 Henri Cochet,Eileen Bennett Whittingstall, Hilde Krahwinkel andGottfried von Cramm, Roland Garros 1932 | |
| Country (sports) |  Germany Denmark |
|---|---|
| Born | (1908-03-26)26 March 1908 Essen, Germany |
| Died | 7 March 1981(1981-03-07) (aged 72) Helsingborg, Sweden |
| Plays | Right-handed |
| Int. Tennis HoF | 2013(member page) |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 331-41 (89.0%) |
| Career titles | 90 |
| Highest ranking | No.1 (1936, Ned Potter) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| French Open | W (1935,1936,1937) |
| Wimbledon | F (1931,1936) |
| Doubles | |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| French Open | F (1935) |
| Wimbledon | F (1935) |
| Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
| French Open | 2R (1929, 1930) |
| Wimbledon | W (1933) |
Hildegard Krahwinkel Sperling (néeKrahwinkel; 26 March 1908 – 7 March 1981) was a German-Danishtennis player. She won three consecutive singles titles at theFrench Championships from 1935 to 1937. Krahwinkel Sperling is generally regarded as the second-greatest female German tennis player in history, behindSteffi Graf. Sperling played a counterpunching game, predicated on speed, and wore down opponents.Helen Jacobs once wrote that Sperling was the third-best player she ever played, behindHelen Wills Moody andSuzanne Lenglen.
She became a dual-citizen after marrying a Dane, Svend Sperling, in December 1933.[a][4]
According toA. Wallis Myers andJohn Olliff ofThe Daily Telegraph and theDaily Mail, Sperling was ranked in the world top 10 from 1930 through 1939 (no rankings issued from 1940 through 1945), reaching a career high of world no. 2 in these rankings in 1936.[5] However, according to Ned Potter ofAmerican Lawn Tennis, Sperling was the top-ranked player for 1936.
From 1935 through 1937, Sperling won three consecutive singles titles at theFrench Championships. She is one of only five women in history to do so. The others are Moody (1928–1930),Monica Seles (1990–1992),Justine Henin (2005–2007) andIga Świątek (2022–2024).
Sperling's only loss on a clay court from 1935 through 1939 was toSimonne Mathieu at a tournament in Beaulieu, France in 1937. The score was 7–5, 6–1, and the two sets took 2 hours and 45 minutes to play. Two games lasted an hour. It was Mathieu's only victory versus Sperling in over 20 career matches.
Sperling twice reached the singles final atWimbledon but never won the title. In 1931, she lost to her compatriotCilly Aussem. In 1936, she lost to Jacobs. However, Sperling won the mixed doubles title that year, playing withGottfried von Cramm.
From 1933 through 1939, Sperling won the singles title at theGerman Championships six consecutive times (the tournament was not held in 1936 because of theBerlin Olympics). This record stood for five decades until Graf won the tournament nine times (but not more than four consecutively). Sperling also won the singles title at theItalian Championships in 1935 and defeated Moody in the semifinals of the 1938 Queens Club London championships,[6] just before Moody won her eighth Wimbledon singles title. Sperling's last international singles title was at the 1950 Scandinavian Covered Courts Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark when she was age 41. Sperling won several championships in Denmark while that country was occupied by Germany during World War II. Sperling never entered theU.S. Championships because of scheduling conflicts with the German Championships.
In recognition of her winning the French Championships three times, being a Wimbledon finalist twice, reaching the semifinals of the French Championships and Wimbledon an additional six times, and being ranked in the top 10 for 10 consecutive years, Sperling was inducted into theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame in 2013.[2]
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1931 | Wimbledon | Grass | Cilly Aussem | 2–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 1935 | French Championships | Clay |  Simonne Mathieu | 6–2, 6–1 |
| Win | 1936 | French Championships(2) | Clay | Simonne Mathieu | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Loss | 1936 | Wimbledon | Grass |  Helen Jacobs | 2–6, 6–4, 5–7 |
| Win | 1937 | French Championships(3) | Clay | Simonne Mathieu | 6–2, 6–4 |
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1935 | French Championships | Clay |  Margaret Scriven | Ida AdamoffKay Stammers | 4–6, 0–6 |
| Loss | 1935 | Wimbledon | Grass | Freda James Hammersley | Simonne MathieuKay Stammers | 1–6, 4–6 |
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1930 | Wimbledon | Grass |  Daniel Prenn | Elizabeth Ryan Jack Crawford | 1–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 1933 | Wimbledon | Grass |  Gottfried von Cramm | Mary Heeley Norman Farquharson | 7–5, 8–6 |
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| Tournament | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | Career SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Championships | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 |
| French Championships | 2R | 3R | SF | SF | 2R | A | W | W | W | A | A | 3 / 8 |
| Wimbledon | A | 2R | F | QF | SF | 4R | SF | F | QF | SF | SF | 0 / 10 |
| U.S. Championships | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 |
| SR | 0 / 1 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 1 | 1 / 2 | 1 / 2 | 1 / 2 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 3 / 18 |
| International | |
|---|---|
| People | |
