Simonne Mathieu

Full name	Simonne Emma Henriette Passemard-Mathieu
Country (sports)	France
Born	(1908-01-31)31 January 1908 Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France
Died	7 January 1980(1980-01-07) (aged 71) Chatou, France
Plays	Right–handed (one-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF	2006(member page)
Singles
Career record	510-94 (84.4%)
Career titles	147
Highest ranking	No. 3 (1932,A. Wallis Myers)
Grand Slam singles results
French Open	W (1938,1939)
Wimbledon	SF (1930,1931,1932,1934,1936,1937)
US Open	QF (1938)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
French Open	W (1933,1934,1936,1937,1938,1939)
Wimbledon	W (1933,1934,1937)
US Open	F (1938)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
French Open	W (1937, 1938)
Wimbledon	F (1937)

Simonne Mathieu^[a] (French pronunciation:[simɔnmatjø]née Passemard;)^[1] (31 January 1908 – 7 January 1980) was atennis player from France, born inNeuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, who was active in the 1930s. She won the French Championships singles title in 1938 and 1939.

DuringWorld War II, she created and led theCorps of French Volunteers in theFree French Forces, the first female unit in themilitary history of France.

Mathieu is best remembered for winning two major singles titles at theFrench Championships (in 1938 and 1939), and for reaching the final of that tournament an additional six times, in 1929, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1936, and 1937. In those finals, she lost three times toHilde Krahwinkel Sperling, twice toHelen Wills Moody, and once toMargaret Scriven.

Mathieu won 11 Grand Slam doubles championships: three women's doubles titles at Wimbledon (1933–34, 1937), six women's doubles titles at the French Championships (1933–34, 1936–39), and two mixed-doubles titles at the French Championships (1937–38). She completed the rare triple at the French Championships in 1938, winning the singles, women's doubles, and mixed-doubles titles.

Mathieu's 13 Grand Slam titles are second only toSuzanne Lenglen's 21 among French women.

According toA. Wallis Myers andJohn Olliff ofThe Daily Telegraph and theDaily Mail respectively, Mathieu was ranked in the world top 10 from 1929 through 1939 (no rankings were issued from 1940 through 1945), reaching a career high of world No. 3 in 1932.^[2]

The winners' trophy of the women's doubles event at the French Open is named in her honour as the Coupe Simonne-Mathieu.^[3]

During World War II, Captain Mathieu was founder of theCorps Féminin Français, the women's volunteer branch of theFree French Forces, similar to the BritishAuxiliary Territorial Service.^[4] Mathieu was succeeded in that position by CaptainHélène Terré.^[5] For their service, each woman was named anOfficer of the Legion of Honor.^[6]

She was inducted into theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame in 2006.^[7]

In November 2017, theFrench Tennis Federation (FFT) announced that the third show-court atRoland Garros will be named Court Simonne-Mathieu in her honor.^[8]

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1929	French Championships	Clay	Helen Wills	3–6, 4–6
Loss	1932	French Championships	Clay	Helen Wills	5–7, 1–6
Loss	1933	French Championships	Clay	Margaret Scriven	2–6, 6–4, 4–6
Loss	1935	French Championships	Clay	Hilde Krahwinkel	2–6, 1–6
Loss	1936	French Championships	Clay	Hilde Krahwinkel	3–6, 4–6
Loss	1937	French Championships	Clay	Hilde Krahwinkel	2–6, 4–6
Win	1938	French Championships	Clay	Nelly Landry	6–0, 6–3
Win	1939	French Championships	Clay	Jadwiga Jędrzejowska	6–3, 8–6

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1930	French Championships	Clay	Simone Barbier	Elizabeth Ryan Helen Wills	3–6, 1–6
Win	1933	French Championships	Clay	Elizabeth Ryan	Sylvie Jung Henrotin Colette Rosambert	6–1, 6–3
Win	1933	Wimbledon Championships	Grass	Elizabeth Ryan	Freda James Billie Yorke	6–2, 9–11, 6–4
Win	1934	French Championships	Clay	Elizabeth Ryan	Helen Jacobs Sarah Palfrey	3–6, 6–4, 6–2
Win	1934	Wimbledon Championships	Grass	Elizabeth Ryan	Dorothy Andrus Sylvie Jung Henrotin	6–3, 6–3
Loss	1935	Wimbledon Championships	Grass	Hilde Krahwinkel	Freda James Kay Stammers	1–6, 4–6
Win	1936	French Championships	Clay	Billie Yorke	Jadwiga Jędrzejowska Susan Noel	2–6, 6–4, 6–4
Win	1937	French Championships	Clay	Billie Yorke	Dorothy Andrus Sylvie Jung Henrotin	3–6, 6–2, 6–2
Win	1937	Wimbledon Championships	Grass	Billie Yorke	Phyllis King Elsie Goldsack	6–3, 6–3
Win	1938	French Championships	Clay	Billie Yorke	Nelly Adamson Arlette Halff	6–3, 6–3
Loss	1938	Wimbledon Championships	Grass	Billie Yorke	Sarah Palfrey Alice Marble	2–6, 3–6
Loss	1938	US Championships	Grass	Jadwiga Jędrzejowska	Sarah Palfrey Alice Marble	8–6, 4–6, 3–6
Win	1939	French Championships	Clay	Jadwiga Jędrzejowska	Alice Florian Hella Kovac	7–5, 7–5

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1937	French Championships	Clay	Yvon Petra	Marie-Luise Horn Roland Journu	7–5, 7–5
Loss	1937	Wimbledon Championships	Grass	Yvon Petra	Alice Marble Don Budge	1–6, 4–6
Win	1938	French Championships	Clay	Dragutin Mitić	Nancye Wynne Bolton Christian Boussus	2–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss	1939	French Championships	Clay	Franjo Kukuljević	Sarah Palfrey Elwood Cooke	6–4, 1–6, 5–7

R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held underGerman occupation.

¹In 1946, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.

• Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final

• Simonne Mathieu at theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame

• 1908 births
• 1980 deaths
• Sportspeople from Neuilly-sur-Seine
• Tennis players from Hauts-de-Seine
• French female tennis players
• French Championships (tennis) champions
• Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era)
• International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees
• Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's singles
• Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles
• Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles
• Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery
• French Resistance members
• French military personnel of World War II
• 20th-century French sportswomen

• CS1 French-language sources (fr)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from March 2022
• Pages using infobox tennis biography with tennishofid
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