The numbers are astounding. 250 championships won. Three Olympic medals, six Wimbledon and six French Championship titles. Over her remarkable career, Suzanne Lenglen recorded 341 victories and only seven defeats – a staggering win percentage of 98%.
But Suzanne didn’t just win; she did so with flair. One could say that she was a diva. Charismatic and charming, she was known to arrive for her matches dressed in a full-length fur coat and wearing bright red lipstick. Her attire for the matches also caused much controversy. Dressed in diamond-accented headscarves, silk stockings, and, most controversial for the times, a dress that showed her forearms and calves.
But she was a winner. And maybe more important than the victories, she brought pride and joy to her native France at a time when the country was reeling from the death and destruction of World War I. About 1.5 million French men had been killed in the war, and 4 million had been wounded. Suzanne helped soothe the spirit of the nation.
For Suzanne, the pressure to excel started at a young age. Suffering from chronic asthma, she began playing tennis because her father thought it might help build stamina. It became quickly apparent that she was a gifted player. Her father aggressively pushed her as a result. Play to win, even if it goes against convention he taught, which had a particular significance then, as women played the game differently from men.
Years later, when asked about her play, Suzanne would say, “My method? I don’t think I have any. I just throw dignity to the winds and think of nothing but the game. I try to hit the ball with all my force and send it where my opponent is not.”
Sadly, Suzanne’s career and life were cut short when she passed away at the age of 39 in 1938.
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Notes
Read a snapshot biography of baseball star Thelma “Tiby” Eisen.
Sources
- Feldman, Jacob and Wertheim, Jon.“The Incomparable Life and Mysterious Death of Suzanne Lenglen.” Sports Illustrated,
- Garros, Roland. “Outrageous, unconventional and brilliant: The iconic Suzanne Lenglen.” September 28, 2020. WTA Unlocked, https://www.wtatennis.com/news/1840596/outrageous-unconventional-and-brilliant-the-iconic-suzanne-lenglen
- Gay, Victor and Grosjean, Pauline. “New scores on old sores: The Morts Pour la France database on WWI fatalities in France.” VoxEU, https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/new-scores-old-sores-morts-pour-la-france-database-wwi-fatalities-france
- “The 100-year legacy of Suzanne Lenglen.” Olympics, https://olympics.com/en/news/the-100-year-legacy-of-suzanne-lenglen
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