Lenglen: The Goddess Does New York

The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Or so "they" say.


At the very least, one of the drawbacks of being a legendary athlete is that, for better or for worse, one's relatively few big-stage defeats are sometimes more memorable than their many (more) triumphs.

One of Serena Williams' most fabled matches was her loss to Roberta Vinci in the 2015 U.S. Open semis with a true Grand Slam just two victories from her grasp. The memories of Steffi Graf's many major wins are punctuated by -- let's be honest -- her "far more interesting," both historically and otherwise, losses to the likes of Monica Seles (in pre-stabbing slam finals) and Lori McNeil (in the 1st Round of the '94 Wimbledon). And who can forget Martina Hingis' tear-streaked loss to Graf (Roland Garros final) and stunning defeat at the hands of a 16-year old Jelena Dokic (Wimbledon 1st Rd.) in 1999?

Suzanne Lenglen's history is no different.


La Divine, while a worldwide sensation in her day, constructed her legend while playing almost exclusively in Europe. In fact, she only played in the U.S. National Championships (the forerunner of the U.S. Open) once in her entire amateur career.

Oh, but hers was a memorable debut.

Right "on brand," the moment occurred during a period that included a trip to North America that was both an odd sensation and a headline-grabbing event that included a high profile meeting with naturalized U.S. star Molla Bjurstedt Mallory that was preceded by an ongoing mystery and ultimately devolved and spiraled into a controversy that threatened to rob Lenglen of both her perceived "invincibility" and unofficial title as the beloved and celebrated "Goddess."





While Lenglen's tennis story persists to this day, Bjurstedt Mallory's entry into The Goddess' career timeline allows the Norwegian-born U.S. star, a Hall of Famer and a record eight-time U.S. Championships winner in her own right, an opportunity to be remembered.


Born in Norway in 1884, fifteen years before Lenglen in Compiègne, France, Bjurstedt won the Norwegian National Championship eight times. A Bronze medalist at the 1912 Olympics, she visited and soon emigrated to the United States in 1914 at age 30. She settled in New York City in 1915, essentially set to work as a masseuse although she was already known as one of the best amateur players in the world after having competed throughout Europe.

The move across the Atlantic proved to be an advantageous one, as the start of World War I meant a temporary exit of tennis from the European sports stage. In North America, though, the game played on. Bjurstedt soon became the dominant U.S. woman in the sport, and won the first four U.S. National Championships (in what would later become the U.S. Open) from 1915-18.

A naturalized U.S. citizen, she married stockbroker Franklin Mallory in 1920.

Early in her U.S. career, one sportswriter described Mallory as "a panther stalking her prey." Her game didn't utilize as many tools as the multi-faceted one of Lenglen, nor was it viewed as conventionally "beautiful." If Lenglen's all-court game was rightly described as gracefully "balletic," Mallory's was essentially built upon power and endurance. One of the first women in the sport to focus on putting tremendous pace on her shots, she hit far harder than any other female player of her day and depended predominantly on a huge forehand shot in the style of many of the current age's big hitters. With that, her fighter's disposition, endurance and speedy court movement made up for a surprisingly poor serve and anemic backhand stroke that she generally used only for defensive purposes. Mallory rarely ever moved toward the net except when drawn there by an opponent's drop shot, and instead concentrated on passing shots rather than volleys. No less than Billie Jean King called her "a thunderous backcourt player."

Bob Kelleher, a former USTA president and a ball boy during Mallory's matches, said of her, "She looked and acted tough when she was on the court hitting tennis balls. She walked around in a manner that said you'd better look out or she'd deck you. She was an indomitable scrambler and runner. She was a fighter." Mallory's Hall of Fame site biography describes her this way: "Mallory’s game was founded on fitness, strength, and size. She could play longer, hit harder, and move around the court better than her opponents. She played with supreme confidence and focus and attacked every rally as if it were match point."

Mallory's forehand was both feared and renowned, perhaps quite like Steffi "Fraulein Forehand" Graf's same shot more than half a century later. She took balls on the rise and fired shots into the corners, keeping her opponents on the run, and eventually wearing them down. She was openly disdainful of players who couldn't keep up. "I find that the girls generally do not hit the ball as hard as they should," Mallory once stated, adding, "I believe in always hitting the ball with all my might, but there seems to be a disposition to 'just get it over' in many girls whom I have played. I do not call this tennis."

In 1922, a Vanity Fair article that celebrated the improvement over time of Mallory's backhand called her naturally-discovered forehand "the greatest stroke of its kind ever wielded by a woman."


Though they didn't get along, off court Lenglan and Mallory *were* similar in many ways. Both were fierce competitors to which losing was akin to torture and death. The athletic Mallory, who was known to sport a perpetual tan, gravitated toward the vices of the day (she smoked regularly) and loved to spend her nights dancing, even if it was the evening before a big match. She was often described as the "Fighting Norsewoman." While Lenglen's fashion choices (such as her calf-length Wimbledon dress and loose-fitting attire) "shocked" Europe, Mallory wore similar attire in the U.S. while hardly causing a similar fuss.

