Failed American Debut
Lenglen's only defeat in singles, other than a pre-match withdrawal, during this period occurred in an unscheduled appearance in the 1921 U.S Championships. To raise reconstruction funds for the regions of France that had been devastated by the battles of World War I, she went to the United States to play several exhibition matches against the Norwegian-born US champion, Molla Bjurstedt Mallory.
Lenglen arrived in New York City the day before the tournament after a stormy and delayed voyage, during which she was ill the whole time. Upon arrival, Lenglen learned that, without her permission, tournament officials had announced her participation in the U.S. Championships. Because of immense public pressure, she agreed to play in the tournament despite suffering from what was diagnosed later as whooping cough. As a concession, she was given a day to recover. To her surprise, there was no seeding for the event and her name had been drawn to play Eleanor Goss, a leading American player. Goss immediately defaulted, leaving Lenglen to face Mallory in the second round as her first opponent.
In their match, Lenglen lost the first set 6–2 and just as the second set got underway, she began coughing and burst into tears, unable to continue. The crowd jeered her as she walked off the court, and the American press severely criticised her. This worsened when, under doctor's orders after it was confirmed that she was afflicted with whooping cough, she cancelled her exhibition match. Unaccustomed to such treatment, a devastated Lenglen went home.
Once healthy, she set about preparing herself for redemption. In the singles final at Wimbledon the following year, she defeated Mallory in only 26 minutes, winning 6–2, 6–0, reputedly the fastest Ladies major tournament match on record. The two met again later that year at a tournament in Nice where, with Lenglen showing her complete mastery of the sport, Mallory failed to win even one game.
Read more about this topic: Suzanne Lenglen
Famous quotes containing the words failed, american and/or debut:
“The first general store opened on the ‘Cold Saturday’ of the winter of 1833 ... Mrs. Mary Miller, daughter of the store’s promoter, recorded in a letter: ‘Chickens and birds fell dead from their roosts, cows ran bellowing through the streets’; but she failed to state what effect the freeze had on the gala occasion of the store opening.”
—Administration in the State of Sout, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Even American women are not felt to be persons in the same sense as the male immigrants among the Hungarians, Poles, Russian Jews,—not to speak of Italians, Germans, and the masters of all of us—the Irish!”
—Mary Putnam Jacobi (1842–1906)
“One should never make one’s debut with a scandal. One should reserve that to give an interest to one’s old age.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)