Helen Wills

HELEN WILLS d1998. American tennis player. She won 31 career Grand Slam tournament titles (singles / doubles and mixed doubles) including 19 singles titles during the 1920-30s. She was the first American woman athlete to become a global celebrity despite her preference for staying out of the limelight. She was admired for her graceful physique and for her fluid motion. She was part of a new tennis fashion, playing in knee-length pleated skirts, rather than the longer ones of her predecessors and was known for wearing her hallmark white visor. Unusually, she often played with men to hone her craft and a relentless (predominantly baseline game) wearing down her female opponents with power and accuracy. In February 1926, she played a high-profile and widely publicised match against Suzanne Lenglen which became known as the Match of the Century. She had a 180-match win streak from 1927 until 1933. In 1933, she beat the eighth-ranked US male player in an exhibition match. Her record of eight wins at Wimbledon was not surpassed until 1990 when Martina Navratilova won her ninth. She was said to be "arguably the most dominant tennis player of the 20th century" and has been called by some commentators the greatest female player in history. She died in California aged 92 on January 1st 1998