[LKK]

BEDORET, MONIQUE (nee Monique Delaby)
Belgium
Born 25 Ocotber 1932
Married Max Bedoret by 1955

Active as Mrs Bedoret as early as 1955. She played the US Nationals in 1964. Casals beat her at the 1969 Belgian Open.

 

[LKK]

BEEGLING, MARIE (Marie Ethel Blanche Beegling)
Australia (NSW)
Born 1900 in London, England, UK
Died 13 September 1968 in SydneyMarried Dr Clifford Henry on 27 September 1919 in Christ Church, Saint Laurence, Sydney
[Active ????]

[Thanks to Newmark for this information]

 

[LKK]

BEHR, BARBARA (nee Barbara E Costerton)
Great Britain
Born in Thanet, Kent 1921 (Born from October to December)
Died 22 June 2019 aged 98.
Married (1) Henry Edward Francis Behr (1920-1996), on 09 May 1944-divorced in 1955

Married (2) Riseley
[Active in 1939 and 1948-1950]

She competed at Wimbledon in 1948 and 1950, going 0-2 in singles and 0-1 in doubles.

By googling Barbara Behr and Rhodesia Rosamund found an entry from 28th July 2016 attached to a picture in her tennis playing days in which she says she is now Barbara Riseley and is nearly 95 and is living in Lincolnshire(electors register shows this is Skegness) She was still driving and playing bridge. She spent 34 years in South Africa and Rhodesia and returned to UK in 1985. (left UK in 1951)

On an entry on Ancestry.co.uk Rosamund found a South African Biographical Index for her former husband Henry Behr. They went to South Africa in 1951 and Rhodesia in 1955. They were divorced in 1955 and it says they had 3 sons and 2 daughters. In 1958 he married Christuane Marie Mai. Henry's dates are born 25th November 1920 and died in October 1996 in Kingston Upon Thames.

A photo from January 1939

Her date of death was supplied by nephew Paul Costerton.

[Thanks to Rosamund this information]

 

[LKK]

BELL, ALICE
Australia (Victoria)

In the 1923 Aussie draw. Her serve was a real liability.

14 Aug 1923 - THE CHAMPIONSHIPS. - Trove

[Thank to GeeTee and Rollo for this information]

 

[LKK]

ARMSTRONG, “DORA” (nee Theodora Mary Bell)
Great Britain
Born 25 February 1876
Died 06 December 1962
Married Blosse Richard Armstrong (1873-1954) in 1903
[Active 1905-1921]

Dora Bell was born in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, and died in Wivelsfield, East Sussex.

Her 6 defaults in singles are probably a record for the championships. She 'scratched' 6 times in her 8 singles appearances.

Dora's husband Blosse Richard Armstrong was a Scottish lawn tennis player active from 1903 to 1909. He was a solicitor by trade.

Wimbledon record

Singles: 0-2 and 6 defaults
Doubles: 7-5 (1921 semifinalist with Olive Manser)
Mixed: 8-5

Sources:

http://www.tennisarchives.com/player/?pl=9203

The Championships, Wimbledon 2018 - Official Site by IBM

 

[LKK]

BELLAMY, “DOT” (Dorothy Bellamy)
Australia (NSW/Vic)
Married Harold C Patton in 1938
[Active 1927-1935]

1927 Aussie quarterfinalist as the #8 seed. Dor dropped a 6-2 6-3 decision to #2 seed Esna Boyd.

 

[LKK]

BELLAMY, LYNN (Lynn M Bellamy)
Australia (New South Wales)
[Active 1961 to 1966]

Played the 1962 and 1964 Aussie and active as late as 1966, when she toured Europe.

Almost always listed as L Bellamy, Trove Australia yields up her first name.

 

[LKK]

BELLANDER, BRITT
Sweden
Born 1913
Married Erik Carlgren (1910-???) in 1936

 

[LKK]

BELLEGARDE, RHODA (Rhoda de Bellegarde de Saint Laury)
Italy
Born 8 August 1890 in Florence
Died 13 October 1918 in Stigliano
Nicknames: "Rhodina" or possibly "Theodina" (per Giano Clerici's book)

In 1913, Bellegarde, daughter of an official Savoyard settled in Florence, won the very first Italian female championship. She also won the Italian Championships held in Florence in 1914 but then died in 1918 of the Spanish flu epidemic while working as a nurse during World War I.

A cup that awarded the winners of the Team Championships in third category was dedicated to her name.

