Simonne Mathieu

{{Infobox tennis biography

| name = Simonne Mathieu

| image = Simonne Mathieu 1926.jpg

| image_size =

| caption =

| fullname = Simonne Emma Henriette Passemard-Mathieu

| country_represented = {{FRA}}

| residence =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1908|01|31|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France

| death_date = {{death date and age|1980|01|07|1908|01|31|df=yes}}

| death_place = Chatou, France

| height =

| plays = Right–handed (one-handed backhand)

| tennishofyear = 2006

| tennishofid = simonne-mathieu

| website =

| singlesrecord = 510-94 (84.4%)

| singlestitles = 147

| highestsinglesranking = No. 3 (1932, A. Wallis Myers)

| AustralianOpenresult =

| FrenchOpenresult = W (1938, 1939)

| Wimbledonresult = SF (1930, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1936, 1937)

| USOpenresult = QF (1938)

| doublesrecord =

| doublestitles =

| FrenchOpenDoublesresult = W (1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939)

| WimbledonDoublesresult = W (1933, 1934, 1937)

| USOpenDoublesresult = F (1938)

| AustralianOpenMixedresult =

| FrenchOpenMixedresult = W (1937, 1938)

| WimbledonMixedresult = F (1937)

| USOpenMixedresult =

}}

Simonne Mathieu{{efn|name=simone|Also spelled "Simone" in several sources.}} ({{IPA|fr|simɔn matjø}} {{nee}} Passemard;){{Cite web |date=2019-05-15 |title=Who is the real Simonne? – Roland-Garros – The 2022 Roland-Garros Tournament official site |url=https://www.rolandgarros.com/en-us/article/who-is-the-real-simonne-mathieu |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=Roland Garros |language=en-us}} (31 January 1908 – 7 January 1980) was a tennis player from France, born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, who was active in the 1930s. She won the French Championships singles title in 1938 and 1939.

During World War II, she created and led the Corps of French Volunteers in the Free French Forces, the first female unit in the military history of France.

Tennis career

Mathieu is best remembered for winning two major singles titles at the French Championships (in 1938 and 1939), and for reaching the final of that tournament an additional six times, in 1929, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1936, and 1937. In those finals, she lost three times to Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling, twice to Helen Wills Moody, and once to Margaret Scriven.

Mathieu won 11 Grand Slam doubles championships: three women's doubles titles at Wimbledon (1933–34, 1937), six women's doubles titles at the French Championships (1933–34, 1936–39), and two mixed-doubles titles at the French Championships (1937–38). She completed the rare triple at the French Championships in 1938, winning the singles, women's doubles, and mixed-doubles titles.

Mathieu's 13 Grand Slam titles are second only to Suzanne Lenglen's 21 among French women.

According to A. Wallis Myers and John Olliff of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail respectively, Mathieu was ranked in the world top 10 from 1929 through 1939 (no rankings were issued from 1940 through 1945), reaching a career high of world No. 3 in 1932.{{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, N.Y |year=2008 |pages=695, 701–2 |isbn=978-0-942257-41-0 }}

The winners' trophy of the women's doubles event at the French Open is named in her honour as the Coupe Simonne-Mathieu.{{cite web|title=An A to Z of Roland Garros|url=http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/tournament_info/201307161374012338649.html|website=rolandgarros.com|publisher=Fédération Française de Tennis (FFT)|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402233658/http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/tournament_info/201307161374012338649.html|archive-date=2 April 2015}}

World War II

During World War II, Captain Mathieu was founder of the Corps Féminin Français, the women's volunteer branch of the Free French Forces, similar to the British Auxiliary Territorial Service.{{cite journal| editor=Hammerton, John | author-link=John Alexander Hammerton|url=http://www.thewarillustrated.info/84/free-french-ats.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090118221837/http://www.thewarillustrated.info/84/free-french-ats.asp|url-status=usurped|archive-date=18 January 2009| title=Free French 'A.T.S.'|volume=4|issue=84| location=London|publisher=William Berry|date=10 April 1941| journal=The War Illustrated| pages=384| access-date=2008-10-19}} Mathieu was succeeded in that position by Captain Hélène Terré.{{Cite web|url=http://www.france-libre.net/les-volontaires-feminines-de-la-france-libre/|title=» Les volontaires féminines de la France Libre|date=2 July 2019 |language=fr-FR|access-date=2020-02-12}} For their service, each woman was named an Officer of the Legion of Honor.{{cite journal|author1=Franck Lehodey|title=Simonne Mathieu, libre arbitre|journal=Tennis Info|date=December 2010 – January 2011|issue=428|page=24|url=http://www.fft.fr/sites/default/files/ti_428.pdf|language=fr|issn=0221-8127}}

