Pauline Betz

Pauline Betz Addie

Betz in 1949
Full name Pauline May Betz Addie
ITF name Pauline Addie
Country (sports)  United States
Born (1919-08-06)August 6, 1919
Dayton, Ohio
Died May 31, 2011(2011-05-31) (aged 91)
Potomac, Maryland
Height 1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)
Turned pro 1947
Retired 1951
Int. Tennis HoF 1965 (member page)
Singles
Highest ranking 1 (1946)
Grand Slam Singles results
French Open F (1946)
Wimbledon W (1946)
US Open W (1942, 1943, 1944, 1946)
Doubles
Grand Slam Doubles results
French Open F (1946)
Wimbledon F (1946)
US Open F (1942, 1943, 1944, 1945)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
French Open W (1946)
Wimbledon F (1946)
US Open F (1941, 1943)

Pauline Betz Addie (née Pauline May Betz, August 6, 1919 – May 31, 2011[1]) was an American professional tennis player. She won five Grand Slam singles titles and was the runner-up on three other occasions. Jack Kramer has called her the second best female tennis player he ever saw, behind Helen Wills Moody.[2]

Early life

Betz attended Los Angeles High School and learned her tennis from Dick Skeen. She continued her tennis and education at Rollins College (graduating in 1943),[3][4][5][6] where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. She went on to win four United States Singles Championships.[5]

Career

Addie won the first of her four singles titles at the U.S. Championships in 1942, saving a match point in the semifinals against Margaret Osborne duPont while trailing 3–5 in the final set.[7] The following year, she won the Tri-State tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio, defeating Catherine Wolf in the final 6–0, 6–2 without losing a point in the first set,[7] a "golden set". She won the Wimbledon singles title in 1946, the only time she entered the tournament, without losing a set.[7] Her amateur career ended in 1947 when she explored the possibilities of turning professional.[7]

According to John Olliff of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Addie was ranked World No. 1 in 1946 (no rankings issued from 1940 through 1945).[8] Addie was included in the year-end top ten rankings issued by the United States Lawn Tennis Association from 1939 through 1946. She was the top ranked U.S. player from 1942 through 1944 and in 1946.[9]

Addie was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1965.[7]

The Pauline Betz Addie Tennis Center at Cabin John Regional Park in Potomac, Maryland was renamed in her honor on May 1, 2008. Addie, Albert Ritzenberg, and Stanly Hoffberger founded the center in 1972.[10]

Grand Slam record

Grand Slam singles finals (5 titles, 3 runners-up)

Outcome Year Championship Opponent in final Score in final
Runner-up 1941 U.S. Championships Sarah Palfrey Cooke 5–7, 2–6
Winner 1942 U.S. Championships Louise Brough Clapp 4–6, 6–1, 6–4
Winner 1943 U.S. Championships (2) Louise Brough Clapp 6–3, 5–7, 6–3
Winner 1944 U.S. Championships (3) Margaret Osborne duPont 6–3, 8–6
Runner-up 1945 U.S. Championships Sarah Palfrey Cooke 6–3, 6–8, 4–6
Runner-up 1946 French Championships Margaret Osborne duPont 6–2, 6–8, 5–7
Winner 1946 Wimbledon Louise Brough Clapp 6–2, 6–4
Winner 1946 U.S. Championships (4) Doris Hart 11–9, 6–3

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Tournament 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 19461 Career SR
Australian Championships A A NH NH NH NH NH A 0 / 0
French Championships A NH R R R R A F 0 / 1
Wimbledon A NH NH NH NH NH NH W 1 / 1
U.S. Championships 1R QF F W W W F W 4 / 8
SR 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 1 / 1 1 / 1 1 / 1 0 / 1 2 / 3 5 / 10

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, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.

Personal life

Betz was married to sportswriter Bob Addie.[7] She was the mother of author Kim Addonizio.[1] She is survived by 4 other children including Rusty, Jon, Gary and Rick. Her granddaughter Aya Cash is an actress.

Death

Pauline Betz Addie died in her sleep on May 31, 2011. She was 91 years old.[11]

Records

Tournament Year Record accomplished Player tied
Tri-State tournament1943Achieved a Golden Set[12]Tine Scheuer-Larsen (1995)
Yaroslava Shvedova (2012)

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Robin Finn (June 2, 2011). "Pauline Betz Addie, a Dominant Tennis Champion, Dies at 91". The New York Times.
  2. ↑ Female players & the 1950–51 Pauline Betz-Gussy Moran tour
  3. ↑ "ITA Women's Hall of Fame...". ITA Women's Hall of Fame McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center, William & Mary College. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Rollins College Athletics Hall of Fame". Rollins College Athletics Department. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
  5. 1 2 "Rollins College Women’s Tennis: Small School With A Big Tradition". Sports Then and Now. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Tennis-Women's: Tradition". Rollins College Athletics Department. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pauline May Betz (Addie)
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ United States Tennis Association (1988). 1988 Official USTA Tennis Yearbook. Lynn, Massachusetts: H.O. Zimman, Inc. pp. 260–1.
  10. ↑ "Pauline Betz Addie". Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  11. ↑ http://www.csnwashington.com/05/31/11/Tennis-legend-Pauline-Betz-Addie-passes-/landing.html?blockID=530815&feedID=9656
  12. ↑ Politiken, 10 May 1995, 1st Section, p.10

External links

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