Her older sister sister Margherita also played tennis. They played the doubles together. For Margherita please see:
http://www.tennisforum.com/showpost.php?p=25568802&postcount=2235

Article in Italian (with pictures)
http://crifirenze.it/2008/10/90-anni-dalla-morte-di-sorella-rhoda-de-bellegarde-de-saint-lary/

[Thanks to Jimbo for information about this player]

 

[LKK]

BELLENS, ELZA (Elza Bellens)
Belgium
Born 14 May 1932
Nickname: "Els"
[Active 1953-1963]

A "Class B" player in the 1959 Belgain rankings as Elzra Bellens. She is sometimes listed as common nickname in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Els was once (1962) winner of the singles and twice doubles titlist (1961 and 1962). In 1963 she was part of Belgium's first Federation Cup team at Queen's in London.

Belgian Rankings (where known)

1959: Class B
1961: #4
1962: #2

Sources:

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

[Thanks to Peter2003 and Rollo for this information]

 

[LKK]

BELLIARD, EDITH
France
Married AndréCurdel, circa 1937-after the French.
[Active 1931-1938 and 1950]

Hailed from Rouen.

Played the French 1931-8. The New York Times still lists her as Miss Belliard at the 1938 French. She also appears in the 1950 French doubles draw as Mme Curdel.

Children Marie-Edith and Philippe.

Source:

André CURDEL - Arbre généalogique Matthieu BOULARD - Geneanet

[Thanks to Rollo for this information]

 

[LKK]

FORSELL, KARIN
Sweden
[Active in 1937-1938]

Ranked #10 in Sweden for 1938. We know that a Mlle Forsell entered the 1937 and 1938 Roland Garros Championships. At the 1938 French she lost easily to Nancye Wynne after serving up a slew of double faults. The Mlle Forsell in question is almost certainly Karin.

1938 'TENNIS', Daily Examiner (Grafton, NSW : 1915 - 1954), 7 June, p. 3. , viewed 02 Apr 2017, 07 Jun 1938 - TENNIS - Trove

[Thanks to Rollo for this information]

 

[LKK]

BELONENKO, NADEZHDA (Nadezhda Mitrofanovna Belonenko) (Russian: Надежда Митрофановна Славинская-Белоненко)
Soviet Union
Born 22 November 1911 in Tanganrog
Died 1964 in Moscow
Married Slavinski
[Active: circa 1931-1961]

She graduated from the Taganrog Aviation Technical School and started practicing in Taganrog in 1928. Belonenko became champion of North Caucasus in 1931 and 1932, champion (singles) of the Azov Sea[/url] and Black Sea region in 1934. She moved to Moscow in 1939.

Belonenko was a four-time champion of the USSR: 1948, 1949, 1950 (singles), and 1948 (doubles). She also reached the finals of USSR Championships twelve times: 1940, 1944–1946, 1951 (singles) and 1944–1945, 1947, 1949–1952 (doubles). 7-time winner of the All-Union Winter Competitions (1946–1949, 1951 and 1954 in singles and 1954 doubles). Champion of the All-Union Central Council of Professional Unions (ВЦСПС) in 1939, 1944–1945 in women singles, and in 1945 in doubles. Winner of the Estonia Open tournaments in singles and doubles in 1947–1948. 12-time Champion of Moscow in singles (1939, 1944–1946, 1947–1950, 1954–1955) and in doubles (winter of 1951). Winner of the Moscow Cup in 1947, playing for the Spartak sports society. Participant of several Moscow–Leningrad[/URL] matches, and matches with tennis players from Czechoslovakia (1938) and Hungary(1949). Belonenko coached at the Soviet Wings sports society from 1942 to 1946.

Belonenko was continuously included into the top ten USSR tennis players from 1943 to 1955, topping the rating three times - from 1948 to 1950.
She retired in 1961 and died in Moscow in 1964.

In the 1980s traditional annual memorial tennis tournaments (Мемориал Белоненко – Memorial Belonenko) were held in her home city.

Her Wikipedia bio (our main source):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadezhda_Belonenko

 

[LKK]

BELTRAME, ROBERTA
Italy
Born 19 April 1938 in Ferrara
Married Gerardo Bonardi
[Active in the 1960s]


Son Stephen.

Started tennis at age 12.

 

[LKK]

BENDER, MARGARITA
Chile/Ecuador
Born
Married Eduardo Zuleta circa 1964.

Eduardo (born 19 November 1935) was a tennis player from Ecuador.

