Pauline Betz

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

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),[2][3][4][5] where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. Betz earned an MA in economics from Columbia University.[6][7]

Career

Amateur

Betz won the Eastern Clay Court Championships in 1941 and also won the Eastern Grass Court Championships that same year with a close win in the final against Sarah Palfrey Cooke.[8] She won the Dixie International Championships three times (1940–1942).

Betz 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 while trailing 3–5 in the final set.[9] She defeated Louise Brough in a close final in both 1942 and 1943.

In 1943, she won the Tri-State tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio, defeating Catherine Wolf in the final without losing a point in the first set,[9] a "golden set". In 1944, she won the final of the U.S. Championships against Margaret Osborne duPont.

She won the Wimbledon singles title in 1946, defeating Louise Brough in the final, the only time she entered the tournament, without losing a set.[9] At the 1946 French Championships, held that year after Wimbledon, she lost the final in three sets to Margaret Osborne after failing to convert two match points.[10] At the U.S. Championships in 1946, she defeated Patricia Canning Todd in the semifinal and Doris Hart in the final.

According to John Olliff, Betz was ranked world no. 1 in 1946 (no rankings issued from 1940 through 1945).[10] She was included in the year-end top 10 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.[11]

Professional

Her amateur career ended in 1947 when the USLTA revoked her amateur status for exploring the possibilities of turning professional.[9][12][13][14] Betz played two professional tours of matches against Sarah Palfrey Cooke (1947) and Gussie Moran (1951).[10] A professional tour against Maureen Connolly was planned for 1955, but did not materialize due to Connolly's career-ending injury.[15]

Pauline Betz won the Cleveland Women's World Professional Championships in 1953, 1955, and 1956, defeating Doris Hart, the reigning U.S. champion, in the 1956 final. In May 1956, she also played another match against Hart at Milwaukee, winning in two straight sets.

Death

Betz died of complications related to Parkinson's disease on May 31, 2011. She is buried with her husband Bob Addie in a double plot in St Gabriel Cemetery in Potomac, Maryland.[16]

Awards and honors

On September 2, 1946, Betz appeared on the cover of TIME magazine.[17][18] Betz was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1965.[9] In 1995, she was inducted in the ITA Women's Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame.[6] 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.[19]

Grand Slam finals

Singles (5 titles, 3 runners-up)

Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1941 U.S. Championships Grass Template:Flagicon Sarah Palfrey Cooke 5–7, 2–6
Win 1942 U.S. Championships Grass Template:Flagicon Louise Brough 4–6, 6–1, 6–4
Win 1943 U.S. Championships (2) Grass Template:Flagicon Louise Brough 6–3, 5–7, 6–3
Win 1944 U.S. Championships (3) Grass Template:Flagicon Margaret Osborne 6–3, 8–6
Loss 1945 U.S. Championships Grass Template:Flagicon Sarah Palfrey Cooke 6–3, 6–8, 4–6
Win 1946 Wimbledon Grass Template:Flagicon Louise Brough 6–2, 6–4
Loss 1946 French Championships Clay Template:Flagicon Margaret Osborne 6–2, 6–8, 5–7
Win 1946 U.S. Championships (4) Grass Template:Flagicon Doris Hart 11–9, 6–3

Doubles: 7 (7 runner-ups)

Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1941 U.S. Championships Grass Template:Flagicon Dorothy Bundy Template:Flagicon Sarah Palfrey
Template:Flagicon Margaret Osborne		 6–3, 1–6, 4–6
Loss 1942 U.S. Championships Grass Template:Flagicon Doris Hart Template:Flagicon Louise Brough
Template:Flagicon Margaret Osborne		 6–2, 5–7, 0–6
Loss 1943 U.S. Championships Grass Template:Flagicon Doris Hart Template:Flagicon Louise Brough
Template:Flagicon Margaret Osborne		 4–6, 3–6
Loss 1944 U.S. Championships Grass Template:Flagicon Doris Hart Template:Flagicon Louise Brough
Template:Flagicon Margaret Osborne		 6–4, 4–6, 3–6
Loss 1945 U.S. Championships Grass Template:Flagicon Doris Hart Template:Flagicon Louise Brough
Template:Flagicon Margaret Osborne		 3–6, 3–6
Loss 1946 Wimbledon Grass Template:Flagicon Doris Hart Template:Flagicon Louise Brough
Template:Flagicon Margaret Osborne		 3–6, 6–2, 3–6
Loss 1946 French Championships Clay Template:Flagicon Doris Hart Template:Flagicon Louise Brough
Template:Flagicon Margaret Osborne		 4–6, 6–0, 1–6

Mixed Doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)

Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1941 U.S. Championships Grass Template:Flagicon Bobby Riggs Template:Flagicon Sarah Palfrey
Template:Flagicon Jack Kramer		 6–4, 4–6, 4–6
Loss 1943 U.S. Championships Grass Template:Flagicon Pancho Segura Template:Flagicon Margaret Osborne
Template:Flagicon Bill Talbert		 8–10, 4–6
Win 1946 French Championships Clay Template:Flagicon Budge Patty Template:Flagicon Dorothy Bundy
Template:Flagicon Tom Brown		 7–5, 9–7

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Template:Performance key

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

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

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

Personal life

In 1949, Betz published an autobiography titled Wings on my Tennis Shoes.[20][18] That same year she married Bob Addie, born Addonizio, a sportswriter for the Washington Times-Herald and Washington Post.[21][9] The couple had five children, including poet and novelist Kim Addonizio, Rusty, Gary, Jon and Rick.[21][13] Her granddaughter Aya Cash is an actress. Betz died in her sleep on May 31, 2011, aged 91.[21]

Records

Tournament Year Record accomplished Player tied
Tri-State tournament 1943 Achieved a Golden Set[22] Tine Scheuer-Larsen (1995)
Yaroslava Shvedova (2012)

See also

References

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  16. ↑ Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More than 14000 Famous Persons, Scott Wilson
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
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  22. ↑ Politiken, 10 May 1995, 1st Section, p.10

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External links

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