Betty Nuthall
{{short description|English tennis player}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
{{Infobox tennis biography
|name = Betty Nuthall
|image = Betty Nuthall 1932.jpg
|caption =
|fullname = Elizabeth May Nuthall Shoemaker
|country = {{GBR}}
|residence =
|birth_date = {{birth date|1911|5|23|df=y}}
|birth_place = Surbiton, England
|death_date = {{death date and age|1983|11|8|1911|5|23|df=y}}
|death_place = New York City, USA
|height =
|college =
|turnedpro =
|retired =
|plays = Right-handed
|careerprizemoney =
|tennishofyear = 1977
|tennishofid = betty-nuthall
|website =
|singlesrecord =
|singlestitles =
|highestsinglesranking = No. 4 (1929)
|currentsinglesranking =
|AustralianOpenresult =
|FrenchOpenresult = F (1931)
|Wimbledonresult = 4R (1933, 1937, 1938, 1946)
|USOpenresult = W (1930)
|Othertournaments =
|MastersCupresult =
|WTAChampionshipsresult =
|Olympicsresult =
|doublesrecord =
|doublestitles =
|highestdoublesranking =
|currentdoublesranking =
|grandslamsdoublesresults =
|AustralianOpenDoublesresult =
|FrenchOpenDoublesresult = W (1931)
|WimbledonDoublesresult =
|USOpenDoublesresult = W (1930, 1931, 1933)
|OthertournamentsDoubles =
|MastersCupDoublesresult =
|WTAChampionshipsDoublesresult =
|OlympicsDoublesresult =
|Mixed =
|mixedrecord =
|mixedtitles =
|AustralianOpenMixedresult =
|FrenchOpenMixedresult = W (1931, 1932)
|WimbledonMixedresult =
|USOpenMixedresult = W (1929, 1931)
|Team = Yes
|DavisCupresult =
|FedCupresult =
|WightmanCupresult = (1928)
}}
Betty May Nuthall Shoemaker (née Nuthall; 23 May 1911 – 8 November 1983) was an English tennis player. Known for her powerful forehand, according to Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Nuthall was ranked in the world's top 10 in 1927, 1929 through 1931, and 1933, reaching a career high of world no. 4 in 1929.{{cite book |author=Collins, Bud |title=The Bud Collins History of Tennis: An Authoritative Encyclopedia and Record Book |publisher=New Chapter Press |location=New York |year=2008 |pages=695, 701–2 |isbn=978-0-942257-41-0 }} In 1930, Nuthall won the women's singles title at the U.S. Championships.
Early life
Betty Nuthall was born on 23 May 1911 in Surbiton and grew up in Richmond. She was the eldest child of Stuart Nuthall, who worked on the London and South Western Railway and later became a hotel proprietor, and his wife Mary, both of them keen tennis players.{{Cite journal |last=Barling |first=Rose |date=October 2021 |title=Betty Nuthall, Richmond's queen of the court |journal=Richmond History |publisher=Richmond Local History Society |volume=42 |pages=6–12 |issn=0263-0958}}
Career
Nuthall's father taught her tennis. She won the junior championships of Great Britain in 1924 (aged 13), 1925 and 1926.
In 1927 at the age of 16, Nuthall tied Elisabeth Moore as the then-youngest women's singles finalist ever at the U.S. National Championships. Nuthall lost the final to Helen Wills in straight sets while serving under-handed.{{cite web | url=http://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/betty-nuthall | title=Hall of Famers – Betty Nuthall Shoemaker | publisher=International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum}}{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/08/31/archives/miss-wills-regains-us-tennis-crown-beats-miss-nuthall-of-england-at.html | title=Miss Wills Regains U.S. Tennis Crown | author=Allison Danzig | newspaper=The New York Times | date=31 August 1927}}
Also in 1927, Nuthall played on the British Wightman Cup team and defeated Helen Jacobs in her debut.{{cite journal
| date = 31 August 1928
| title = Mrs. Beamish does well at Nottingham
| journal =Kingston Gleaner
| location = Kingston, Jamaica
| publisher = Gleaner Company
| page = 34
| volume = XCIV
| issue = 200
| access-date = 21 October 2012
| url = https://newspaperarchive.com/kingston-gleaner/1928-08-31/page-34/
}} She also represented Great Britain in the 1929 and 1931–34 Wightman Cup competitions.