Forever outspoken, Mallory expressed a belief that, because of the general lack of fitness of players as a group, a volleying game was not sustainable for a female in a long match, saying "I do not know a single girl who can play the net game." After her playing career, her opinions only grew stronger. In 1955, she called the female players of the day "sissies" who "lack vigor."


Lenglen opened the 1921 season the way she always did, by dominating. On the Riviera circuit, she won a total of twenty-one titles, eight in singles alone (plus six in WD, and seven in MX). She lost just one overall match, via a 3rd set retirement in mixed doubles with Swiss Charles Aeschlimann.

" At Saint-Cloud... Lenglen experienced for the first time the unusual and unwarranted animosity of Americans. The United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) had sent Bill Tilden and Mallory to the French tournament as a friendly gesture in the hope that the French Tennis Federation [Fédération Française de Tennis/FFT] would reciprocate and send Lenglen to America in late summer. Before the tournament Lenglen ventured by the practice courts and sat to watch Tilden practice against Mallory. Lenglen was completely unaware at the time that Tilden, who was upset by what he considered to be the outlandish newspaper reports describing Suzanne's athletic skill, was spoiling for a match with her. "Some amazing and ridiculous statements had been printed," Tilden said, "holding that Suzanne was equal or superior to any man playing tennis." He wanted to end such speculation as soon as possible. Now with Lenglen he saw his chance. "I was hitting rather badly and the thought came to me that if I looked enough off my game, Suzanne might ask me to play her," Tilden recalled. "I proceeded to be really lousy and sure enough Suzanne called on me."

Word spread quickly through the grounds that Suzanne Lenglen was going to play a set against "Beeg Beel." The reporters arrived en masse to witness the fireworks." [from The Goddess and the American Girl, by Larry Engelmann. 1988]

Tilden, known to have been angry about the French woman stealing away attention from him in the press, mercilessly throttled Lenglen, winning 6-0. When he asked if she wanted to play another set, she refused, saying he hit too hard.

" The reporters rushed on to the court to question Lenglen. She answered their questions by stating, "Yes, Mr. Tilden and I played, but whether he won six game or I did, I really don't know." [Engelmann]

In the finals of the event, Lenglen faced Tilden's good friend Mallory, already 36, for the first time. Because of La Divine, the tournament was the most popular in France. 5000 spectators were turned away after tickets were sold out.

" Mallory was not at her best in France, where the slow clay courts and soft tennis balls neutralized her power. Lenglen studied the American champion's style through the week of the tournament and concluded that, if she merely returned Mallory's shots, Mallory would find some way to beat herself. But just before Suzanne entered the court to play, Tilden walked to her and announced, "No woman in the world can beat Mrs. Mallory today!" Suzanne turned on him and snapped back, "America had its day yesterday! This is France's day!" And she was right." [Engelmann]

Though suffering from painful blisters on her foot that limited her mobility and concentration, Lenglen defeated Mallory in straight sets, 6-2/6-3. She'd trailed 2-3 in the 2nd, with Mallory holding a break point. Her confidence shaken, Lenglen looked to her father in the stands. He sternly glared back and remained silent.

" She then stopped the game and complained about her feet. She hobbled slowly to the umpire's chair, Tilden believed, "with the obvious intent of defaulting." But Papa would have none of it. He jumped to his feet and roared loudly for everyone to hear, "Go back and finish! Go back and finish or I'll disinherit you!" Suzanne gave a long rueful look to Papa and then turned and walked back onto the court." [Engelmann]

Lenglen's slow serves began to cause Mallory to overhit her returns. With her timing off, Mallory went for winners on every swing and missed badly (and wildly). Mallory lost three straight points, bailing out the faltering Lenglen, who then went on to close out the match by sweeping the final four games.

Afterward, while Tilden later said he believed that Mallory would have gone on to shatter Lenglen's confidence had she only been able to keep the ball in the court, Mallory said of her opponent, "She is just the steadiest player that ever was. She just sent back at me whatever I sent at her and waited for me to make a fault. And her returns often enough were harder than the shots I sent up to her."

To Tilden, though, Mallory said, "Bill, I can beat her! The next time I play her I'll beat her!"

Lenglen won the singles, doubles and mixed at the French event, then defended her title at Roland Garros (then the French Chapmionships, and still a "French club members-only" affair) without facing an opponant (as the previous year's winner, she was set to meet Germaine Golding in the Challenge Round, but the Frenchwoman withdrew before the match). She carried over her success to Wimbledon, where she swept the singles and doubles for a third straight year in July.

