Kitty Godfree

KITTY GODFREE d1992. British tennis and badminton player. The winner of five Grand Slam Singles titles (1923-26). She was ranked in the World Top10 from 1921 (when the rankings began) through to 1927 (reaching a career high of World No2) in those rankings in 1923, 1924, and 1926. She won five Olympic medals in tennis at the 1920 Antwerp and 1924 Paris games, the most Olympic medals ever won by a tennis player until Venus Williams matched this record at the 2016 Olympic Games. She won the Wimbledon singles title twice in 1924 and 1926. In the 1924 final, she recovered from a set and 4–1 (40–15) down against Helen Wills Moody to win the title. (This was the only defeat at Wimbledon for Moody who would go on to win eight titles). In the 1926 final, she recovered from a 3–1 and game-point-against deficit in the third set to defeat Lili de Alvarez. In 1925, she became the first person to have reached the singles finals of the French Championships / Wimbledon and US Championships during her career. She was the subject of the BBC Show This Is Your Life in 1988 when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews. Kitty Godfree died in London aged 96 on June 19th 1992.