Molla Mallory
Anna Margarethe " Molla " Bjurstedt Mallory ( born March 6, 1884 in Oslo, † November 21, 1959 in Stockholm, Sweden) was a Norwegian- American tennis player.
Life
Beginnings in Norway and the United States
Molla Bjurstedt was born in 1884 in Oslo, the daughter of a Norwegian officer. In 1915 she decided to go because of better job prospects in the U.S., where she was offered a job as a masseuse. Bjurstedt at that time was already eight times the Norwegian national tennis champion and had won a bronze medal in the women's singles at the Olympic Games in 1912. Nevertheless, she was virtually unknown in the United States as a tennis player.
In the same year she reported at the American Indoor Championships, defeating defending champion Unseeded as Marie Wagner with 6:4 and 6:4. This was the first of five titles at the U.S. Indoor Championships. In the same year Bjurstedt also won in Cincinnati. They did not have their strokes while on the bandwidth and the rich variety of many other successful tennis players; they made this minor flaw but thanks to a superior hard driven forehand, immense fighting spirit and superior athleticism more than compensated. Bjurstedt was a classic baseline player. The characteristic feature of their game was to early to hit the ball in the ascendant, and then chasing him from corner to corner, so you keep your opponent on the move. Your just played surcharge returns also were the ideal strategic response to the grid storming attack players.
Record victories at the American Championships
Mallory won the American Tennis Championships (now the U.S. Open ), 1915-1918, 1920-1922 and 1926 - a total of eight times and still existing record. Your 1915 starting record streak of seven U.S. Open triumphs in eight finals ( only final defeat in 1919 ) only ends in 1923. Succumbed to the young Helen Wills Moody with 2:6 and 1:6. But a year later, now already 42 years she managed one last great success: Mallory who was behind in the finals already 0:4 and later had to fend against the serving Elizabeth Ryan a match, could still turn the game around. A year later, Mallory reached the age of 43, the quarter-finals - it is the worst outcome, which achieved Mallory in all the years in Forest Hills. Your final farewell to the U.S. Open, she gave in 1929 in the semi-finals. She was at that time 45 years old. When her greatest triumph is considered the victory of 1921, in which they, the French tennis legend Suzanne Lenglen defeated in the second round in its only appearance in America by abortion. With Bill Tilden she won at the American Championships 1922 Mixed.
Summit: Mallory suggests Lenglen
Your most remarkable success and the greatest fame, however, Mallory in 1921 in a second-round game of the American Championships, which ended with a demolition victory for the Norwegian -born American. Respondent Mallory was Suzanne Lenglen. The Frenchwoman, one of the most famous actresses of her time, is considered the first female superstar of the sport. In this respect, the first meeting between the two best players in North America and Europe received a very special, highly anticipated explosiveness.
Mallory won the first set 6-2 and played - so tell the American press reports of the time - especially on her forehand side with a strong impact hardness and precision that surprised her opponent obviously. Lenglen, which run much had to Mallory blows to achieve at all, suffered in the course of the game to ever increasing coughing and crying fits and finally declared after the first two points of the second set of their task. This decision was very negatively received by the audience. Lenglens lifelong asthmatic problems are documented: a doctor, so her Italian biographer Gianni Clerici, have diagnosed after the game whooping cough. The real reason for the trip consisted in the intention Lenglens to gain their mock battles money for the war-ravaged France.
Molla Mallory Bjurstedts demolition win over Suzanne Lenglen should remain the only defeat of the French war between the end of 1919 and their transfer to the pros in 1927. This, together with the character of a summit meeting between old and new world made the game and his unexpected result to a much - discussed and controversial talk of the day on both sides of the Atlantic.
A year later, Mallory met at Wimbledon again on Lenglen, but could not repeat the sensation: You lost the game in only 26 minutes with 6:2 and 6:0. A few weeks later in the finals of the tournament in Cannes Mallory could not win with a renewed duel one game and lost 0:6 and 0:6. It was simultaneously the last duel between Mallory and Lenglen.
After the career
In 1958, Mallory was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She died on November 21, 1959 at the age of 75 years.
Swell
- Gianni Clerici: Suzanne Lenglen - La Diva du Tennis (1984 )