" [Lenglen's opponents that summer] were becoming more and more merely gracious victims incapable of providing the proper foil for the goddess. As a result, several sportswriters suggested that the Frenchwoman compete against male opponents. One such appeal in the New York Times listed Lenglen's court victims and suggested that despite her unpromising showing against Tilden, she participate in the men's competition in select tournaments. The writer recommended, in fact, that Suzanne enter the fortieth Lawn Tennis Championships for men at Forest Hills in late summer. No woman's name had ever been entered in the tournament. On the other hand, there was no written rule preventing such an entry. Tradition alone stood in the way, and Suzanne Lenglen was one to shatter tradition. " [Engelmann]

Lenglen didn't seriously entertain the idea, but she *was* interesting in playing against the women in New York in '21. As it turned out, the USLTA's earlier ploy was likely unnecessary, as for several years Lenglen had greatly desired to add the U.S. National Championship title to her "world champion" resume, having long seen the United States -- and the season's third major -- as her lone unconquered land. Until Lenglen won there, she believed that, "America could properly question whether I was in reality a world champion," she said. "I knew I must come to America and meet your best players before the title was flawless -- that is, flawless according to my notion of it."

So, despite the FFT being unable to financially fund such a journey, Lenglen set off for North America after her expenses were covered by U.S. philanthropist Anne Morgan, the older sister of J.P. Morgan who aided relief efforts to France during both World Wars. In exchange, Lenglen agreed to play a series of exhibition matches in support of the American Committee for Devastated France, co-founded by A.Morgan. But Lenglen's trip was to take place without her father, who was too ill to accompany her (additionally, Charles was against the decision to come to the U.S. at all, telling friends that his daughter was making the "biggest mistake of her life"). Suzanne was instead accompanied by her mother and a FFT official. USLTA president Julian Myrick said that Lenglen's appearance was certain to "strengthen still further the bonds of friendship between the two nations."

" Everything went wrong from the start. First she caught a bad cold and had to postpone her departure twice. Then, aboard the [luxury liner Paris], she declined to use the deck tennis court that had been set up for her and issued a news bulletin declaring that "the fox-trot and the shimmy were excellent training for tennis." In New York her reception by the press was effusive (MLLE. LENGLEN'S PETIT FEET AMAZE ON ARRIVAL). " [from Sports Illustrated, Sept.13, 1982 - "The Lady in the White Silk Dress"]

All the exhibitions scheduled to take place before Forest Hills were ultimately cancelled as Lenglen remained anywhere *but* the U.S.. During the delay, Morgan announced that Lenglen was experiencing "serious indisposition caused by heat." In Europe, Lenglan was telling friends that she was ill due to an attack of grippe following a swim in the cold ocean.

Rather than arrive two weeks before the start of the U.S. Championships, Lenglen set foot on U.S. shores just four days before her opening match at the U.S. National Championships.

" Lenglen was greeted in New York by an army of curious questioning reporters and a mob of spectators. Passengers who preceded her leaving the Paris announced that they had been overawed by her presence during the voyage. She was without question the dominating personality aboard ship. Men watched every move she made, and women tried to keep count of the different outfits she wore during the voyage " [Engelmann]

When she entered the city, Lenglen was still ill. But she apparently had struck a deal to have her "tonic" at hand.

" She revealed a shocker: as part of the agreement for her appearances in America, the USLTA had agreed, secretly, to see that all 18th Amendment prohibition regulations were waived by enforcement authorities so that she might consume alcoholic beverages before and during her matches. This is the only documented case in which an established respectable American sports group conspired to violate an amendment to the U.S. Constitution in order to assure the appearance of a star performer. Of course it was unusual and illegal. And of course Suzanne had no idea of the criminal lengths to which the gentlemen rulers of the USLTA had gone to get her to Forest Hills. And she appeared to believe that a conspiracy to violate the prohibition laws of the United States was really not an unusual act for gentlemen to commit if they wished to see the Great Lenglen. ... "A little wine tones up the system just right," [she said] "One cannot always be serious. There must be some sparkle, too." Asked to describe her play in a single word, Suzanne Lenglen said after a pause, "Pep!" " [Engelmann]

Her public confidence surely hadn't waned during her trip across the Atlantic, yet when reporters asked her specifically if she'd win at Forest Hills she curiously failed to give a positive response.

" She said that she was worried about her health. "I caught a violent cold in Paris before I sailed and I was seasick for three days after leaving Havre. I am eager to have everyone understand that I am not putting my alibi early when I say it would have been more pleasing for me had I been in perfect health at this time," Suzanne confided. "Just at the moment I was wavering about the trip here, I suffered a severe attack of bronchitis from which I have not entirely recovered. " [Engelmann]

Not unexpectedly, the U.S. reporters fell hard for Lenglen. She looked wonderful, they felt, and *must* be in perfect health. The more time they spent with her, the more they liked her. One wrote, "Rather than a great athlete, possibly the outstanding woman athlete of today, she appeared to be a little girl full of enthusiasm of life and the joy of living."

The same attitude couldn't be said of the home nation's players. The very best U.S. women had been called upon to enter the tournament "to repel this French invader," said journalist Al Laney. Her appearance "was considered not so much a friendly visit as an invasion by an enemy."

Lenglen's scheduled 1st Round opponent Eleanor Goss defaulted, a move by the U.S. player that has long been suspected was part of a premeditated and concerted effort to force Lenglen, who hadn't played a competitive match since Wimbldon, into an immediate face-off with Mallory in the 2nd Round without having had a contest in which she could get her bearings.