In 1930, Nuthall became the first non-American since 1892 to win a women's singles title at the U.S. National Championships, defeating Anna McCune Harper in straight sets.{{cite news | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article30503935 | title=BETTY NUTHALL. | newspaper=The Advertiser | location=Adelaide, Australia | date=26 August 1930 | page=9 | via=National Library of Australia}} She was the last British female player to win the title until Virginia Wade won in 1968. In 1931, she reached the singles final of the French International Championships but lost in two sets to top-seeded Cilly Aussem. Also in 1930, she won the mixed doubles with her recurring partner Pat Spence.{{cite journal | editor=Béla Kehrling | editor-link=Béla Von Kehrlingv| url=http://epa.oszk.hu/02100/02127/00021/pdf/EPA02127_tennis_es_golf_1930_2_006.pdf|issue=6 | volume=II | page=97 | journal=Tennisz és Golf | date=22 March 1930 | title=Külföldi hírek | trans-title=International news | publisher=Bethlen Gábor Irod. és Nyomdai RT | location=Budapest, Hungary | language=hu | access-date=22 October 2012}} Nuthall and he went for the British Hard Court Championships in April and were only eliminated in the final,{{cite journal | editor=Béla Kehrling | editor-link=Béla Von Kehrling | title=Külföldi hírek | trans-title=International news | url=http://epa.oszk.hu/02100/02127/00045/pdf/EPA02127_tennis_es_golf_1931_3_010.pdf| issue=10 | volume=III | pages=186 | journal=Tennisz és Golf | date=15 May 1931 | publisher=Egyesült Kő-, Könyvnyomda. Könyv- és Lapkiadó Rt. | location=Budapest, Hungary | language=hu | access-date=21 October 2012}} while in May they won the mixed title at the French International Championships.{{cite book
| author=John Grasso
| title=Historical Dictionary of Tennis
| location=Lanham, Maryland, United States
| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=W39oSS7c2xAC
|year=2011
|isbn = 9780810872370
|pages = 333, 357
|publisher = Scarecrow Press
}}
At the U.S. Championships in 1933, Nuthall won a quarterfinal versus Alice Marble 6–8, 6–0, 7–5 after being down two breaks of serve at 1–5 in the final set. In the semifinals versus Moody, Nuthall won the first set 6–2 in just 12 minutes, which was the first set Wills had lost at this tournament since 1926. Moody, however, turned around the match and won the last two sets 6–3, 6–2 despite losing her serve twice in the second set. Nuthall never again reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament.
Nuthall won women's doubles titles at the 1930, 1931, and 1933 U.S. Championships and at the 1931 French Championships. She won mixed doubles championships at the 1929 and 1931 U.S. Championships and at the 1931 and 1932 French Championships.
Nuthall was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1977.
