Helen Wills

In September 1919, at the age of 13, she entered her first tournament, the California State Championships, held at her own Berkeley Tennis Club. After a bye in the first round she lost in two close sets to Marjorie Wale. Reporting on the tournament the San Francisco Examiner commented that "she will bear watching in the future".[18] By the end of 1919 she was the 7th ranked junior player in California.[19] In 1920 she competed in four tournaments in Northern California (Sacramento, Berkeley and San Francisco)[19] and at the end of 1920 she was the 9th ranked singles player in California.[20] In July 1921 she travelled to the East Coast for the first time where she played in four warm-up tournaments on grass in preparation for the U.S. Girls National Championships in Forest Hills. The trip was sponsored by the California Tennis Association.[21] In September 1921, Wills won the singles and doubles titles at the California State Championships, defeating Helen Baker in the final in three sets.[22][23] At the end of 1921 Wills was ranked No. 14 in the national singles, No. 2 in the Californian ranking, behind Helen Baker and No. 1 in the national juniors.[24]

In May 1922 she won the singles title at the Pacific Coast Championships, beating Ream Leachman in the final.[25][26] During Wills's run of East Coast grass court tournaments in the run up to the U.S. Championships she lost four times to Leslie Bancroft.[27] At the 1922 U.S. Championships she participated for the first time in the women's singles event and reached the final, losing just one set to Marion Zinderstein Jessup in the quarterfinal. The New York Times described the final between 16-year old Wills against 38-year old six-time champion Molla Mallory as the "battle of youth against experience".[lower-alpha 1] Mallory won the final in two sets to gain her seventh title.[25] Wills won her first Grand Slam title in the doubles event, partnering Zinderstein Jessup, after a three-sets victory in the final against Mallory and Edith Sigourney.[28] Partnering Howard Kinsey she was runner-up in the mixed doubles event to Mary Browne and Bill Tilden.[28] She also took part in the girls' singles championship and successfully defended her 1921 title.[23] At the end of the year she was the No. 3 ranked singles player nationally and the top-ranked player in California.[29]

Wills defended her Pacific Coast Championships singles title in June when she defeated Charlotte Hosmer in the final.[23][30] On August 10, 1923[lower-alpha 2] Wills made her debut in the inaugural Wightman Cup, the annual team tennis competition for women contested between teams from the United States and Great Britain.[31] She won both her singles matches against Mabel Clayton and Kitty McKane as well as her doubles match with Mallory. Directly following the Wightman Cup she entered the U.S. Championships and won her first women's U.S. national title at the age of 17 after a straight-sets victory in the final against seven-time champion Molla Mallory, making her the youngest champion at that time.[23] After returning to California she won her final tournament of the year, the California State Championships, against Hosmer in the final.[32] She finished the year ranked No. 1 in California as well as nationally.[32] A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph ranked her No. 3 in the world behind Lenglen and McKane.[33]

During the winter months Wills worked on her game and according to her trainer Pop Fuller she had improved her overhead, service and footwork.[34][1] In April the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) selected Wills for the Olympic team and for the Wightman Cup and the Wimbledon Championships leading up to the Olympics.[1] On May 14 Wills departed New York on board the RMS Berengaria for her first trip to Europe.[34] There was excitement in the press about the prospect of an encounter with Suzanne Lenglen, the French world No. 1 player and five-time Wimbledon champion.[35] Upon her arrival in England Wills focused on practice sessions to get accustomed to the grass courts instead of playing warm-up tournaments.[36] The Wightman Cup was played in June on the Wimbledon grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Wills lost both her singles matches, to Phyllis Covell and Kitty McKane,[lower-alpha 3] but won the doubles with Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman.[37] Wills entered her first Wimbledon Championships a few days after the conclusion of the Wightman Cup. She came through the draw with ease and reached the final without the loss of a set. Her opponent in the final McKane had received a walkover in the semifinal after Lenglen withdrew due to illness.[38] Wills won the first set and led 4–1 in the second with a game point for 5–1 but McKane staged a comeback with attacking play and won the next two sets, and the title, against a tiring Wills.[lower-alpha 4][40][35] It would be Will's only loss in the Wimbledon singles event during her career.[39] She did win the doubles event partnering Hotchkiss Wightman, her first Wimbledon title, after a win in two sets in the final against Covell and McKane.[41][42]