Not wanting to waste the presence of a large crowd of ticketholders who'd signed up to see the Lenglen/Goss match, tournament officials hoped to capitalize on their misfortune by rescheduling the 2nd Round match-up with Mallory for that night in front of a crowd of 8000 -- the largest ever to witness a women's match in the U.S. -- on the opening night of the tournament. The contest that would result after they stepped on the court at Forest Hills was one of the most historic and controversial (though abbreviated) matches of both women's careers.

The match was celebrated as a match-up of the two best women's players on earth. Lenglen, as she was in Europe, was held up by the U.S. press as the "star" of the match-up against Mallory. The idea of a headline-grabbing "rivalry" between the two was rampant, though Mallory was never one to embrace it. "The newspapers are the dirtiest, filthiest things that ever happened," she'd later say. "I don't want my name in the newspapers. I have a better chance on the courts than in the newspapers of my own country."

In her pre-match practices, it was noticed by some that Lenglen seemed to lack her usual "pep."

" Lenglen was starting to have some serious doubts herself. She was haunted by the statement uttered to her by a gloating Tilden after her defeat of Mallory at Saint-Cloud: "Suzanne, she will beat you!" Tilden had warned. Tilden was present on this day, and Lenglen knew that he would like nothing better than to see her beaten badly -- even humiliated -- before the American crowd." [Engelmann]

Before the match, knowing his friend's fighter-like personality, Tilden reminded Mallory of Lenglen's "repulsive eccentricities" during their first meeting in France and her dismissive words afterward, tapping into her growing animosity toward Suzanne and pumping her up for the match. By the time Tilden was finished, Mallory was determined, confident and angry.

" New surface, new ball, new climate and, for her first opponent, the best female player in America. All this without Papa by her side. Lenglen's nerves showed signs of fraying even before her match began. Once it was under way, her strokes lacked power and she coughed intermittently. Mallory, for her part, was at the top of her form. Allison Danzig, who was then a reporter for the Brooklyn Eagle and later became the tennis writer for The New York Times for 45 years, recalls, "Molla had a hell of a forehand. She didn't have a backhand. She had the weakest service I have ever seen. But what a forehand!" " [from SI Sept.13, 1982]

While Mallory was in the dressing room, Tilden found Lenglen waiting to enter the court.

" "How are you, Suzanne?" [Tilden] asked. "I am wonderful," Tilden remembered her reply, "with her usual modesty." And then she predicted for Tilden, "I'll beat her six love, six love." "No one can beat Molla," Tilden shot back. "Least of all you!" At that moment Mallory returned to the porch and asked "Are you ready?" Tilden thought that if Suzanne had possessed "the brains of a gnat" she would have read the unexpressed completion of the question, "for the licking I'm going to give you?" " [Engelmann]

Tilden advised Mallory to "hit the cover off the ball." Meanwhile Lenglen had complained to friends only moments earlier that a sleepless night and hacking cough left her feeling not up to the occasion, but that she didn't want to disappoint the large crowd. "I should feel that I had lured them here under false pretenses."


Mallory did just what Tilden had advised against what was a tentative Lenglen, attacking the French woman and taking a 2-0, 40/love lead. After finding her energy for a short time, Lenglen's game level fell once again and she began to cough. She was offered ice water, but refused it. Despite her deal with the USLTA, there was no wine, brandy or iced cognac available.

Mallory's attack was unrelenting, and her concentration on her shots was so intense that she sometimes lost track of the game score. She won the first set 6-2, and Lenglen was noticeably in despair.

" Self-doubt had replaced self-confidence. [Lenglen's] nervous system was overheating and her fragile emotions were starting to disintegrate. Her mind and her muscles no longer worked smoothly together. She was confused, and she was frightened, and she lost confidence in all her shots." [Engelmann]

With Mallory up love/40 in game #1 of the 2nd set on Lenglen's serve after the French woman had double-faulted (something she is said to have done no more than ten times in her entire career), Lenglen began to cry and walked to the umpire's chair to say that she was too ill to continue. The fans booed, and tournament officials were livid. Lenglen collapsed into one of the judge's chairs while photographers rushed in. She was assisted to the clubhouse, coughing into a towel while the spectators hissed. As she left, many in attendance are said to have said nasty things, and Lenglen realized that she was viewed as a "quitter."