Honours

She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2006.{{cite web|title=Hall of Famers – Simonne Mathieu|url=http://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/simonne-mathieu|publisher=International Tennis Hall of Fame|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100813144438/http://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/simonne-mathieu|archive-date=13 August 2010}}

In November 2017, the French Tennis Federation (FFT) announced that the third show-court at Roland Garros will be named Court Simonne-Mathieu in her honor.{{cite web|title=Simonne Mathieu, more than just a tennis great|url=http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/news/articles/2017-11-23/2017-11-23_simonne_mathieu_more_than_just_a_tennis_great.html?|website=rolandgarros.com|publisher=Fédération Française de Tennis (FFT)|date=23 November 2017}}

Grand Slam finals

=Singles: 8 (2 titles, 6 runner-ups)=

class='sortable wikitable' !style="width:40px"\|Result !style="width:35px"\|Year !style="width:180px"\|Championship !style="width:50px"\|Surface !style="width:180px"\|Opponent !style="width:120px" class="unsortable"\|Score
style="background:#ebc2af;" \| style="background:#ffa07a;"\|Loss	1929	French Championships	Clay	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Helen Wills	3–6, 4–6
style="background:#ebc2af;" \| style="background:#ffa07a;"\|Loss	1932	French Championships	Clay	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Helen Wills	5–7, 1–6
style="background:#ebc2af;" \| style="background:#ffa07a;"\|Loss	1933	French Championships	Clay	{{flagicon\|GBR}} Margaret Scriven	2–6, 6–4, 4–6
style="background:#ebc2af;" \| style="background:#ffa07a;"\|Loss	1935	French Championships	Clay	{{flagicon\|Nazi Germany}} Hilde Krahwinkel	2–6, 1–6
style="background:#ebc2af;" \| style="background:#ffa07a;"\|Loss	1936	French Championships	Clay	{{flagicon\|Nazi Germany}} Hilde Krahwinkel	3–6, 4–6
style="background:#ebc2af;" \| style="background:#ffa07a;"\|Loss	1937	French Championships	Clay	{{flagicon\|Nazi Germany}} Hilde Krahwinkel	2–6, 4–6
style="background:#ebc2af;" \| style="background:#98fb98;"\|Win	1938	French Championships	Clay	{{flagicon\|FRA}} Nelly Landry	6–0, 6–3
style="background:#ebc2af;" \| style="background:#98fb98;"\|Win	1939	French Championships	Clay	{{flagicon\|Second Polish Republic}} Jadwiga Jędrzejowska	6–3, 8–6

