Eileen Bennett Whittingstall
Full name | Eileen Viviyen Bennett Fearnley-Whittingstall |
---|---|
Country (sports) | United Kingdom |
Born | (1907-07-16)16 July 1907 Paddington, London, England |
Died | 18 August 1979(1979-08-18) (aged 72) |
Singles | |
Highest ranking | No.3 (1931) |
Grand Slam singles results | |
French Open | F (1928) |
Wimbledon | QF (1928, 1932) |
US Open | F (1931) |
Doubles | |
Grand Slam doubles results | |
French Open | W (1928, 1931) |
Wimbledon | F (1928) |
US Open | W (1931) |
Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
French Open | W (1928, 1929) |
Wimbledon | SF (1930, 1932) |
US Open | W (1927) |
Eileen Bennett Whittingstall (née Bennett; 16 July 1907 – c. 18 August 1979, full name Eileen Viviyen Bennett Fearnley-Whittingstall[1]) was a tennis player from the United Kingdom who won six Grand Slam doubles titles from 1927 to 1931.
Career
Although most of her success was in women's doubles or mixed doubles, Whittingstall reached the singles final of the 1928 French Championships and the 1931 US Championships. She lost both of these finals in straight sets to Helen Wills Moody.[2] She twice won the women's doubles title at the French Championships: in 1928 with Phoebe Holcroft Watson and in 1931 with Betty Nuthall. Whittingstall and Nuthall lost the 1932 final to the team of Moody and Elizabeth Ryan.
Whittingstall teamed with Ermyntrude Harvey to reach the 1928 women's doubles final at Wimbledon, losing to the team of Watson and Peggy Saunders 2–6, 3–6. She also teamed with Shoemaker to win the 1931 women's doubles title at the U.S. Championships, defeating Helen Jacobs and Dorothy Round Little in the final in two sets.[2] Whittingstall twice partnered with Henri Cochet to win the mixed doubles title at the French Championships. In both 1928 and 1929, they defeated the team of Moody and Frank Hunter in the final. Whittingstall and Cochet lost the 1930 French final to the team of Bill Tilden and Cilly Aussem.
Whittingstall and Cochet won the mixed doubles title at the 1927 US Championships, defeating Hazel Wightman and René Lacoste in the final.
According to A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Whittingstall was ranked in the world top 10 in 1928, 1929, 1931, and 1932, reaching a career high of World No. 3 in those rankings in 1931.[3]
Bennett is credited with first wearing an above-the-knee form of divided skirt for competitive tennis.[4][5][6]
Personal life
She was married on 19 November 1929 to Edmund Fearnley-Whittingstall,[7] a painter, and divorced in 1936.[1] She married Marcus Marsh, a racehorse trainer, on 28 September 1936 and gave birth to a daughter on 7 March 1937.[8][9][10] She was divorced from Mr Marsh in early 1947 and married Mr Geoffrey Ackroyd in June 1947.[11] She married for a fourth and final time in June 1957 to Mr Carl Vyvyan Forslind who outlived her.[11]
Grand Slam finals
Singles (2 runners-up)
Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 1928 | French Championships | Clay | Helen Wills | 1–6, 2–6 |
Loss | 1931 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Helen Wills | 4–6, 1–6 |
Doubles (3 titles, 2 runners-up)
Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Win | 1928 | French Championships | Clay | Phoebe Holcroft | Suzanne Devé Sylvie Jung | 6–0, 6–2 |
Loss | 1928 | Wimbledon | Grass | Ermyntrude Harvey | Peggy Saunders Phoebe Holcroft | 2–6, 3–6 |
Win | 1931 | French Championships | Clay | Betty Nuthall | Cilly Aussem Elizabeth Ryan | 9–7, 6–2 |
Win | 1931 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Betty Nuthall | Helen Jacobs Dorothy Round | 6–2, 6–4 |
Loss | 1932 | French Championships | Clay | Betty Nuthall | Elizabeth Ryan Helen Wills | 1–6, 3–6 |
Mixed doubles (3 titles, 1 runner-up)
Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Win | 1927 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Henri Cochet | Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman René Lacoste | 6–2, 6–0, 6–3 |
Win | 1928 | French Championships | Clay | Henri Cochet | Helen Wills Frank Hunter | 6–2, 6–3 |
Win | 1929 | French Championships | Clay | Henri Cochet | Helen Wills Frank Hunter | 6–3, 6–2 |
Loss | 1930 | French Championships | Clay | Henri Cochet | Cilly Aussem Bill Tilden | 4–6, 4–6 |
Grand Slam singles tournament timeline
W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
Tournament | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | Career SR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australian Championships | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 |
French Championships | A | A | SF | F | SF | 2R | 2R | QF | QF | A | A | 0 / 7 |
Wimbledon | 1R | 2R | 3R | QF | 4R | 2R | 4R | QF | 4R | 2R | 4R | 0 / 11 |
US Championships | A | A | 3R | A | A | A | F | A | A | A | A | 0 / 2 |
SR | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 20 |
See also
- Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final
References
- ^ a b "Decree Nisi Against Mrs. Eileen Fearnley Whittingstall: Whittingstall v. Whittingstall And Marsh". The Times. 17 March 1936. p. 4.
- ^ a b "Wonderful Tennis 1931". British Pathé. 3 September 1931.
- ^ Collins, Bud (2008). The Bud Collins History of Tennis: An Authoritative Encyclopedia and Record Book. New York, N.Y: New Chapter Press. pp. 695, 701–2. ISBN 978-0-942257-41-0.