" The newspapers reported Lenglen told the umpire that she was unable to breathe and that she coughed throughout the previous night. Others recalled her saying she did not feel like playing and had been listless in a practice session. If she was suffering from mentrual cramps, that was not mentioned because it was then a taboo subject in the public prints. " [from The Bud Collins History of Tennis, 2nd Edition]

The following is a description of Mallory's play that day:

" She concentrated on every shot, both Mlle.Lenglen'e and her own; her brain followed the play raptly and unerringly; she moved no step unnecessarily, but also never failed to go for everything that there was any chance of reaching. She was fleet of foot, but that fleetness would not have availed had she not anticipated superbly and started on the instant; and when she made difficult "gets," which she did frequently, her returns were always well placed and carried plenty of pace. She was of the opinion, and rightly so, that this constant return of her opponent's best shots was both unexpected and disconcerting. . . . It was not that the French girl was making miserable, inexcusable errors; she was giving an admirable exhibition of stroke-production and tactics, but she found her beat shots constantly coming back to her, and she was at a total loss how to meat this distinctly novel situation in her brilliant career. Under the steady, ever-aggressive bombardment of Mrs.Mallory, she became discouraged and finally wilted. " [from "Mrs. Franklin I. Mallory's Greatest Triumph," American Lawn Tennis. 1921]

" A spectator at the Lenglen-Mallory match that day was 15-year-old Helen Wills from Berkeley, Calif., who was in New York to play in the National Junior championships. As Lenglen's successor, Helen Wills-Moody was to win eight Wimbledon singles titles. In her book, Fifteen-Thirty, which was published in 1937, Moody recalled her first sighting of Lenglen on the clubhouse veranda at Forest Hills: "She wore a yellow organdie dress, a large hat and a white lapin coat described as ermine by the newspapers. The fur coat on a hot day made me ask why. I was told that she had a cold.... I was impressed, and later even more so when she came out to practice with six racquets." " [from SI Sept.13, 1982]


The USLTA accused Lenglen of faking her illness (the French tennis federation accepted Lenglan and her doctor's notion that she was indeed debilitated), and the French woman was assailed by the formerly Lenglen-loving U.S. press for quitting the match. The incident even coined a newly-popular derisive phrase phrase to describe Lenglen's action of inventing an excuse because she felt she couldn't win: to "cough and quite."

" After the default, [journalist] Arthur Wallis Myers visited Lenglen in her room at the Forest Hills Inn. He expected to find her very ill. Instead, however, she appeared to be in high spirits, calling for a mirror to examine her own beaming face. ... Myers found Suzanne's appearance and behavior totally inconsistent with the pitiable complaints of ill health made only minutes earlier. And he was disturbed by the inconsistency and the apparent disingenuousness of Suzanne and Mama." [Engelmann]

The Lenglens stated that a doctor was summoned and ordered Suzanne to not play tennis for eight days, while Lenglen herself said that "wretched headaches made me think I had a jazz band in my head. I was delirious and my temperature went up to 104-degrees." But after the doctor left, daughter and mother visited a nightclub and Suzanne danced the night away. She was seen by one USLTA official and others who "marveled" at her recuperative powers. Later, the doctor who examined her announced that he had found nothing wrong.

After the FFT's conclusion the organization's president, Albert de Joannis, the official who'd accompanied Lenglen during her trip to the United States, quit his post in protest. He claimed that Lenglen was "perfectly fit" for the match and that, "She was defeated by a player who on that date showed a better brand of tennis." Lenglen had been received "like a little queen and treated with utmost courtesy. Her every whim and mood were satisfied," he said, concluding that "she knows how to win, but she does not know how to lose gracefully."

Lenglen never played in the U.S. National Championships again. Her entire career in the event consisted of the single "one set and change" match vs. Mallory. It was her only loss after World War II (since 1914), and the only *on-court* defeat of her singles career in a grand slam event (otherwise, she was 42-0 aside from a pair of Wimbledon walkovers, as well as 17-0 in the World HC Chsp. plus one walkover exit).

After cancelling several exhibitions, Lenglen returned to practice in late August, but became ill again. Ultimately, Lenglen made just two appearances on the U.S. tour -- both in mixed doubles only -- in September. Still professing illness when she was expected to play tennis, though she always appeared healthy enough when an opportunity to party arose, Lenglen entered no other events nor played a proposed exhibition against Mallory.

By September 21, Lenglen had left the country entirely, holding U.S. crowds and writers in contempt for having treated her as anything less than "The Great Lenglen," as well as unkind feelings toward Mallory. "America is truly cruel to French athletes," Lenglen said, adding about those who wrote and said terrible things about her, "May the weight of their evil action fall on themselves."

Lenglen had to fight to reclaim her tarnished image once she returned to Europe.

" She would have to start rebuilding her reputation in 1922. And in order to make a really convincing comeback both she and Papa realized that she would have to face Mallory again. She might prepare herself physically for such a contest, but mental preparation was something else again. Molla scared Suzanne because Molla no longer believed in the invincibility of the Goddess. Mallory came on like a tiger on the courts, relentlessly, and with firm determination to tear Lenglen's game to shreds. Such a strategy worked at Forest Hills. It ripped Suzanne's will apart and destroyed her self-confidence and concentration at a moment when Papa was not present to act as a restorative. She must again believe in herself as Papa believed in her. She must not doubt. She must not waver. And she must win." [Engelmann]

Lenglen again won the "French-only" French Champiionships event in Paris. Then, at Wimbledon, she decided to play through the entire tournament rather than await a challenger in the final (as was her right as the defending champ), a decision that effectively ended the practice for good in the event.

