Shirley Fry, female tennis star
Shirley June Fry Irvin (née Fry; June 30, 1927 – July 13, 2021) was a world No. 1 tennis player from the United States. During her career, which lasted from the early 1940s until the mid-1950s, she won the singles title at all four Grand Slam events as well as 13 doubles titles. In 2021, Fry Irvin was the longest surviving female Grand Slam and Wimbledon singles champion.
Fry was raised in Akron, Ohio and started playing tennis competitively at age nine.[1][2] She was educated at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida where she graduated in 1949.[1][3]
Fry is one of 10 women[a] to have won each Grand Slam singles tournament at least once during her career. She was also one of seven women (with Hart, Court, Navratilova, Pam Shriver, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams) to have won all four Grand Slam doubles tournaments. At the U.S. National Championship (precursor of the U.S. Open) in 1942, Irvin reached the singles quarterfinals at the age of 15. At Wimbledon in 1953, Fry and Hart lost only four games during the entire women's doubles tournament and won three matches without losing a game, including the semifinals and finals, the latter over Connolly and Julia Sampson. Fry won the last three Grand Slam singles tournaments she entered, including wins over Althea Gibson in the Wimbledon quarterfinal and U.S. Championship final in 1956 and the Australian Championships final in 1957.
Fry was ranked in the world top 10 in 1946 and 1948 and from 1950 through 1955 (no rankings issued from 1940 through 1945), and No. 1 in 1956.[4] The United States Lawn Tennis Association ranked her in the U.S. top 10 from 1944 through 1955 and No. 1 in 1956.[5] She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1970.
From 1951 through 1956 she participated in the Wightman Cup, the women's team competition between Great Britain and the United States, and contributed to the U.S. victory during each of these editions with the exception of 1954, when her final doubles rubber was not played. She compiled a 10–2 W/L record.[3]
Fry married Karl Irvin in Australia, in February 1957 after which she retired from top-level tennis. The couple had four children.[2][3]
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Shirley June Fry Irvin (née Fry; June 30, 1927 – July 13, 2021) was a world No. 1 tennis player from the United States. During her career, which lasted from the early 1940s until the mid-1950s, she won the singles title at all four Grand Slam events as well as 13 doubles titles. In 2021, Fry Irvin was the longest surviving female Grand Slam and Wimbledon singles champion.
Fry was raised in Akron, Ohio and started playing tennis competitively at age nine.[1][2] She was educated at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida where she graduated in 1949.[1][3]
Fry is one of 10 women[a] to have won each Grand Slam singles tournament at least once during her career. She was also one of seven women (with Hart, Court, Navratilova, Pam Shriver, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams) to have won all four Grand Slam doubles tournaments. At the U.S. National Championship (precursor of the U.S. Open) in 1942, Irvin reached the singles quarterfinals at the age of 15. At Wimbledon in 1953, Fry and Hart lost only four games during the entire women's doubles tournament and won three matches without losing a game, including the semifinals and finals, the latter over Connolly and Julia Sampson. Fry won the last three Grand Slam singles tournaments she entered, including wins over Althea Gibson in the Wimbledon quarterfinal and U.S. Championship final in 1956 and the Australian Championships final in 1957.
Fry was ranked in the world top 10 in 1946 and 1948 and from 1950 through 1955 (no rankings issued from 1940 through 1945), and No. 1 in 1956.[4] The United States Lawn Tennis Association ranked her in the U.S. top 10 from 1944 through 1955 and No. 1 in 1956.[5] She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1970.
From 1951 through 1956 she participated in the Wightman Cup, the women's team competition between Great Britain and the United States, and contributed to the U.S. victory during each of these editions with the exception of 1954, when her final doubles rubber was not played. She compiled a 10–2 W/L record.[3]
Fry married Karl Irvin in Australia, in February 1957 after which she retired from top-level tennis. The couple had four children.[2][3]
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