Personal life
She and doubles partner Pat Spence were a couple off the court,{{cite journal|url=http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article/singfreepressb19300127-1.2.80.2.aspx|page=12|journal=The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser|date=27 January 1930|title=Miss Nuthall and Dr. Spence|publisher=Mohammed Eunos|location=Singapore|access-date=21 October 2012}}{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|title=Betty Engaged? That's What England Hears|url=http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2011/Corning%20NY%20Evening%20%20Leader/Corning%20NY%20Evening%20%20Leader%201930%20%20Jan-Nov%201930%20Grayscale/Corning%20NY%20Evening%20%20Leader%201930%20%20Jan-Nov%201930%20Grayscale%20-%200272.pdf|journal=Evening Leader|location=Corning, NY|date=25 January 1930|page=9}} and they won the French Open mixed doubles tournament in 1931. In 1954, she married Franklin Shoemaker, who died in 1982. On 8 November 1983, Nuthall died in New York City of a coronary arrest.{{cite news|author=Rogers, Thomas|title=Betty Nuthall, 72; British Tennis Star Captured U.S. Title|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/10/obituaries/betty-nuthall-72-british-tennis-star-captured-us-title.html|work=The New York Times|date=10 November 1983}}
Grand Slam finals
=Singles: 3 (1 title, 2 runners-up)=
| class="sortable wikitable" | |||||
| style="width:40px"|Result
!style="width:40px"|Year !style="width:200px"|Championship !style="width:50px"|Surface !style="width:180px"|Opponent !style="width:110px" class="unsortable"|Score | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bgcolor="#CCCCFF"
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss | 1927 | U.S. Championships | Grass | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Helen Wills | 1–6, 4–6 |
| bgcolor="#CCCCFF"
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win | 1930 | U.S. Championships | Grass | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Anna McCune Harper | 6–1, 6–4 |
| bgcolor="#EBC2AF"
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss | 1931 | French Championships | Clay | {{flagicon|Weimar Republic}} Cilly Aussem | 6–8, 1–6 |
=Doubles (4 titles, 2 runners-up)=
| class="sortable wikitable"
!style="width:40px"|Result !style="width:40px"|Year !style="width:200px"|Championship !style="width:50px"|Surface !style="width:180px"|Partner !style="width:180px"|Opponents !style="width:110px" class="unsortable"|Score | ||||||
| style="background:#ccf;"
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss | 1927 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | {{flagicon|GBR}} Joan Fry | {{flagicon|GBR}} Kitty McKane {{flagicon|GBR}} Ermyntrude Harvey | 1–6, 6–4, 4–6 |
| style="background:#ccf;"
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win | 1930 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | {{flagicon|USA}} Sarah Palfrey | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Edith Cross {{flagicon|USA}} Anna McCune Harper | 3–6, 6–3, 7–5 |
| style="background:#ebc2af;"
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win | 1931 | French Championships | Clay | {{flagicon|GBR}} Eileen Bennett Whittingstall | {{flagicon|GER|Weimar}} Cilly Aussem {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Elizabeth Ryan | 9–7, 6–2 |
| style="background:#ccf;"
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win | 1931 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | {{flagicon|GBR}} Eileen Bennett Whittingstall | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Helen Jacobs {{flagicon|GBR}} Dorothy Round | 6–2, 6–4 |
| style="background:#ebc2af;"
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss | 1932 | French Championships | Clay | {{flagicon|GBR}} Eileen Bennett Whittingstall | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Elizabeth Ryan {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Helen Wills | 1–6, 3–6 |
| style="background:#ccf;"
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win | 1933 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | {{flagicon|GBR}} Freda James | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Elizabeth Ryan {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Helen Wills | default |
=Mixed doubles (4 titles, 1 runner-up)=
| class="sortable wikitable"
!style="width:40px"|Result !style="width:40px"|Year !style="width:200px"|Championship !style="width:50px"|Surface !style="width:180px"|Partner !style="width:180px"|Opponents !style="width:110px" class="unsortable"|Score | ||||||
| style="background:#ccf;"
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win | 1929 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} George Lott | {{flagicon|GBR}} Phyllis Covell {{flagicon|GBR}} Bunny Austin | 6–3, 6–3 |
| style="background:#ebc2af;"
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win | 1931 | French Championships | Clay | {{flagicon|RSA|1928}} Patrick Spence | {{flagicon|GBR}} Dorothy Shepherd {{flagicon|GBR}} Bunny Austin | 6–3, 5–7, 6–3 |
| style="background:#ccf;"
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win | 1931 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} George Lott | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Anna McCune Harper {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Wilmer Allison | 6–3, 6–3 |
| style="background:#ebc2af;"
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win | 1932 | French Championships | Clay | {{flagicon|GBR}} Fred Perry | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Helen Wills {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Sidney Wood | 6–4, 6–2 |
