Maureen Connolly

1934-1969

American tennis player

Maureen "Little Mo" Connolly's career ended prematurely with a freakish accident, and cancer cut short her life. But Connolly, who won all nine of her Grand Slam women's tennis events, still played long enough to make an indelible mark on the game. "Whenever a great player comes long you have to ask, 'Could she have beaten Maureen,'" wrote Lance Tingay, tennis correspondent for the Daily Telegraph of London. "In every case the answer is, I think not."

Connolly won her major titles as a teenager. She was the first woman to sweep all four major Grand Slam events in one year, 1953. She took the Wimbledon and U.S. Open three straight years apiece in the early 1950s. She became the youngest U.S. Open champion at 16 years, 11 months, until Tracy Austin broke the record in 1979. She arrived East from San Diego in 1949 and, according to the Hall of Fame, "would soon have the world under her right thumb while technically a junior, not yet 19, an obstreperous intruder overthrowing the established order of older women." A bizarre accident, however, ended Connolly's career. In 1954, a truck struck the back of her leg while she was riding horseback in San Diego, shortly after winning Wimbledon. She died of cancer in 1969, at age 34.

Parents Couldn't Afford Riding

Tennis was actually a backup recreational activity for Connolly, whose divorced mother could not afford horseback riding. Connolly first wielded a racket at age ten and after her first coach, Wilbur Folsom, switched her to right-handed play, she went under the tutelage of Eleanor "Teach" Tennant, who had influenced the Hall of Fame careers of Helen Wills (later Helen Wills Moody, eight-time Wimbledon champion) and Alice Marble. Tennant would not let Connolly talk with other women's tennis players. "Maureen approached tennis with an intense hatred for her opponents, a trait that Tennant encouraged," the Gale Group 's Women's History Month Web site wrote. "Maureen believed that she could not win if she did not despise her opponent. Winning became a singleminded pursuit for the talented youngster."

After sweeping tournaments in Southern California, Connolly came to New York and won the U.S. junior titles in 1949 and 1950. She reached the second round of the mainstream U.S. Open tournaments both years.

A sportswriter nicknamed her "Little Mo" for her powerful, accurate strokes, in reference to "Big Mo," the U.S. battleship Missouri. She was not overly strong and disdained the volley, but compensated with a methodical baseline game. "Sportswriters raved about her engaging blend of teenage charm and killer instinct on the court." the Women's History Month web site reported. "Fueled by her intense passion to win, her drive and energy on the court swept her past all of the best women players of her day. Later in life she remarked about the fear that drove her and the talent that she displayed."

Fallout with Coach

During her first major championship run, the 1951 U.S. Open, Tennant had told Connolly that Doris Hart, the tennis star's friend and semifinal opponent, had insulted her. Connolly defeated Hart and then overtook Shirley Fry in a tough, three-set match. After the tournament, Connolly discovered Tennant's misrepresentation and she and Hart resumed their friendship. Connolly split with Tennant for good at Wimbledon when Connolly played despite a shoulder injury when Tennant wanted her to default. After a match, Connolly called a press conference, a rarity for a player in those days, and announced the split.

Connolly once admitted that competitive tennis at such a young age wore on her. "Tennis can be a grind and there is always the danger of going stale, if you think about it too much," she said. "You can get embittered if you train too hard and have nothing else on your mind. You have to be able to relax between matches and between tournaments."

Australian Davis Cup captain Harry Hopman became Connolly's coach and his wife, Nell, her chaperon. With the Hopmans' a stabilizing influence, Connolly's game, already potent, moved up a level in 1953. She joined Don

Budge as the only player, man or woman, to capture the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open the same year. She dropped only one set in the Australian and French tournaments combined, then beat Hart in tough Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals—the 8-6, 7-5 Wimbledon final at the All-England Club was especially memorable.

Career Ends Tragically

Connolly added the French Open and Wimbledon titles to her resume in 1954-by then she had also won seven straight matches in the Wightman Cup international team competition against Britain. But her career then ended "with heartbreaking suddenness" as the International Tennis Hall of Fame described on its Web site. On July 20, 1954—back home in San Diego after capturing Wimbledon—Connolly was riding her thoroughbred colt, Colonel Merryboy, when a cement truck collided with her and the horse. She was thrown from the animal and suffered a broken bone and severed calf muscles in her right leg. "I knew immediately I'd never play again," she said.

Chronology

She married Norman Brinker of Dallas, a restaurateur and former member of the U.S. equestrian team, and they had two children, Cindy and Brenda. Despite Connolly's inability to play in tournaments, she could still teach children. She worked as a tennis instructor and, with friend Nancy Jeffett, co-founded the Maureen Connolly Brinker Tennis Foundation in 1968. She died six months later, on the eve of the Wimbledon tournament. She had battled stomach cancer since 1966. The Brinker foundation today sponsors a variety of youth activities, including tournaments such as the Maureen Connolly Challenge trophy and "Little Mo" events for boys and girls.

