Nelly Landry

Nelly Landry
Born December 28, 1916(1916-12-28)
Bruges, Belgium
Died February 22, 2010(2010-02-22) (aged 93)
Nationality French

Nelly Adamson Landry (December 28, 1916 – February 22, 2010[1]) was a female tennis player from Belgium (became French citizen after marriage). She was the 1948 women's singles champion at the French Championships beating Shirley Fry. She had also been a finalist in 1938, losing to Simone Mathieu, and reached again the final in 1949, losing to Margaret Osborne duPont.

According to John Olliff of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Landry was ranked in the world top ten in 1946 and 1948 (no rankings issued from 1940 through 1945), reaching a career high of World No. 7 in those rankings in 1946.[2]

On January 16, 1934, Adamson (not yet Landry) married American author and emigre Tod Robbins at the town hall in Villefranche on the French Riviera. Robbins was an expert amateur athlete. Together, he and Adamson became a formidable doubles team. Adamson was Robbins's fourth wife, and they remained married through World War II and Robbins's long imprisonment in a German concentration camp. After the war, Adamson stayed with Robbins until his death, remarrying afterward.[3] Nelly Adamson married Pierre Landry and lastly Marcel Renault, both former French tennis players.

Contents

Grand Slam finals

Singles

Win

Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
1948 French Championships Shirley Fry Irvin 6–2, 0–6, 6–0

Runner-ups (2)

Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
1938 French Championships Simone Mathieu 6–0, 6–3
1949 French Championships Margaret Osborne duPont 7–5, 6–2

Women's doubles

Runner-up

Year Championship Partner Opponents in Final Score in Final
1938 French Championships Arlette Harff Simone Mathieu
Billie Yorke		 6–3, 6–3

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Tournament 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 - 1944 1945 19461 19471 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 Career SR
Australian Championships A A A A A A A A NH NH A A A A A A A A A 0 / 0
French Championships A 2R 3R QF A F A NH R A QF A W F A A A QF SF 1 / 9
Wimbledon 1R 2R 1R 4R A A A NH NH NH A A QF 3R A A 4R 4R 2R 0 / 9
U.S. Championships A A A A A A A A A A A A 3R A A A 1R A A 0 / 2
SR 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 0 0 / 1 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 1 0 / 0 1 / 3 0 / 2 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 2 1 / 20

NH = tournament not held.

R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under German occupation.

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

1In 1946 and 1947, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.

See also

References

  1. ^ IC Council: Décès de Nelly ADAMSON online
  2. ^ Collins, Bud (2008). The Bud Collins History of Tennis: An Authoritative Encyclopedia and Record Book. New York, N.Y: New Chapter Press. pp. 695, 702. ISBN 0-942257-41-3. 
  3. ^ Article on Tod Robbins by David Ian Chapman in "Book and Magazine Collector" #223, October 2002.