.jpg) Jacobsc. 1928 | |
| Full name | Helen Hull Jacobs |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) |  United States |
| Born | (1908-08-06)August 6, 1908 Globe, Arizona, U.S. |
| Died | June 2, 1997(1997-06-02) (aged 88) East Hampton, New York, U.S. |
| Retired | 1947 |
| Int. Tennis HoF | 1962(member page) |
| Singles | |
| Highest ranking | No.1 (1936,A. Wallis Myers) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| French Open | F (1930,1934) |
| Wimbledon | W (1936) |
| US Open | W (1932,1933,1934,1935) |
| Doubles | |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| French Open | F (1934) |
| Wimbledon | F (1932, 1936, 1939) |
| US Open | W (1932, 1934, 1935) |
| Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
| US Open | W (1934) |
| Team competitions | |
| Wightman Cup | (1927,1929,1931,1932,1933,1934,1935,1936,1937,1939) |
Helen Hull Jacobs (August 6, 1908 – June 2, 1997) was an Americantennis player who won nineGrand Slam titles. In 1936 she was ranked No. 1 in singles byA. Wallis Myers.
Jacobs was born inGlobe, Arizona, and was Jewish.[1][2] Her parents, Roland (a mining executive, and then a newspaper advertising executive) and Eula Jacobs, moved the family to San Francisco in 1914.[3] She was the best-known Jewish female player of theinterwar period.[4]
Jacobs had a powerful serve and overhead smash and a sound backhand, but she never learned to hit a flat forehand, despite her friendship with, and some coaching from,Bill Tilden.[5] Like both her Wightman Cup coachHazel Hotchkiss Wightman and her archrivalHelen Wills Moody, she grew up inBerkeley, California, learned the game at theBerkeley Tennis Club, pursued her undergraduate degree at theUniversity of California, Berkeley, and was inducted into the Cal Sports Hall of Fame.[4]
Jacobs won fiveGrand Slam singles titles and was an eleven-time Grand Slam singles runner-up. Six of those losses were toHelen Wills Moody. Jacobs's only victory over Moody was in the final of the 1933U.S. Championships. Moody retired from the match with a back injury while trailing 3–0 in the third set to a chorus of boos from the audience who believed that Moody quit the match merely to deny Jacobs the satisfaction of finishing out her victory. It was reported by many witnesses after the match that Moody still planned to play her doubles match later that afternoon but was advised against it. Years later, Moody confirmed her injury, saying, "My back is kind of funny. The vertebra between the fourth and fifth disk is thin. When the disk slips around, it's intolerable. It rained the whole week before that final match. I lay in bed, and that was bad because it stiffened worse. I just couldn't play any longer, but I didn't say anything because it would look like an excuse." Jacobs almost defeated Moody again when she had match point at 6–3, 3–6, 5–3 in the1935 Wimbledon Championships singles final but a mishit on a short lob, which she decided to let bounce, cost her the point and four games later the match.[6][7] In the1938 Wimbledon final against Moody, Jacobs turned her ankle at 4–4 in the first set and hobbled around the court for the remainder of the match, with Moody winning the final eight games and the second set lasting a mere eight minutes. When asked after the match why she did not acceptHazel Wightman's on-court advice to quit the match after the injury, Jacobs said that continuing was the sporting thing to do so that Moody could enjoy the full taste of victory, an obvious allusion to Moody's retirement from the 1933 U.S. final. Moody said, "I was very sorry about Helen's ankle. But it couldn't be helped, could it? I thought there was nothing I could do but get it over as quickly as possible." In total, Jacobs lost 14 of the 15 career singles matches she played against Moody.
Jacobs won three Grand Slam women's doubles titles and one in mixed doubles. She was the runner-up at six Grand Slam women's doubles tournaments and one Grand Slam mixed doubles tournament. She won the singles and women's doubles titles at theItalian Championships in 1934.
According toA. Wallis Myers andJohn Olliff ofThe Daily Telegraph and theDaily Mail, Jacobs was ranked in the world top 10 from 1928 through 1939 (no rankings issued from 1940 through 1945), reaching a career high of World No. 1 in those rankings in 1936.[8] With the exceptions of 1930 and 1938, Jacobs was included in the year-end top 10 rankings by theUnited States Tennis Association from 1927 through 1941. She was the top-ranked U.S. player from 1932 through 1935.[9]
Jacobs was a member of the U.S.Wightman Cup team from 1927 through 1937 and again in 1939. Her lifetime record was 19–11.
In 1933, Jacobs became the first woman to break with tradition by wearing man-tailored shorts at Wimbledon.