=Doubles: 13 (9 titles, 4 runner-ups)=

class="sortable wikitable" !style="width:40px"\|Result !style="width:35px"\|Year !style="width:180px"\|Championship !style="width:50px"\|Surface !style="width:180px"\|Partner !style="width:180px"\|Opponents !style="width:120px" class="unsortable"\|Score
style="background:#ebc2af;" \| style="background:#ffa07a;"\|Loss	1930	French Championships	Clay	{{flagicon\|FRA}} Simone Barbier	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Elizabeth Ryan {{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Helen Wills	3–6, 1–6
style="background:#ebc2af;" \| style="background:#98fb98;"\|Win	1933	French Championships	Clay	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Elizabeth Ryan	{{flagicon\|FRA}} Sylvie Jung Henrotin {{flagicon\|FRA}} Colette Rosambert	6–1, 6–3
style="background:#cfc;" \| style="background:#98fb98;"\|Win	1933	Wimbledon Championships	Grass	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Elizabeth Ryan	{{flagicon\|GBR}} Freda James {{flagicon\|GBR}} Billie Yorke	6–2, 9–11, 6–4
style="background:#ebc2af;" \| style="background:#98fb98;"\|Win	1934	French Championships	Clay	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Elizabeth Ryan	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Helen Jacobs {{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Sarah Palfrey	3–6, 6–4, 6–2
style="background:#cfc;" \| style="background:#98fb98;"\|Win	1934	Wimbledon Championships	Grass	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Elizabeth Ryan	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Dorothy Andrus {{flagicon\|FRA}} Sylvie Jung Henrotin	6–3, 6–3
style="background:#cfc;" \| style="background:#ffa07a;"\|Loss	1935	Wimbledon Championships	Grass	{{flagicon\|GER\|Nazi}} Hilde Krahwinkel	{{flagicon\|GBR}} Freda James {{flagicon\|GBR}} Kay Stammers	1–6, 4–6
style="background:#ebc2af;" \| style="background:#98fb98;"\|Win	1936	French Championships	Clay	{{flagicon\|GBR}} Billie Yorke	{{flagicon\|POL}} Jadwiga Jędrzejowska {{flagicon\|GBR}} Susan Noel	2–6, 6–4, 6–4
style="background:#ebc2af;" \| style="background:#98fb98;"\|Win	1937	French Championships	Clay	{{flagicon\|GBR}} Billie Yorke	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Dorothy Andrus {{flagicon\|FRA}} Sylvie Jung Henrotin	3–6, 6–2, 6–2
style="background:#cfc;" \| style="background:#98fb98;"\|Win	1937	Wimbledon Championships	Grass	{{flagicon\|GBR}} Billie Yorke	{{flagicon\|GBR}} Phyllis King {{flagicon\|GBR}} Elsie Goldsack	6–3, 6–3
style="background:#ebc2af;" \| style="background:#98fb98;"\|Win	1938	French Championships	Clay	{{flagicon\|GBR}} Billie Yorke	{{flagicon\|FRA}} Nelly Adamson {{flagicon\|FRA}} Arlette Halff	6–3, 6–3
style="background:#cfc;" \| style="background:#ffa07a;"\|Loss	1938	Wimbledon Championships	Grass	{{flagicon\|GBR}} Billie Yorke	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Sarah Palfrey {{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Alice Marble	2–6, 3–6
bgcolor="#CCCCFF" \| style="background:#ffa07a;"\|Loss	1938	US Championships	Grass	{{flagicon\|POL}} Jadwiga Jędrzejowska	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Sarah Palfrey {{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Alice Marble	8–6, 4–6, 3–6
style="background:#ebc2af;" \| style="background:#98fb98;"\|Win	1939	French Championships	Clay	{{flagicon\|POL}} Jadwiga Jędrzejowska	{{flagicon\|Kingdom of Yugoslavia}} Alice Florian {{flagicon\|Kingdom of Yugoslavia}} Hella Kovac	7–5, 7–5

=Mixed doubles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)=

class="sortable wikitable" !style="width:40px"\|Result !style="width:35px"\|Year !style="width:180px"\|Championship !style="width:50px"\|Surface !style="width:180px"\|Partner !style="width:180px"\|Opponents !style="width:120px" class="unsortable"\|Score
style="background:#ebc2af;" \| style="background:#98fb98;"\|Win	1937	French Championships	Clay	{{flagicon\|FRA}} Yvon Petra	{{flagicon\|GER\|Nazi}} Marie-Luise Horn {{flagicon\|FRA}} Roland Journu	7–5, 7–5
style="background:#cfc;" \| style="background:#ffa07a;"\|Loss	1937	Wimbledon Championships	Grass	{{flagicon\|FRA}} Yvon Petra	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Alice Marble {{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Don Budge	1–6, 4–6
style="background:#ebc2af;" \| style="background:#98fb98;"\|Win	1938	French Championships	Clay	{{flagicon\|Kingdom of Yugoslavia}} Dragutin Mitić	{{flagicon\|AUS}} Nancye Wynne Bolton {{flagicon\|FRA}} Christian Boussus	2–6, 6–3, 6–4
style="background:#ebc2af;" \| style="background:#ffa07a;"\|Loss	1939	French Championships	Clay	{{flagicon\|Kingdom of Yugoslavia}} Franjo Kukuljević	{{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Sarah Palfrey {{flagicon\|USA\|1912}} Elwood Cooke	6–4, 1–6, 5–7

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

class="wikitable"

! Tournament !! 1925 !! 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 Open

| align="center" |A