Full name Shirley June Fry Irvin Australian Open W (1957) Grand slams won (singles) 4 Country (sports) United States French Open W (1951) Turned pro 1941 | Plays Right–handed Name Shirley Irvin Education Rollins College Role Tennis player Highest ranking 1 | |
Born June 30, 1927 (age 96)
Akron, Ohio ( 1927-06-30 ) Similar People Doris Hart, Althea Gibson, Vic Seixas, Jana Novotna, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario | ||
Int. Tennis HoF 1970 (member page) | ||
Shirley June Fry Irvin (née Fry; born June 30, 1927) is a former world No. 1 American tennis player.
Contents
Biography
She is one of 10 women to have won each Grand Slam singles tournament at least once during her career. She is 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, Irvin 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 Julie Sampson Haywood. Irvin 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 Open final in 1957.
Irvin was ranked in the world top 10 in 1946 and 1948 and from 1950 through 1955 (no rankings issued from 1940 through 1945), and #1 in 1956. The United States Lawn Tennis Association ranked her in the U.S. top 10 from 1944 through 1955 and #1 in 1956. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1970. She married Karl Irvin in Australia, in February 1957.
Grand Slam record
Singles
R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under German occupation.
SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
1In 1946 and 1947, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.
Doubles
R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under German occupation.
SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam doubles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
1In 1946 and 1947, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.