Lenglen reached the final without losing a set, where she found Mallory awaiting her. Confident of the result, Mallory's husband Franklin bet $10,000 that his wife would win. Before the match, delayed until nearly 7 o'clock due to rain, Lenglen began to feel the pressure of the moment, and showed signs of another emotional collapse, arguing with her mother, fearing the humiliation that another defeat might bring and how the crowd -- and her father -- would react. She changed her outfit and reapplied her make-up multiple times, paced and cried. But when the time came to perform, she was ready.

But, just as had happened at Forest Hills, Lenglen lost the first two games of the match.

" At the net, for the first time in memory, as officials watched, the two women exchanged bitter words, and it appeared, at one moment, as if they would attempt to strike each other. Mallory smiled broadly and confidently as the third game began, apparently sensing again the shattered confidence and the pathetic vulnerability of the Maid Marvel. " [Engelmann]

But then everything changed.

With Papa shouting encouragement, Lenglen upped her in-point aggression, even firing off winners from the baseline and running Mallory back and forth in the backcourt, stretching awkwardly for shots. Lenglen took twelve straight games to win 6-2/6-0 in twenty-six minutes, with the final twelve games taking just twenty. Reportedly after the match (though, as with so many things Lenglen, it's disputed), Lenglen touched Mallory's hand, smiled, and then turned her head and coughed.

Lenglen is said to have told her opponent, "Now, Mrs. Mallory, I have proved to you today what I could have done to you in New York last year," to which Mallory coldly replied, "Mademoiselle Lenglen, you have done to me today what I did to you in New York last year; you have beaten me."

Lenglen also swept the doubles and mixed titles, both without losing a set.

Afterward, Mallory verbally attacked the U.S. reporters for blowing her rivalry with Lenglen out of proportion, and was bitter when questioned about whether the two would meet again. She didn't believe that Lenglen would ever return to the U.S. to play her (she was correct), but held out hope for another meeting. "Nobody knows if we'll be alive next summer," Mallory said, "But if she comes over I'll play her again."

Mallory returned to France in the fall, winning six events while chasing Lenglen from tournament to tournament. Whenever they'd both enter an event, Lenglen soon after withdrew her name. Some said that Lenglen was scared to face Mallory again, and that Wimbledon had been a "fluke."

" But under Papa's guidance, Suzanne was now merely playing a game of cat and mouse, allowing public interest and the potential gate for the match to build. She and Papa both knew that Mallory simply could not touch her on the familiar home clay of the Riviera. Following Papa's wise counsel, Suzanne waited for the proper moment to pounce on her prey. Whom the Goddess would destroy, she first teased to unwarranted vanity. " [Engelmann]

Finally, the two were both entered in a tournament in Nice in January of the following year, at the Nice Tennis Club where Charles was installed in the role of secretary and Suzanne the club's chief fund-raising attraction. They met it the final, and it was no contest. Lenglen's athleticism shined, and the result was never in doubt. The 23-year old lost just eighteen total points, winning 6-0/6-0 over the now 38-year old Mallory. It gave Lenglen a 3-1 final edge in their career series.

Later that year, Mallory lost in the U.S. final to 17-year old Helen Wills, a maiden major title winner who'd eventually win 19 slam crowns. Mallory would never again earn the right to face Lenglen, while Wills never faced Lenglen in a tournament setting, only playing her once in the "Match of the Century" exhibition in 1926 won by La Divine.

Mallory's eight U.S. titles (from 1915-26, defeating eigth different opponents in finals) remain a record, with the last coming at age 42 when she overcame a 4-0 3rd set deficit in the final vs. Elizabeth Ryan, saving a MP. A year later, she had her worst result at the event: a defeat in the QF. At age 45 in 1929, in her final major appearance at the U.S Championships (twenty years after she'd made her debut at Wimbledon in '09), she lost love & love to Wills. Wills went on to win her fifth of six career titles in the event.

After the death of her wealthy husband in 1934, Mallory worked for the government to make ends meet. She sold all but one of her many tennis trophies.


Having co-authored the instruction book Tennis for Women with journalist Samuel Crowther in 1916, Mallory saw tennis champ Helen Jacobs dedicate her 1944 book Gallery of Champions (which chronicled the accomplishment of many female tennis stars) to her with these words: "To Molla Mallory, whose domination of American women's tennis was less important than the legacy she left to those who came after her. Her great driving game was the beginning of an era of hard-hitters among women players. ... [H]er courage and sportsmanship and, above all, her will to win were a contribution of unforgettable value."

Inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1958, Mallory died in 1959 in Stockholm, at age 75, while visiting her native Norway. Once again, her endurance won out, as she'd outlived Lenglen (who'd died in 1938 at age 39, and wouldn't be inducted into the HoF herself until 1978) by more than twenty years.

In 2008, Mallory was finally added to the U.S. Open's Court of Champions at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.





