Maureen Connolly

Tennis Player

• Born: September 17, 1934
• Birthplace: San Diego, California
• Died: June 21, 1969
• Place of death: Dallas, Texas

Sport: Tennis

Early Life

Maureen Catherine Connolly was born on September 17, 1934, in San Diego, California. Her parents were Martin J. Connolly and Jassamine Connolly. Horses were Maureen’s chief childhood passion until, at ten years of age, her family moved to a house near some municipal tennis courts. The pro there, Wilbur Folsom, became so accustomed to seeing a small, curly-haired girl peeking through the fence watching people play that he invited her inside and hit some balls to her. Folsom was so impressed with Maureen’s natural ability that he offered to give her lessons. He switched her from a left-handed to a right-handed player, and after several months of coaching, he entered her in a tournament where she reached the finals. Tennis became Maureen’s main pursuit.

The Road to Excellence

The next year, the famous Eleanor Tennant became Maureen’s teacher and coach. “Teach” Tennant had developed such champions as Helen Wills, Alice Marble, and Pauline Betz. Tennant, well known not only for her coaching but also for her skills as an analyst and psychologist, brought Maureen along slowly and deliberately. Besides the tennis coaching, she gave Maureen exercises to strengthen her arm and wrist. These exercises are considered a routine aspect of a tennis workout today but were a novelty back in the 1940’s. Tennant also had Maureen take dance lessons to improve her footwork.

Maureen practiced hard, usually three to four hours a day, until she had molded herself into a highly capable player. By the time Maureen was fifteen, she not only had won fifty titles but also had become the youngest girl up to that time to win the coveted National Junior Championships, for players eighteen years of age and under. She won that title again the next year, 1950, when she was sixteen; she also competed on the women’s circuit. She did so well that she was tenth in the women’s rankings of 1950.

Noticed by the press, she was dubbed “Little Mo” or “Mighty Little Mo,” a playful contemporary comparison with the powerful battleship Missouri, or “Big Mo.” Her nickname was attributed to the fact that even though she was only 5 feet 5 inches in height, similar to the guns of the Missouri, she shot down her opponents with her outstanding powerful forehand and backhand drives.

The Emerging Champion

In 1951, Maureen did not defend her National Junior title because the date of the championship conflicted with the U.S. National Championship at Forest Hills, New York. She won this tournament and at seventeen was the second youngest player at the time to win the title. That year, she was selected for the Wightman Cup team and was the youngest to make the team. Moreover, she repeated as a member of the team in 1952, 1953, and 1954, and in four years of Wightman Cup play, she never lost a match.

Many wondered what made this teenager so successful against more experienced players. Not only was Maureen skillful, but also her outstanding concentration, coupled with her tremendous drive to win, made her a great champion.

Continuing the Story

In 1952, Maureen retained her U.S. title and won Wimbledon also; the Associated Press (AP) named her female athlete of the year. In addition, she was presented the Service Bowl Award by the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA), given to the person who makes the most noticeable contribution to the sportsmanship, fellowship, and service of tennis.

The next year, 1953, after winning the Australian Championship, Maureen won the French Championship, repeated as winner at Wimbledon, and was victorious again at the U.S. National Championship at Forest Hills. By winning these four major championships in one year, she won the Grand Slam of tennis and accomplished what only one other person, Don Budge, had ever done. Significantly, Maureen lost only one set in achieving this feat.

At the end of 1953, Maureen was selected again by the Associated Press as the female athlete of the year, was ranked number one by the USLTA, and was listed as number one in the world. At the age of twenty, in 1954, she won her second French Championship and her third consecutive Wimbledon and was predicted to repeat her victory at Forest Hills. However, as Maureen was riding her new horse before the tournament, a speeding truck frightened the animal and Maureen was thrown against the truck, broke her right leg, and severed all the muscles in her calf. Even though she could not compete in the remaining tennis tournaments that year, for the third straight year the Associated Press voted her female athlete of the year.

Maureen tried every form of rehabilitation, but it soon became obvious that her leg was severely damaged. In January, 1955, the sad announcement was made that she would never play competitive tennis again.

What Maureen would have achieved had she not been injured before she was twenty-one years of age is speculation. Amazingly, from September, 1951, when she won her first United States National Championship, to July, 1954, when she won her third Wimbledon title, she had lost only one match anywhere in the world, and that was in 1954, in California. Though her career was cut short, Maureen is regarded as one of the greatest women tennis players to have ever played the game.

Summary

In 1955, Maureen Connolly married Norman Brinker, a former member of the U.S. equestrian team, whom she had met several years before while she was out riding. They settled in Dallas, Texas, and had two daughters.

Maureen was elected to the National Lawn Tennis Hall of Fame in 1968, and in 1969, knowing she had terminal cancer, she created the Maureen Connolly Brinker Foundation to help promote promising junior players. Also in 1969, the USLTA established the Maureen Connolly Brinker Award to be presented each year at the Girls’ Nationals to the player who exhibited exceptional ability, sportsmanship, and competitive spirit. Maureen hoped to present the first award to be given in August, but she died on June 21, 1969, at the age of thirty-four.

Perhaps the best tribute to her brief career is by Lance Tingay, the tennis authority of the London Telegraph: “Whenever a great player comes along, you have to ask: Could she have beaten Maureen? In every case the answer is, I think not.”

Bibliography

Collins, Bud. Total Tennis: The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia. Toronto: Sport Media, 2003.

Conner, Floyd. Tennis’s Most Wanted: The Top Ten Book of Baseline Blunders, Clay Court Wonders, and Lucky Lobs. Washington, D.C.: Brassey’s, 2002.

Parsons, John. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Tennis: The Definitive Illustrated Guide to World Tennis. London: Carlton, 2006.

Sherrow, Victoria, ed. Encyclopedia of Women and Sports. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-Clio, 1996.

Woolum, Janet. Outstanding Women Athletes: Who They Are and How They Influenced Sports in America. Phoenix, Ariz.: Oryx Press, 1998.