While she was still playing tennis, Jacobs became a writer. Her first books wereModern Tennis (1933) andImprove Your Tennis (1936). She also wrote fictional works, such asStorm Against the Wind (1944). Her autobiographyBeyond the Game appeared in 1936. In 1949, she publishedGallery of Champions, a collection of biographies of female players, which she dedicated toMolla Mallory.[10]
Jacobs was namedAssociated Press Female Athlete of the Year in 1933. She was inducted into theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame in 1962. In 2015, she was inducted into theNational Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame.[11]
Jacobs served as a commander in the U.S. Navy intelligence during World War II, one of only five women to achieve that rank in the Navy.[6]
Long known to have beenlesbian, she was in a relationship from 1934 to 1943 withHenrietta Bingham, daughter of Louisville publisher and ambassador to EnglandRobert Bingham.[12] Her partner in later life was Virginia Gurnee.[6] Jacobs died of heart failure inEast Hampton, New York on June 2, 1997, where she had been living.[13][14]
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1928 | U.S. National Championships | Grass |  Helen Wills | 2–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 1929 | Wimbledon | Grass | Helen Wills | 1–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 1930 | French Championships | Clay | Helen Wills Moody | 2–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 1932 | Wimbledon | Grass | Helen Wills Moody | 3–6, 1–6 |
| Win | 1932 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Carolin Babcock | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Win | 1933 | U.S. National Championships(2) | Grass | Helen Wills Moody | 8–6, 3–6, 3–0 retired |
| Loss | 1934 | French Championships | Clay |  Margaret Scriven | 5–7, 6–4, 1–6 |
| Loss | 1934 | Wimbledon | Grass | Dorothy Round | 2–6, 7–5, 3–6 |
| Win | 1934 | U.S. National Championships(3) | Grass | Sarah Palfrey | 6–1, 6–4 |
| Loss | 1935 | Wimbledon | Grass | Helen Wills Moody | 3–6, 6–3, 5–7 |
| Win | 1935 | U.S. National Championships(4) | Grass | Sarah Palfrey Fabyan | 6–2, 6–4 |
| Win | 1936 | Wimbledon | Grass |  Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling | 6–2, 4–6, 7–5 |
| Loss | 1936 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Alice Marble | 6–4, 3–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 1938 | Wimbledon | Grass | Helen Wills | 4–6, 0–6 |
| Loss | 1939 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Alice Marble | 0–6, 10–8, 4–6 |
| Loss | 1940 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Alice Marble | 2–6, 3–6 |
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1931 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Dorothy Round | Betty NuthallEileen Bennett Whittingstall | 2–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 1932 | Wimbledon | Grass | Elizabeth Ryan |  Doris Metaxa Josane Sigart | 4–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 1932 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Sarah Palfrey | Alice MarbleMarjorie Morrill | 8–6, 6–1 |
| Loss | 1934 | French Championships | Clay | Sarah Palfrey | Simonne Mathieu Elizabeth Ryan | 6–3, 4–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 1934 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Sarah Palfrey | Carolin BabcockDorothy Andrus | 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 1935 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Sarah Palfrey Fabyan | Carolin Babcock Dorothy Andrus | 6–4, 6–2 |
| Loss | 1936 | Wimbledon | Grass | Sarah Palfrey Fabyan | Freda JamesKay Stammers | 2–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 1936 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Sarah Palfrey Fabyan | Marjorie Gladman Van Ryn Carolin Babcock | 7–9, 6–2, 4–6 |
| Loss | 1939 | Wimbledon | Grass | Billie Yorke | Alice Marble Sarah Palfrey Fabyan | 1–6, 0–6 |
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1932 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | Ellsworth Vines |  Sarah PalfreyFred Perry | 3–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 1934 | U.S. National Championships | Grass | George Lott | Elizabeth RyanLester Stoefen | 4–6, 13–11, 6–2 |
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held underGerman occupation.
| Tournament | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | Career SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Championships | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | NH | 0 / 0 |
| French Championships | A | A | A | A | A | F | QF | QF | SF | F | SF | A | QF | A | A | NH | R | 0 / 7 |
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | 3R | F | QF | SF | F | SF | F | F | W | QF | F | QF | NH | NH | 1 / 12 |
| U.S. Championships | 2R | A | SF | F | SF | A | QF | W | W | W | W | F | SF | 3R | F | F | SF | 4 / 15 |
| SR | 0 / 1 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 3 | 1 / 3 | 1 / 3 | 1 / 3 | 1 / 3 | 1 / 2 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 5 / 34 |