LENGLEN and TILDEN
[selected, from Wikipedia]Meanwhile, ten-time singles slam winner Tilden was arrested in November 1946 on Sunset Boulevard charged with a misdemeanor ("contributing to the delinquency of a minor") for soliciting an underage male, a 14-year-old boy with whom he was having sex in a moving vehicle. He was sentenced to a year in prison, but served 7½ months. He was arrested again in January 1949 after picking up a 16-year-old hitchhiker. The judge sentenced Tilden to a year on probation violation and let the punishment for the charge run concurrently. Tilden served ten months. In both cases, apparently, he sincerely believed that his celebrity and his longtime friendship with Hollywood names such as Charlie Chaplin were enough to keep him from jail. He therefore defended himself in court in both cases in a far less than vigorous fashion. After his incarceration, he was increasingly shunned by the tennis and Hollywood world.

Questions remain if Tilden's prosecution was based on rumors, many published, and homophobic stereotypes. California did not repeal its sodomy law until 1976. Because he lived in an era when homosexual sex was illegal and was not tolerated socially, some suspect that Tilden was a victim of the homophobic society of the era.

Tilden was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1959.




*LENGLEN AT THE MAJORS*
=Roland Garros=
...10-0 (2 titles: 1925, 1926)
=Wimbledon=
...32-0 (6 titles; only non-wins were walkovers in '24/vs.Kitty McKane and '26/vs.Claire Beckingham)
=U.S.=
...0-1 (1921 2nd Rd. loss to Mallory)
=World Hard Court Chsp=
...17-0 (4 titles; '20 2nd Rd. walkover)

*MOLLA BJURSTEDT MALLORY SLAM FINALS*
1915 U.S. National Chsp. - def. Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman 4–6/6–2/6–0
1916 U.S. National Chsp. - def. Louise Hammond Raymond 6–0/6–1
1917 U.S. National Chsp. - def. Marion Vanderhoef 4–6/6–0/6–2
1918 U.S. National Chsp. - def. Eleanor Goss 6–4/6–3
1920 U.S. National Chsp. - def. Marion Zinderstein 6–3/6–1
1921 U.S. National Chsp. - def. Mary Browne 4–6/6–4/6–2
1922 Wimbledon - lost to Suzanne Lenglen 2–6/0–6
1922 U.S. National Chsp. - def. Helen Wills 6–3/6–1
1923 U.S. National Chsp. - lost to Helen Wills 2–6/1–6
1924 U.S. National Chsp. - lost to Helen Wills 1–6/3–6
1926 U.S. National Chsp. - def. Elizabeth Ryan 4–6/6–4/9–7

We have pieced together the full picture for the ATP and WTA Tour relief funds. And the final payout plans will definitely cause some reaction.https://t.co/iD6F2GP05n pic.twitter.com/YTH9tNmiSY

— Stephanie Myles (@OpenCourt) May 17, 2020

The ITF is in the process of finalising a range of additional measures to support stakeholders impacted by COVID-19, including a relief fund to help tour players ranked 501-700 not covered under other relief programmes

??? https://t.co/ul3E9fTarg pic.twitter.com/apv4cLoOEe

— ITF Media (@ITFMedia) May 18, 2020

As a result of COVID-19, the International Tennis Hall of Fame Class of 2020 Induction Ceremony and the 2020 Hall of Fame Open will not take place this July. Ticketholders will be contacted directly via email.

For additional information visit https://t.co/QULb0UQU71 pic.twitter.com/X53iqD3O85

— Tennis Hall of Fame (@TennisHalloFame) May 15, 2020

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Kraków?? #mojemiasto #rynekglówny #agatenisapartments #spacerpomiescie #krakowmycity #downtown #walkinthecity

A post shared by Agnieszka Radwanska (@aradwanska) on May 21, 2020 at 5:58am PDT

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Old town road ??

A post shared by G???IÑE ?UGU?U?? (@garbimuguruza) on May 17, 2020 at 12:55am PDT

Back at the place where it all started.

These courts always remind me that anything is possible ?? #fulnek pic.twitter.com/krviEXhavC

— Petra Kvitova (@Petra_Kvitova) May 15, 2020

@dasha_tofu

Trick your friends heheheh :) ##fyp ##trickshot ##palmupchallenge

? original sound - dasha_tofu

@dasha_tofu

This is so me ?????? sorry to all the coaches who ever had to deal with me ##fyp ##tennis

? WAKE YO ASS UP slowed down - beatxz

On my way to @usopen 2020?? #DD #homecourt pic.twitter.com/l5zdNFP8Bj

— Daria Kasatkina (@DKasatkina) May 18, 2020

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What have I gotten myself into?! Check out the @GameOn premiere next week on @CBS! ??@Gronk, @keeganmichaelkey, @BobbyLeeLive & @IanKarmel

A post shared by Venus Williams (@venuswilliams) on May 21, 2020 at 12:21pm PDT

Didn’t miss the pain pretty much everywhere ??, BUT did missed the feeling of hitting the ball ?? pic.twitter.com/XQdlgB0qLy

— Elina Svitolina (@ElinaSvitolina) May 18, 2020

Naomi Osaka is on the cover of GQ Japan, which was drawn by... Mari Osaka. Nice. https://t.co/RlddPRSNpL pic.twitter.com/Od1B4slc3Y

— Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) May 21, 2020

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ON THIS DAY 19 YEARS AGO!!! On this day exactly 19 years ago I won the @internazionalibnlditalia also known as the Rome Masters beating the incredibly tough Amelie Mauresmo in the final. My first @wta title,at the age of 18 and it propelled me into the top 20 of the @wta rankings for the first time and only 3 months later I entered the top 10 of the @wta rankings. Great memories and one of my favourite moments in my career at one of my favourite tournaments in one of my favourite cities in the world. Thank you @internazionalibnlditalia and thank you Rome. ?????????????????????????????? #tennis #onthisday #instatennis #tennislove #tennisplayer #tennislife #memories #memoriesforlife #rome #wta #foroitalico #roma #italy #champion #tennis?? #?? #special #favorite #goingdownmemorylane #tbt #tb #vibes #goodvibes #tennispro #inspo #tennisworld #tennisaustralia #firsttitle #flashback

A post shared by Jelena Dokic ???????????? (@dokic_jelena) on May 21, 2020 at 2:40am PDT

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?? ????? ???? ??? ????, ????? ????????? ???????. ??? ?????? – ???????? ??? #DY#odessa#beauty

A post shared by Dayana Yastremska ?? (@dayana_yastremskay) on May 17, 2020 at 6:12am PDT

After years of battling challenging injuries, former World No. 24 @Jamie_Hampton is saying a bittersweet farewell. ??

Best of luck in your next chapter, Jamie!https://t.co/T9oL6L9RPG

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) May 19, 2020

to the best fans ??

don’t forget my two-hander ?? pic.twitter.com/DrcnyiQDh7

— Jamie Hampton (@Jamie_Hampton) May 19, 2020

We wear seatbelts. We accept speed limits. We rely on government safety regulations for the milk we drink and most food we eat. But somehow wearing a mask amid a highly contagious, deadly pandemic is the end of freedom for these knuckleheads modeling Trump.

— Steven Beschloss (@StevenBeschloss) May 21, 2020

Brace yourself. But read it. READ IT. https://t.co/sx57tPHzWC

— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) May 16, 2020

Obama: "Do what you think is right. Doing what feels good, what's convenient, what's easy—that's how little kids think. Unfortunately, a lot of so-called grown-ups, including some with fancy titles and important jobs, still think that way, which is why things are so screwed up."

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 17, 2020

I think the fact Trump has never worn a mask.... says a lot... I mean A LOT...#truecolors

— Chris Evert (@ChrissieEvert) May 20, 2020

I saw that sign when I was in there a couple of years ago and it made me laugh. I’m thinking of going and writing in there one day so they have to correct it: ‘.... except that one time.’ https://t.co/IEGFWsVoJ6

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 21, 2020

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Some mask tips for you! ?????? These might seem obvious to some people but I still see a lot I’ve people with their nose out on the news, so I thought I would share some of the tips my nurse mom and her colleagues follow in the hospital and also in every day life! Maybe someone else finds them helpful as well! (Also I have to admit that I still struggle with some of these every day but I am trying to be more aware at least ??)

A post shared by Kim (@kim.mcmahon) on May 21, 2020 at 5:51am PDT

"Everyone who enjoys to play tennis can sign up and we can just have a nice talk."@MarieBouzkova launched a weekly Tennis Talk on Zoom ??--> https://t.co/R5v8v16BjB pic.twitter.com/TOzlrzzlXx

— wta (@WTA) May 19, 2020

"I wish that we could’ve played together more because it was so much fun. Having Martina on the same side... it was awesome for me."

My Inspiration: Martina Navratilova by Hana Mandlikova --> https://t.co/UhdjlNwyFg pic.twitter.com/s5EONAleRt

— wta (@WTA) May 21, 2020

This dog lost his tennis ball in the swimming pool.

You won't believe what happened next... ???? pic.twitter.com/JCSI2c1EBU

— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) May 19, 2020

“Oh, good afternoon, Mrs. Cleaver.” Brilliant @kseelye obituary. https://t.co/H2VlNngfFd

— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) May 18, 2020

Hide and seek mastery https://t.co/f2ecWHo6yS pic.twitter.com/L1luih9VQw

— HUMOROUS ANIMALS (@CUTEFUNNYANIMAL) May 16, 2020

I want to be friends with them. pic.twitter.com/wISbUGc7ai

— chris evans (@notcapnamerica) May 16, 2020

Katie O’Brien back in love with tennis as she takes new route to the top https://t.co/INd44FwPfQ

— Katie O'Brien (@katiejobrien) May 20, 2020

Knighthood for Captain Tom, the 100-year-old war veteran who raised more than £32m for NHS charities https://t.co/Uo9HVcYchp

— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) May 19, 2020

Little things can mean so much.

This heavy-machine operator taking a moment to bring smiles to the faces of two kids playing with their own miniature trucks is definitely the Twitter content I’m here for. AND the precision.

Humanity.???? pic.twitter.com/kGfvnx1JzR

— Rex Chapman???? (@RexChapman) May 19, 2020

Be safe.
All for now.