 

[LKK]

BELZER, "ELS" (Elizabeth Belzer)
Netherlands
Born 10 May 1909 in the Hague, South Holland
Died 27 March 2003 in Bergschenhoek, South Holland
Married Hendricus Mattheus Antonius van Berkel (b 1905) on 22 September 1936 in The Hague
[Active 1930-1940]

Hendricus van Berkel was also a lawn tennis player.

In 1931 Els won the Dutch National mixed championships with Ody Koopman. Dutch #3 in 1932-the same year she played Wimbledon. Child of George M Belzer and Anna Wilhelmina le Roux. Her husband died before 2003.

Dutch Rankings (when known)

1930: #5
1932: #3
1934: #3
1937: #5
1938: #2

Belzer is the female holding the cup

[Thanks to Newmark and Rollo for this information]

 

[LKK]

BENNETT, EILEEN (Eileen Viviyen Bennett)
Great Britain
Born 16 July 1907 in Paddington, London
Died 06 November 1979 in Middleton Tyas, Richmond,Yorkshire.
Married (1) Edmund Owen Fearnley Whittingstall, 19 November 1929, Westminster, London, div 16 March 1936
Married (2) Marcus Maskell Marsh, 28 September 1936 in Chelsea, London, divorced
Married (3) Geoffrey Akroyd, 6 May 1947 in Westminster, London
Married (4) Carl Vyvyan (or Vivian) Forslind, 6 June 1957 in London
Had a daughter by second marriage born 7 March 1937 in London.-he gained custody of child in divorce suit.
[Active 1925-1935]

Touted as the most beautiful player of her day. Time magazine declared her the 'prettiest and best dressed of women tennis players'.

Bennett blew hot and cold-hitting winners galore on a good day and being very off on others.

Won at least 17 events from Cromer (1925) to Roehampton (1935)

Need to add Dan Maskell’s remarks on her.

Elegance in 1928. Miss Bennett prior to her 4 marriages

Sources:

Four Weddings and One Funeral, or, Eileen Bennett and the Biographer’s Difficulties (by Newmark)
Four Weddings and One Funeral, or, Eileen Bennett and the Biographer’s Difficulties - TennisForum.com

[Thanks to Newmark and Rollo for this information]

 

[LKK]

BENTIVOGLIO, "FRANCESCA" (Maria-Francesca Bentivoglio)
Italy
Born 27 January 1977 in Faenza
[Active 1992-94]

A meteoric presence who came and went like a shooting star. At Rome in 1993 she started in qualifying and made defeating Novotna and Zvereva on the way. She unexplicably withdrew from tennis the following year.

 

[LKK]

BENTLEY, RITA
Great Britain
Born 16 July 1931
Died 26 October 2016 in Hungerford, Berkshire, England
Married David Lauder in the last quarter of 1972 (Ancestry.co.uk)
[Active 1953-1968, 1970-1972]

A solid world top 20 player who never quite cracked the top 10. In 1963 Rita was seeded #7 at the Australian Nationals. She lived up to her seeding by reaching the quarters, where #1 seed Margaret Smith (later Court) beat her 6-1 6-3. Smith went on to win the title.

Bentley was a quarterfinalist at the US Nationals in 1967.

Bentley played Wimbledon 16 times in all. She never reached the last 8, with round of 16 showings in 1959 and 1960 the farthest she reached.

Rita was also a hockey international. in 2014 she was active in the ITF 80 and over age group for tennis.

Winner: Canadian Nationals-1966.

It is interesting to note that Rita was a Wightman Cup player of the 1960's and also a quarter finalist in the 1967 US Championships and her passing went by unnoticed. Unfortunately whilst tennis magazines of the past would have noted it , it tends not to be the case nowadays.

Wimbledon record (1953,1955, 1957 to 1968, and 1970 to 1972)

Singles: 19-16 (4R in 1959 and 1960)
Doubles: 10-16 (QF in 1964)
Mixed: 13-15 (QF in 1957 and 1960)

Sources:

http://www.itftennis.com/seniors/players/player/profile.aspx?playerid=45000041
Rita Lauder (nee Bentley) 1952, 1931 ? 2016 | IM Marsh

[Thanks to Rosamund for infomration on this player]

 

[LKK]

BENTZER, INGRID (nee Ingrid Lofdahl)
Sweden
Born 6 December 1943
Married Jan A Bentzer in 1969-separated-not known if they formally divorced.
1 daughter.
[Active in the 1960s and 1970s]