Simonne Mathieu
French tennis player (1908-1980)
Simonne Mathieu (French pronunciation: [simɔn matjø] née Passemard;) (31 January 1908, 7 January 1980) was a tennis player from France, born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, who was active in the 1930s. She won the French Championships singles title in 1938 and 1939.
During World War II, she created and led the Corps of French Volunteers in the Free French Forces, the first female unit in the military history of France.
01Tennis career
Mathieu is best remembered for winning two major singles titles at the French Championships (in 1938 and 1939), and for reaching the final of that tournament an additional six times, in 1929, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1936, and 1937. In those finals, she lost three times to Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling, twice to Helen Wills Moody, and once to Margaret Scriven.
Mathieu won 11 Grand Slam doubles championships: three women's doubles titles at Wimbledon (1933-34, 1937), six women's doubles titles at the French Championships (1933-34, 1936-39), and two mixed-doubles titles at the French Championships (1937-38). She completed the rare triple at the French Championships in 1938, winning the singles, women's doubles, and mixed-doubles titles.
Mathieu's 13 Grand Slam titles are second only to Suzanne Lenglen's 21 among French women.
According to A. Wallis Myers and John Olliff of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail respectively, Mathieu was ranked in the world top 10 from 1929 through 1939 (no rankings were issued from 1940 through 1945), reaching a career high of world No. 3 in 1932.
The winners' trophy of the women's doubles event at the French Open is named in her honour as the Coupe Simonne-Mathieu.
02World War II
During World War II, Captain Mathieu was founder of the Corps Féminin Français, the women's volunteer branch of the Free French Forces, similar to the British Auxiliary Territorial Service. Mathieu was succeeded in that position by Captain Hélène Terré. For their service, each woman was named an Officer of the Legion of Honour.
03Honours
She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2006.
In November 2017, the French Tennis Federation (FFT) announced that the third show-court at Roland Garros will be named Court Simonne-Mathieu in her honor.
04Grand Slam finals
Singles: 8 (2 titles, 6 runner-ups)
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1929 | French Championships | Clay | Helen Wills | 3-6, 4-6 |
| Loss | 1932 | French Championships | Clay | Helen Wills | 5-7, 1-6 |
| Loss | 1933 | French Championships | Clay | Margaret Scriven | 2-6, 6-4, 4-6 |
| Loss | 1935 | French Championships | Clay | Hilde Krahwinkel | 2-6, 1-6 |
| Loss | 1936 | French Championships | Clay | Hilde Krahwinkel | 3-6, 4-6 |
| Loss | 1937 | French Championships | Clay | Hilde Krahwinkel | 2-6, 4-6 |
| Win | 1938 | French Championships | Clay | Nelly Landry | 6-0, 6-3 |
| Win | 1939 | French Championships | Clay | Jadwiga Jędrzejowska | 6-3, 8-6 |
Doubles: 13 (9 titles, 4 runner-ups)
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1930 | French Championships | Clay | Simone Barbier | Elizabeth Ryan Helen Wills | 3-6, 1-6 |
| Win | 1933 | French Championships | Clay | Elizabeth Ryan | Sylvie Jung Henrotin Colette Rosambert | 6-1, 6-3 |
| Win | 1933 | Wimbledon Championships | Grass | Elizabeth Ryan | Freda James Billie Yorke | 6-2, 9-11, 6-4 |
| Win | 1934 | French Championships | Clay | Elizabeth Ryan | Helen Jacobs Sarah Palfrey | 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 |
| Win | 1934 | Wimbledon Championships | Grass | Elizabeth Ryan | Dorothy Andrus Sylvie Jung Henrotin | 6-3, 6-3 |
| Loss | 1935 | Wimbledon Championships | Grass | Hilde Krahwinkel | Freda James Kay Stammers | 1-6, 4-6 |
| Win | 1936 | French Championships | Clay | Billie Yorke | Jadwiga Jędrzejowska Susan Noel | 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 |
| Win | 1937 | French Championships | Clay | Billie Yorke | Dorothy Andrus Sylvie Jung Henrotin | 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 |
| Win | 1937 | Wimbledon Championships | Grass | Billie Yorke | Phyllis King Elsie Goldsack | 6-3, 6-3 |
| Win | 1938 | French Championships | Clay | Billie Yorke | Nelly Adamson Arlette Halff | 6-3, 6-3 |
| Loss | 1938 | Wimbledon Championships | Grass | Billie Yorke | Sarah Palfrey Alice Marble | 2-6, 3-6 |
| Loss | 1938 | US Championships | Grass | Jadwiga Jędrzejowska | Sarah Palfrey Alice Marble | 8-6, 4-6, 3-6 |
| Win | 1939 | French Championships | Clay | Jadwiga Jędrzejowska | Alice Florian Hella Kovac | 7-5, 7-5 |
Mixed doubles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1937 | French Championships | Clay | Yvon Petra | Marie-Luise Horn Roland Journu | 7-5, 7-5 |
| Loss | 1937 | Wimbledon Championships | Grass | Yvon Petra | Alice Marble Don Budge | 1-6, 4-6 |
| Win | 1938 | French Championships | Clay | Dragutin Mitić | Nancye Wynne Bolton Christian Boussus | 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 |
| Loss | 1939 | French Championships | Clay | Franjo Kukuljević | Sarah Palfrey Elwood Cooke | 6-4, 1-6, 5-7 |
05Grand Slam singles performance timeline
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| Tournament | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941, 1944 | 1945 | 19461 | Career SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | NH | NH | A | 0 / 0 |
| French Championships | QF | QF | 3R | A | F | QF | QF | F | F | SF | F | F | F | W | W | NH | R | A | A | 2 / 14 |
| Wimbledon | A | 1R | 2R | A | 3R | SF | SF | SF | QF | SF | QF | SF | SF | QF | QF | NH | NH | NH | 1R | 0 / 14 |
| US Championships | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | QF | 1R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 2 |
| SR | 0 / 1 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 1 / 3 | 1 / 3 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 2 / 30 |
R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under German occupation.
1In 1946, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Simonne Mathieu”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Simonne Mathieu 1926.jpg by Agence de presse Meurisse, Public domain
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