Wills entered the singles and doubles competitions at the 1924 Olympics in Paris, France.[43] The tennis tournament was played on outdoor clay courts at the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir in Colombes, a northwestern suburb of Paris. It was the last Olympics where tennis was a medal event[lower-alpha 5] until the sport returned at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.[44] Wills won the Olympic gold medal in both the singles and doubles events. In the singles event she had a bye in the first round and won her next four matches in straight sets to reach the final which was played on July 19. Her opponent in the final was Julie Vlasto of France who was defeated in two sets.[45][46] In the doubles event she partnered veteran Hazel Wightman. The team reached the semifinal without playing, after a bye in the first round followed by two walkovers. The final against Covell and McKane was a repeat of the Wimbledon final and again the result was a two-sets victory for Wightman and Wills.[47] In early August she returned to the United States to compete in the U.S. Championships. For the first time in her career she won all three titles in the singles, doubles and mixed doubles events. For the third successive year she played against Mallory in the singles final and like in 1923 won in straight sets. The mixed doubles event was played at the Longwood Cricket Club in Brookline where she partnered Vinnie Richards to win the final against Mallory and Tilden.[48][39][49] In September she won the California State Championships against May Sutton in the final.[50] She was again ranked No. 3 in the world behind Lenglen and McKane by A. Wallis Myers.[33]

On advice of her mother Wills did not travel to Europe and therefore did not take part in the Wimbledon Championships or in the first French Championships that were open to players who were neither French citizens nor residents of France.[51][52] Wills won an invitational tournament in Pasadena in February. In July she traveled to the East Coast to play the tradition grass court warm-up events for the U.S. Nationals. She won the singles titles at the Longwood Invitational in Brookline, against Marion Zinderstein Jessup, and at the Essex Country Club Invitational against Mary Browne.[51] At the Seabright Invitational she lost the final to Elizabeth Ryan who, playing without shoes, dealt better with the heavy, soggy courts which prevented Wills from playing her usual driving game.[53][51] It would be her only singles loss of the year.[54] At the New York State Championships in Westchester she defeated Mallory in the final in three sets. The third edition of the Wightman Cup was played in August at Forest Hills. Wills won both her singles matches against Joan Fry and McKane but lost the decisive doubles match with Mary Brown against Evelyn Colyer and McKane.[54][37] At the U.S. Championships which started on August 17, she came back from being a set down in both the quarterfinal, against Fry, and the semifinal, against Eleanor Goss, to reach the singles final. In the final against McKane she again lost the first set but won the next two to win her third consecutive U.S. Championships title at the age of 19.[54] In mid September she also won the California State Championships for the third consecutive time, defeating Lucy McCune in the final without the loss of a game.[55] In late September A. Wallis Myers ranked Wills No. 2 in the world behind Lenglen.[56][33] Also in September she was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society by the University of California.[57][58]

Suzanne Lenglen (left) and Helen Wills Moody in Cannes, 1926

On January 6 Wills departed New York en route to Le Havre, France with the aim to compete in the clay court Riviera tournaments and play against Suzanne Lenglen.[59] She stated that she also wanted to do sightseeing and study art. At the end of January she won the Metropole and Gallia tournaments in Cannes.[60] On February 16, 1926, the 20-year-old Wills met 26-year-old Suzanne Lenglen, six-time Wimbledon champion, in the final of a tournament at the Carlton Club in Cannes in the Match of the Century. It was the only time they played each other in singles competition. Public anticipation of their match was immense, resulting in high scalper ticket prices. Roofs and windows of nearby buildings were crowded with spectators, including King Gustaf V of Sweden. Both players were nervous, with Lenglen drinking brandy and water at one point to calm her nerves.[61] Lenglen won the match 6–3, 8–6 after being down 2–1 in the first set and 5–4 in the second set. Wills had a set point in the second set and believed she had won the point, but a linesman disagreed. In one of the few times she showed emotion on court, she spoke angrily to the linesman over the call.[61][62] After the match, Lenglen's father advised her that she would lose her next match to Wills if they met again soon, and Lenglen avoided Wills for the remainder of the spring.[63] Following the Lenglen match Wills won the Riviera tournaments in Beaulieu, Monte Carlo, Menton, as well as the South of France Championships and the Cannes Club tournament. Lenglen did not take part in these singles events.[64] Wills did not get a second chance to meet Lenglen due to an emergency appendectomy on June 5, during the French Championships,[65] which caused her to default her second-round match and withdraw from Wimbledon, which also was considered a default. Lenglen turned professional after the 1926 season.

After she returned to the United States in July, Wills attempted a comeback from her appendectomy. She won the East Hampton tournament against Mary Brown but at Seabright she lost the final to Elizabeth Ryan for the second year running. After another defeat, in the semifinal of the New York State Championships to Mallory, and on the advice of her doctor, she withdrew from that year's U.S. Championships and returned to Berkeley.[66] She did not play any tournaments for the remainder of the year and instead focused on her studies at Berkeley.[66] Apart from those two losses, beginning with the 1923 U.S. Championships, Wills lost only five matches in three years: once to Lenglen, twice to Kathleen McKane Godfree, and twice to Elizabeth Ryan. Wills had winning overall records against the latter two.

Wills' season started in March at the Hotel Huntington Invitation which she won in the final against Marrion Williams.[67] Together with her mother she travelled to England in May and in June won the North London Championships against Elisabeth Ryan and the Kent Championships in Beckenham against Kitty McKane Godfree.[67] She did not take part in the French Championships. At the Wimbledon Championships full seedings were used for the first time[lower-alpha 6] and Wills was the top-seeded singles player.[67] She lost a set to Gwen Sterry in the first round, the last set she would lose in singles until 1933,[69] but won all other matches in straight sets, including the final against fourth-seeded Lilí de Álvarez, to win her first Wimbledon singles title.[lower-alpha 7][71] Partnering Elizabeth Ryan she won her second Wimbledon doubles title against the South African pair of Bobbie Heine and Irene Peacock. Directly after Wimbledon she returned to the United States where she won the Essex Country Club Invitational, defeating 18-year old Helen Jacobs in the final. It was the first competitive encounter with Jacobs in what would become an intense rivalry.[71] Wills won both her singles matches and her doubles with Hotchkiss Wightman to help the U.S. team win the fifth edition of the Wightman Cup against Great Britain.[72] At the U.S. Championships in August she defeated Kea Bouman, winner of the French Championships, in the quarterfinal and Helen Jacobs in the semifinal to reach her fifth final, where she met 16-year old Betty Nuthall from Great Britain who served underhand. Wills was victorious in straight sets to win her fourth U.S. title.[73] After the Championships she stayed in New York and did not play any tournaments for the rest of the year. For the first time in her career she was ranked No. 1 in the world by A. Wallis Myers, in front of Álvarez and Ryan.[33]

The 1928 season started in April when Wills traveled to France to compete in the French Championships.[74] She was seeded first in a field of 37 players and won the singles title with ease after a victory in the final against eighth-seeded Eileen Bennett. The American Lawn Tennis magazine commented that "Miss Wills [...] so far outclasses the top flights of women throughout the world that she has no one who really can extend here."[75] She was runner-up in the mixed doubles with Frank Hunter, losing the final to Eileen Bennett and Henri Cochet. Wills then traveled to The Hague in May to compete in an international match against the Netherlands, beating Madzy Rollin Couquerque and Kea Bouman,[76] before travelling to the All England Club in London for the sixth edition of the Wightman Cup. Wills won both her singles matches but lost to deciding doubles match with Penelope Anderson against Eileen Bennett and Phoebe Holcroft Watson.[75] At Wimbledon Wills, seeded first, won her second consecutive singles title, again after a two-sets victory in the final against Lilí de Álvarez.[77] She did not take part in the doubles event and reached the semifinal of the mixed doubles with Francis Hunter. Upon return to the United States she defended her title at the Essex Country Club Invitational against Edith Cross and won at East Hampton against Helen Jacobs.[78] At the U.S. Championships which started on August 20 Wills went through the tournament without losing a set and beat Helen Jacobs is the final. It was the first time two met in a Grand Slam final.[78][77] With Hotchkiss Wightman she won the doubles final against compatriots Edith Cross and Anna McCune Harper and subsequently she travelled to Boston where she won the mixed doubles event partnering John Hawkes. In her autobiography Fifteen-Thirty she commented that Hawkes was the best mixed doubles partner she had ever played with.[78] For the second time she was ranked No. 1 in the world by A. Wallis Myers, in front of Álvarez and Daphne Akhurst.[33]

Helen Wills Moody in June 1929 at the Rot-Weiss Tennis Club in Berlin.

As in 1928 Wills' season started in April when she traveled to France to compete in the French Championships which started on May 20. Edith Cross joined her on the trip.[79] She successfully defended her French singles title by defeating sixth-seeded home favorite Simonne Mathieu in the final.[80] In the doubles event she teamed up with Edith Cross and lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champions Lilí de Álvarez and Kea Bouman.[81] She played in the mixed doubles with Frank Hunter and were beaten in the final by the Anglo-French team of Eileen Bennett and Henri Cochet. Wills then played international matches, as part of a U.S. team, against the Netherlands in May, beating Madzy Rollin Couquerque and Kea Bouman,[82] and against Germany, played at the Rot-Weiss Tennis Club in Berlin in June, where she won against Cilly Aussem and Paula von Reznicek.[83][81] At the Wimbledon Championships a third final against Lilí de Álvarez was anticipated but instead Wills faced fifth-seeded Helen Jacobs, their first encounter in a Grand Slam final. Wills won her third consecutive Wimbledon singles title in straight sets.[84][85] With Edith Cross she lost in the third round of the doubles to Ermyntrude Harvey but won the mixed doubles title with Frank Hunter against Ian Collins and Joan Fry.[86] In the seventh edition of the Wightman Cup, played on August 8 and 9 at the West Side Tennis Club, Wills won both her singles matches, including a close two-sets win against Betty Nuthall, to help the U.S. team reclaim the cup but lost her doubles match with Cross against Phoebe Holcroft Watson and Peggy Michell.[86] Later that month she won her sixth U.S. National Championships singles title after a victory in the final against second-seeded foreign player Phoebe Holcroft Watson. She played no further tournaments that year and, despite only competing in three tournaments, was ranked No. 1 in the world by A. Wallis Myers for the third successive time, this time ahead of Holcroft Watson and Jacobs.[33][86]

After her marriage in December 1929 she played tournaments under her married name Helen Wills Moody.[87] Her first tournament of the year was the Hotel Huntington Invitation in Pasadena in March where she defeated friend and frequent doubles partner Edith Cross in the final.[87] In late April she travelled to Paris to compete in the French Championships. She won her third singles title in succession after defeating seventh-seeded Helen Jacobs in the final. Partnering Elizabeth Ryan the doubles title was added to her list of trophies after a win in the final against the French pairing Simone Barbier and Simonne Mathieu.[88][89] The eighth edition of the Wightman Cup, held at the All England Club in June, was won by the British team despite two victories in the singles by Wills.[88] At the Wimbledon Championships first-seeded Wills reached the final after wins against seventh-seeded Phyllis Mudford in the quarterfinal and fifth-seeded Simonne Mathieu in the semifinal.[89] She defeated Elizabeth Ryan, seeded eighth, in straight sets to win her fourth consecutive Wimbledon singles title and with Ryan also won the doubles title against Edith Cross and Sarah Palfrey.[88][89] Wills did not defend her title at the U.S. Championships as she wanted to spend more time at home with her husband. She did compete at the Pacific Coast Championships where she won her fourth singles title after a victory in the final against Anna McCune Harper. For the fourth successive year she was ranked No. 1 in the world by A. Wallis Myers but she was excluded from the national ranking by the USLTA.[33][90]

In 1931 Wills did not travel to Europe to defend her French and Wimbledon titles and only played in tournaments in the United States.[91] Her first tournament was in July at the Essex Country Club Invitation in Massachusetts where she defeated McCune Harper in the final, losing just one game. In early August Wills won the Seabright Invitational title for the first time after a double-bagel victory in the final against Helen Jacobs.[91] At the 1931 Wightman Cup in August in Forest Hills, she won both her singles matches but lost the doubles with McCune Harper.[91] At the U.S. National Championships she won her seventh (and last) singles title via a win in a 35-minute final against the British player Eileen Bennett Whittingstall.[91][92] In the fall she and her husband travelled to Japan, China and the Philippines and Wills played exhibition matches in Tokyo, Kobe and Yokohama.[93] For the fifth time in succession she was ranked the No. 1 player in the world.[33]

Helen Wills Moody in May 1932 at Roland Garros

Due to the economic depression in the United States Wills and her husband decided to travel to several European countries.[94][95] Wills departed New York in late April and said she wanted to compete in Europe every other year.[94] She entered all three events of the French Championships, which was held from May 22 through June 6, without having played any warm-up tournaments. In the quarterfinal and semifinal of the singles event she survived setpoints but nevertheless won the title without losing a set when she beat Simonne Mathieu in the final.[96][97] Her level of play was not quite as dominant as in previous years.[98] She teamed up with Elizabeth Ryan to win the doubles title against Betty Nuthall and Eileen Bennett Whittingstall and in the mixed doubles she lost the final with Sidney Wood to Nuthall and Fred Perry.[99] It was her last appearance at the French Championships. The day after the singles final she traveled to London to prepare for the Wightman Cup which was held on June 10 and 11 at the All England Club.[100] The United States won the cup and Wills contributed with singles victories over Bennett Whittingstall and Dorothy Round but lost the doubles match with Sarah Palfrey.

At the Wimbledon Championships she encountered Helen Jacobs for the fourth time in a final of a Grand Slam tournament and as in previous occasions defeated her in straight sets to attain her fifth Wimbledon singles title.[101][97] She played the mixed doubles event with compatriot Ellsworth Vines and were eliminated in the quarterfinal. In July she competed for the first time in the Dutch Championships in Noordwijk and won both the singles event, against Madzy Rollin Couquerque, as well as the doubles event with Elizbeth Ryan.[102] Although Wills had indicated early in the year that she would defend her national U.S. title[103] she announced in August that she would not do so and instead prolonged her stay in Europe.[104] She then traveled on to Strasbourg, Germany where she won a tournament, beating Ilse Friedleben in the final. Afterwards she and her husband visited Switzerland, Sweden and Norway but she did not play in any further singles tournaments and for the sixth consecutive year was ranked the No. 1 player in the world.[101][33]

In an exhibition "Battle of the Sexes" match in San Francisco on January 28, 1933, Wills defeated Phil Neer, the eighth-ranked American male player 6–4 in a one-set match.[105][106] She did not compete at the French Championships but traveled directly to England in May. She entered the Queen's Club Championships in June and reached the final to play against Elsie Goldsack Pittman but rain prevented play and the title was shared.[101] At the Wimbledon Championships which started a week after Queen's she went through the draw with ease to reach the final against second-seeded Dorothy Round.[107] Wills won the first set but lost the second by 6–8, the first set she had lost in competitive tennis since 1927, but won the final set to gain her sixth Wimbledon singles crown.[108][109] After arriving back in New York on July 20 she felt pain and numbness in her right leg and following a consult at the New York Orthopedic Hospital decided to withdraw from the Wightman Cup in August and was replaced by Sarah Palfrey.[107]

Her streak of winning U.S. Championships seven times in seven attempts ended when she defaulted to Helen Jacobs during the 1933 final due to a back injury, trailing 0–3 with a double break in the third set. The loss ended her 45-match winning streak at the U.S. Championships.[110] She was subsequently treated for a dislocated vertebrae.[111]

In January 1934 she began receiving osteopathic treatments which made her feel better but she did not play any competitive tennis during the year.[112] On the invitation of the Daily Mail she traveled to London to write articles on the Wimbledon tournament. On advice of her father she took up swimming and in early 1935 started to hit against a backboard to aide her recovery.[113] After taking more than a year off to recuperate Wills returned to tennis in June 1935 when she entered two English warm-up tournaments for Wimbledon. She won the St. George's Hill Cub tournament against Elsie Pittmann but was defeated in straight sets in the semifinal of the Kent Championships by Kay Stammers.[113] At Wimbledon she was seeded fourth behind Round, Sperling and Jacobs but won her seventh title, surviving a match point at 2–5 in the final set against third-seeded rival Jacobs.[114][115][116]

Wills did not play any competitive singles tennis in 1936 and 1937 and traveled to England in late April 1938.[117] In May she entered the North London Hard Court Tournament, her first singles competition in three years, and won the event by defeating Yvonne Law in the final. She also won the following Surrey Grass Court Championships against Margot Lumb in the final.[118] Wills was persuaded by Hazel Wightman to participate in the Wightman Cup for the first time since 1932. On June 10 and 11 she won her singles matches against Margaret Scriven and Kay Stammers, contributing to the eighth consecutive cup win for the United States.[119][118] At the Queen's Club Championships she lost in the semifinal to Hilde Sperling. In 1938 she again defeated her rival Helen Jacobs in two sets to win her eighth and last Wimbledon title before retiring permanently from playing in singles. In the following years she did occasionally compete in doubles or mixed doubles events. In a 1994 interview with Inside Tennis, she revealed that a dog bite, which happened in January 1943,[120] ended her career:

Helen Wills: Well, it was during the war and my husband was at Fort Reilly, Kansas...It was the middle of winter, and I was walking my big police dog, Sultan. A little dog came barking wildly out of a house and grabbed my dog by the throat. Those little fox terriers have no sense. They’re just wild. So my poor dog was being chewed to pieces and wasn’t able to respond. But I wasn’t going to have a dogfight under my feet so I let go of his collar. And then Sultan took this little dog and shook him, which he deserved. But in the fight, my index finger on my right hand was bitten...

William Simon: By the terrier?

Helen Wills: I don't know. Fury! Wild, stupid animal! But my poor old finger, the finger next to the thumb. The thumb is very important in tennis. So that was the end of my career. I couldn’t manage. I never mentioned this before to anyone.[121]

From 1919 through 1938, she amassed a 398–35 (91.9%) W/L match record,[2] including a winning streak of at least 158 matches, during which she did not lose a set.[122] She was the first American woman to win the French Championships and in 1928 became the first tennis player, male or female, to win three Grand Slam tournament or Majors in one calendar year.[123] During the 17-year period from 1922 through 1938, Wills entered 24 Grand Slam singles events, winning 19, finishing runner-up three times, and defaulting twice as a result of her appendectomy.[123] Wills won 31 Grand Slam tournament titles (singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles), including seven singles titles at the U.S. Championships, eight singles titles at Wimbledon, and four singles titles at the French Championships.[123] Excluding her defaults at the French Championships and Wimbledon in 1926, she reached the final of every Grand Slam singles event she competed in. She never played at the Australian Championships.

Wills was a team member of the U.S. Wightman Cup in 1923, 1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, and 1938, winning the cup in 1923, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1932 and 1938. She compiled an overall Wightman Cup win–loss record of 20–9.[124]

Jack Kramer,[125] Harry Hopman, Mercer Beasley, Don Budge, and AP News called Wills the greatest female player in history.[126][106]

According to A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Wills was ranked in the world top ten from 1922 through 1925, 1927 through 1933, and in 1935 and 1938. She was world No. 1 in those rankings nine times, from 1927 through 1933 and in 1935 and 1938.[123] Wills was included in the year-end top ten rankings issued by the United States Lawn Tennis Association from 1922 through 1925, 1927 through 1929, and in 1931 and 1933. She was the top-ranked U.S. player from 1923 through 1925 and 1927 through 1929.[127] In 1950, sportswriter Grantland Rice ranked Helen Wills as the greatest female tennis player of all-time.[128]

In 1935, she was named Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press. Wills was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1959 together with the late Bill Tilden who had died in 1953. They were the 22nd and 23rd members of the Hall of Fame.[129] In 1981, Wills was inducted into the (San Francisco) Bay Area Athletic Hall of Fame.[130] In 1996 Wills was inducted into the Women's Hall of Fame of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.[131]

In July 1926 and 1929, Wills appeared on the cover of Time magazine.[132][133] The New York Times obituary described her as "arguably the most dominant tennis player of the 20th century".[134]

Wills is name-checked in the Leonard Bernstein musical Wonderful Town, written in 1953 but set in 1935. In the song "Conga", Ruth Sherwood sings "What do you think of our rocks and reels?/ Mothersill's/ seasick pills?/ How do you feel about Helen Wills?"

She typically wore a white sailor suit having a pleated knee-length skirt, white shoes, and a short sleeve top and a cerise-coloured cardigan.[142][123] The most iconic part of her attire was her signature white visor which she wore almost without exception since her junior playing days.[143] In The Ladies Home Journal of April 1927 she commented on her headgear: "As to tennis headgear, I have a particular dislike, although an altogether unreasonable one, for the narrow satin ribbons that some players tie about their heads. The georgette crepe of Mademoiselle Lenglen's famous bandeau is attractive as well as practical, but for myself I like an eye shade, because it protects the eyes, prevents wrinkles from forming about them, holds the hair in place and keeps away some of the sunburn."[144]

In 1929 American Lawn Tennis magazine reported that Wills played with a Wright & Ditson Challenge Cup wooden racket weighing 13 1/4 oz. with a 5-inch handle.[145] In the spring of 1931 the same magazine reported that Wills used the identical make and model of racket but with a weight of 13 1/2 oz. and a handle of 5 1/8 inch.[146]

Note 1: Wills withdrew from both the French Championships and Wimbledon Championships in 1926 after having an appendectomy. The French walkover is not counted as a loss. One week prior to Wimbledon, the tournament was informed that she would not play. She was given a default from her opening round match, which Wimbledon does not consider to be a "loss".

Note 2: Prior to 1925, the French Championships were not open to international players.

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