have written here are partially unpublished informations that I found studying my ancestors for an hostorical reasearch made with a relative of mine who was a descendant of the Sandonninis like me. Their surname varies in San Donnino, Sandonnino and Sandonnini, but it’s the same family." [Information by Librellula]

Wally entered the French Championships in 1949.

Tournament Wins and Finals

Winner: 1940- Wiesbaden;

Finalist: 1938- Roma, Wroclaw; 1939- Genoa; 1940- Palermo;

She won the Italian National Doubles in 1937 '38 '39 '41 '42, and the Mixed in '37.

L to R: San Donnino and Vittoria Tonolli

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[Thanks to Jimbo for this biography and to Librellula for above clarification and additional details]
 
#1,697 · (Edited by Moderator)
SANCHEZ-VICARIO, “ARANTXA” (Aranzazu Isabel Maria Sanchez)
Spain
Born 18 December 1971
Married (1) Joan Vehils, 21 July 2000-divorced
Married (2) José Santacana, 12 September 2008
Nicknames: "The Barcelona Bumblebee", "ASV"
Height: 5' 6"
Trademarks: a ball holder

Started tennis at the age of 4, following in the footsteps of brothers Emilip and Javier Sanchez. Arantxa later added her mother’s name of Vicario to honor her. Throughout her career mama was a constant presence at all matches.

The 4 time slam champion was deadly on clay. 3 times a winner of the French Open at Roland Garros (1989, 1994, and 1998) she added the US Open to her slam tally in 1994. Those 4 wins in slam finals came against the likes of Steffi Graf and Monica Seles. More often Sanchez was a bridesmaid in slam finals as a runnerup on 8 occasions. 12 slam finals were against Steffi Graf. The two wins Sanchez had over the German were memorable-Arantxa cam from 3-5 down in the set to capture her first French in 1989, at also came from behind at the 1994 US Open vs Steffi.

The 1995 Wimbledon final was the most famous encounter in the long Sanchez-Graf rivalry. Steffi won out 7-5 in the third in a match for the ages.

Talkative and combative, her never say die attitude won the smiling Spaniard hordes of fans. At one point ASV had two dogs by the names of Roland and Garros.


ASV often moonballed to break up the rhythm of foes. This tactic often earned her boos from crowds. The Spaniard paid them no heed and often was rewarded for her tactics.


Sanchez and Conchita Martinez were never good friends, but the pair helped led Spain to 5 victories in the Federation Cup in 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1998.

The last few years have been marred by familial conflict. Arantxa accused her family of stealing millions of dollars from her accounts. At the recent death of her father in early 2016 she was prevented from attending his funeral service.



Image


Sources:

https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/arantxa-sanchez-vicario/

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