| style="background:#ccf;"
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss | 1933 | French Championships | Grass | {{flagicon|GBR}} Fred Perry | {{flagicon|GBR}} Margaret Scriven {{flagicon|AUS}} Jack Crawford | 2–6, 3–6 |
Grand Slam singles tournament timeline
{{Performance key|short=yes|active=no}}
| class="wikitable"
! Tournament !! 1926 !! 1927 !! 1928 !! 1929 !! 1930 !! 1931 !! 1932 !! 1933 !! 1934 !! 1935 !!1936 !!1937 !!1938 !!1939 !!1940 !! 1941 – 1944 !! 1945 !! 19461 !! Career SR |
| style="background:#EFEFEF;" | Australian Championships
| align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" |NH | align="center" |NH | align="center" |A | align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" | 0 / 0 |
| style="background:#EFEFEF;" | French Championships
| align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" style="background:#afeeee;" |2R | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" style="background:#D8BFD8;" | F | align="center" style="background:yellow;" | SF | align="center" style="background:yellow;" | SF | align="center" style="background:#afeeee;" |3R | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" |NH | align="center" |R | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" | 0 / 5 |
| style="background:#EFEFEF;" | Wimbledon
| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;" |2R | align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF | align="center" style="background:#afeeee;" |1R | align="center" style="background:#afeeee;" |3R | align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF | align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF | align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF | align="center" style="background:#afeeee;" |4R | align="center" style="background:#afeeee;" |1R | align="center" |A | align="center" style="background:#afeeee;" |2R | align="center" style="background:#afeeee;" |4R | align="center" style="background:#afeeee;" |4R | align="center" style="background:#afeeee;" |1R | align="center" |NH | align="center" |NH | align="center" |NH | align="center" style="background:#afeeee;" |4R | align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" | 0 / 14 |
| style="background:#EFEFEF;" | U.S. Championships
| align="center" |A | align="center" style="background:#D8BFD8;" | F | align="center" |A | align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;" |QF | align="center" style="background:#00ff00;" | W | align="center" style="background:yellow;" | SF | align="center" |A | align="center" style="background:yellow;" | SF | align="center" style="background:#afeeee;" |2R | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" style="background:#afeeee;" |3R | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" |A | align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" | 1 / 7 |
| style="background:#EFEFEF;" | SR
| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 1 | align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 2 | align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 2 | align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 2 | align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |1 / 2 | align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 3 | align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 2 | align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 3 | align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 3 | align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 0 | align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 1 | align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 1 | align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 1 | align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 2 | align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 0 | align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 0 | align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 0 | align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 1 | align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" | 1 / 26 |
R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under German occupation.
1In 1946, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.
See also
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{Tennis Hall of Fame}}
- [http://www.britishpathe.com/video/were-glad-shes-glad-shes-glad-were-glad/query/Betty+Nuthall British Pathé Reel – "Southampton. 'We're Glad She's Glad – She's Glad We're Glad!']
{{navboxes|title=Betty Nuthall in the Grand Slam tournaments
| list1=
{{French Open women's doubles champions}}
{{French Open mixed doubles champions}}
{{U.S. National Championships women's singles champions}}
{{U.S. National Championships women's doubles champions}}
{{U.S. National Championships mixed doubles champions}}
}}
{{International Tennis Hall of Fame members}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuthall, Betty}}
Category:English female tennis players
Category:British female tennis players
Category:French Championships (tennis) champions
Category:Tennis players from the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
Category:International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees
Category:United States National champions (tennis)
Category:Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's singles
Category:Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles