Louisa Martin

Mary Louisa "Mollie" Martin (3 September 1865 – 24 October 1941) was a tennis player from Ireland. She was considered the leading Irish female player of her time.

Louisa Martin
Country (sports)Ireland
Born(1865-09-03)3 September 1865
Newtowngore, Ireland
Died24 October 1941(1941-10-24) (aged 76)
Portrush, Northern Ireland[1]
Turned pro1885 [2]
Singles
Grand Slam singles results
WimbledonF (1898AC)

Martin started playing tennis in 1885 and early on was successful at the tournaments in Bath and Buxton.[2] In 1898 she entered the Wimbledon Championships for the first[lower-alpha 1] time and, after two wins and two byes, reached the All-comers' final, but was beaten in two sets by Charlotte Cooper. She did not play Wimbledon in 1899, and the following year, she again reached the All-comer's final to face Cooper and again lost. Her third and final entry at Wimbledon in 1901 also ended with a loss in the All-comers' final against Cooper.[5][6]

Martin won nine singles titles at the Irish Lawn Tennis Championships between 1889 and 1903 and was a runner-up three times. She won six singles titles at the Northern Championships, which was held alternately in Liverpool and Manchester.[7][2]

With Sydney H. Smith, she won two mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon.[2]

She was a member of the Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin, which staged the Irish Championships.[2]

Grand Slam finals
Martin at the Bath tournament in 1885

Singles (1 runner-up)
Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss1898[lower-alpha 2]WimbledonSurfaceUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Charlotte Cooper4–6, 4–6

Notes
  1. According to author A. Wallis Myers in his book Fifty Years of Wimbledon (1926) Martin played in the singles event of the 1892 Wimbledon Championships and lost to Blanche Hillyard in the semifinal.[3] The Wimbledon website registers this match under a separate player, A. Martin.[4]
  2. Only the 1898 edition of the All-comer's final is listed because the winner of this final was awarded the singles title in the absence of a challenge round. From 1886 until 1921, the tournament started with a knockout phase, the All Comers' Singles, whose winner then faced the defending champion in a challenge round final. The All Comers' final winner automatically was awarded the title 11 times, (including 1898 but not 1900 and 1901) because the previous year's champion did not defend her title.

References
  1. 2010 Wimbledon Compendium, by Alan Little (The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London). ISBN 978-1899039333
  2. A. Wallis Myers, ed. (1903). Lawn Tennis at Home and Abroad (1 ed.). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 54, 176. OCLC 5358651.
  3. Wallis Myers, A. (1926). Fifty Years of Wimbledon (1 ed.). London: The Proprietors of The Field. p. 33. OCLC 3195318.
  4. "Players Archive – A. Martin". Wimbledon. AELTC.
  5. "Draws Archive – Ladies' Singles". Wimbledon. AELTC.
  6. "Players Archive – Louisa Martin". Wimbledon. AELTC.
  7. "The History of Irish Tennis". Archived from the original on 2 August 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
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