- ^ Sarah Kirkham (30 October 2014). "Throwback Thursday: Daring fashionistas of 1930s Wimbledon". AELTC.
- ^ Christopher Breward; Becky Conekin; Caroline Cox, eds. (2002). The Englishness of English Dress. Berg Publishers. ISBN 978-1-85973-528-2.
- ^ "What Do You Think?". British Pathé. 20 July 1933.
- ^ "At Forest Hills". Time. 31 August 1931.
- ^ "Tennis Star To Marry". Dundee Evening Telegraph. 24 September 1936. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Noted Tennis Player Wed". Aberdeen Journal. 29 September 1936. p. 6 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Untitled". The Glasgow Herald. 9 March 1937. p. 7.
- ^ a b England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005
External links
- Eileen Whittingstall at Wimbledon
- "Eileen Vivian Bennett (later Mrs Fearnley-Whittingstall) (1907–1979), Tennis player; former wife of Edmund Fearnley-Whittingstall". National Portrait Gallery. Set of eight portraits by Bassano's studio
- v
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- e
(national)
- 1907: Adine Masson / Yvonne de Pfeffel
- 1908: Kate Gillou-Fenwick / Cecile Matthey
- 1909: Jeanne Matthey / Daisy Speranza
- 1910: Jeanne Matthey / Daisy Speranza
- 1911: Jeanne Matthey / Daisy Speranza
- 1912: Jeanne Matthey / Daisy Speranza
- 1913: Blanche Amblard / Suzanne Amblard
- 1914: Blanche Amblard / Suzanne Amblard
- 1915–1919: No competition (World War I)
- 1920: Élisabeth d'Ayen / Suzanne Lenglen
- 1921: Suzanne Lenglen / Geramine Pigueron
- 1922: Suzanne Lenglen / Geramine Pigueron
- 1923: Suzanne Lenglen / Julie Vlasto
- 1924: Marguerite Broquedis / Yvonne Bourgeois
(international)
- 1925: Suzanne Lenglen / Julie Vlasto
- 1926: Suzanne Lenglen / Julie Vlasto
- 1927: Irene Bowder Peacock / Bobbie Heine
- 1928: Phoebe Holcroft Watson / Eileen Bennett
- 1929: Lilí Álvarez / Kea Bouman
- 1930: Helen Wills Moody / Elizabeth Ryan
- 1931: Eileen Bennett Whittingstall / Betty Nuthall
- 1932: Helen Wills Moody / Elizabeth Ryan
- 1933: Simonne Mathieu / Elizabeth Ryan
- 1934: Simonne Mathieu / Elizabeth Ryan
- 1935: Margaret Scriven / Kay Stammers
- 1936: Simonne Mathieu / Billie Yorke
- 1937: Simonne Mathieu / Billie Yorke
- 1938: Simonne Mathieu / Billie Yorke
- 1939: Simonne Mathieu / Jadwiga Jędrzejowska
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- 1979: Betty Stöve / Wendy Turnbull
- 1980: Kathy Jordan / Anne Smith
- 1981: Rosalyn Fairbank Nideffer / Tanya Harford
- 1982: Martina Navratilova / Anne Smith
- 1983: Rosalyn Fairbank Nideffer / Candy Reynolds
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- 1985: Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver
- 1986: Martina Navratilova / Andrea Temesvári
- 1987: Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver
- 1988: Martina Navratilova / Pam Shriver
- 1989: Larisa Savchenko Neiland / Natalia Zvereva
- 1990: Jana Novotná / Helena Suková
- 1991: Gigi Fernández / Jana Novotná
- 1992: Gigi Fernández / Natalia Zvereva
- 1993: Gigi Fernández / Natalia Zvereva
- 1994: Gigi Fernández / Natalia Zvereva
- 1995: Gigi Fernández / Natalia Zvereva
- 1996: Lindsay Davenport / Mary Joe Fernández
- 1997: Gigi Fernández / Natalia Zvereva
- 1998: Martina Hingis / Jana Novotná
- 1999: Serena Williams / Venus Williams
- 2000: Martina Hingis / Mary Pierce
- 2001: Virginia Ruano Pascual / Paola Suárez
- 2002: Virginia Ruano Pascual / Paola Suárez
- 2003: Kim Clijsters / Ai Sugiyama
- 2004: Virginia Ruano Pascual / Paola Suárez
- 2005: Virginia Ruano Pascual / Paola Suárez
- 2006: Lisa Raymond / Samantha Stosur
- 2007: Alicia Molik / Mara Santangelo
- 2008: Anabel Medina Garrigues / Virginia Ruano Pascual
- 2009: Anabel Medina Garrigues / Virginia Ruano Pascual
- 2010: Serena Williams / Venus Williams
- 2011: Andrea Hlaváčková / Lucie Hradecká
- 2012: Sara Errani / Roberta Vinci
- 2013: Ekaterina Makarova / Elena Vesnina
- 2014: Hsieh Su-wei / Peng Shuai
- 2015: Bethanie Mattek-Sands / Lucie Šafářová
- 2016: Caroline Garcia / Kristina Mladenovic
- 2017: Bethanie Mattek-Sands / Lucie Šafářová
- 2018: Barbora Krejčíková / Kateřina Siniaková
- 2019: Tímea Babos / Kristina Mladenovic
- 2020: Tímea Babos / Kristina Mladenovic
- 2021: Barbora Krejčíková / Kateřina Siniaková
- 2022: Caroline Garcia / Kristina Mladenovic
- 2023: Hsieh Su-wei / Wang Xinyu
- 2024: Coco Gauff / Kateřina Siniaková