The Connolly Legacy

Spellbound Pictures of Brooklyn, New York, is working on a documentary film celebrating the 50th anniversary of Connolly's Grand Slam win. In 1978, a feature film, "Little Mo," starring Anne Baxter and Mark Harmon, detailed Connolly's tennis successes and personal tragedies.

"Little Mo was a champion at tennis," nine-time Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova wrote in Little Mo's Legacy: A Mother's Lessons, a Daughter's Story, written by Connolly's daughter, Cindy Brinker Simmons. "Had her accident not cut short her remarkable career, we all would have been chasing her records. More importantly, she was a champion at life by affecting others in a positive way."

Awards and Accomplishments

SELECTED WRITINGS BY CONNOLLY:

Power Tennis. New York: Barnes, 1954.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Books

Simmons, Cindy Brinker and Robert Darden. Little Mo's Legacy: A Mother's Lessons, a Daughter's Story. Irving, TX: Tapestry, 2001.

Periodicals

"Maureen Connolly, Tennis Star, Dies." New York Times, (January 7, 2003).

Other

Films and TV, http://www.filmsandtv.com, (January 9, 2003).

Handbook of Texas Online, Maureen Catherine Connolly Brinker profile, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/BB/fbr54.html, (December 4, 2002).

Hickok Sports, http://www.hickoksports.com/biograph/connolym.shtml, (January 8, 2003).

"Maureen Connolly, Class of 1968." International Tennis Hall of Fame, http://www.tennisfame.org/enshrinees/maureen_connolly.html, (January 7, 2003).

Maureen Connolly Brinker Tennis Foundation Inc., http://www.mcbtennis.org, (January 9, 2003).

"Women's History Month: Maureen Connolly." Gale Group, http://www.gale.com, (January 9, 2003).

Sketch by Paul Burton

Maureen Connolly

Maureen Connolly (1934-1969) was one of the greatest singles players in the history of women's tennis. In 1953, she won four international tournaments known as the Grand Slam of Tennis, an accomplishment achieved by only two other female players since. She is rememberd as a pioneer of women's tennis, who made significant contributions to help popularize the sport.

Maureen Catherine Connolly was born on September 17, 1934 in San Diego, California. She was the victim of a broken home. Her father, Marten Connolly, left the family when she was a toddler. Her mother, Jassamine Connolly, told the young girl that her biological father was deceased, an untruth that caused a rift between mother and daughter later, when Connolly achieved fame and Marten Connolly resurfaced.

Connolly was raised by her mother and a stepfather, August Berste, a musician by profession. Connolly's mother, an amateur pianist herself, urged her daughter to find a career in music, but Connolly had other plans. As a youngster she grew inspired by watching tennis players at a local park. By the time she was ten years old, she asked her parents persistently for a tennis racket. Connolly's parents indulged her wish and purchased a racket for $1.50. Connolly was instantly obsessed with the sport of tennis. She practiced incessantly, even after dark and into the night. Initially she took lessons from Wilbur Folsom, but eventually she met Eleanor "Teach" Tennant, a distinguished and charismatic coach who agreed to work with the ten-year-old. Tennant instilled in Connolly a fierce sense of pride, confidence, and a desire to win. Connolly practiced with exceptional dedication.

Connolly was naturally left-handed, but with the help of her coach she developed a powerful right-hand swing. In her obsession to win she learned to generate hatred for her opponents on the court. At the same time, Connolly learned to conceal her emotion and remain expressionless during competition. The intimidating combination of Connolly's unflinching "court face" and powerful swing consistently overwhelmed her opponents. Retired tennis champion Ted Schroeder played partners with Connolly in mixed doubles at La Jolla in 1950, when she was only 14 years old. He recalled her unyielding determination to win. Schroeder's recollection of Connolly was quoted in 1998 by ESPN's Tom Farrey, "There's only one way to describe her-as an assassin … She was one of the nicest people you'd ever meet, but on the court, boy she went at it."

As Connolly grew into adolescence she remained unaffected by the rigorous regimen of her tennis practice. She was known to practice for three hours daily, seven days a week, yet she indulged her teen-age nature, despite the trappings of budding success. She sucked on sugar lumps, and loved to eat hamburgers. She was an average student at Cathedral High School in San Diego, and she crammed her studies into the precious few spare moments in her day. Her tennis wardrobe reflected the style of the times-She wore skirts made from cloth with a "sharkskin" finish that was popular in the 1950s; and she sometimes wore a tennis skirt with a poodle applique with rhinestone detail, also characteristic of the teen-age fashion of the times. Her "goodluck" jewelry consisted of a ring with double-dragons protecting a ball, and a heart-shaped locket given her by her mother. Connolly loved horses-perhaps more than she loved tennis-and enjoyed riding whenever time permitted. She practiced dancing, jumped rope, and performed calisthetics in an effort to maintain flexibility and to increase her stamina for tennis tournaments.

Entered Competitive Tennis

Connolly entered her first tennis tournament shortly after she began to play at the age of ten and emerged as the runner up. In May 1947, shortly after she began working with Tennant, she won the 15-and-under title in the Southern California Invitational Tennis Championship. That early victory began on a winning streak that endured for 56 successive matches. By the age of 14 she was the youngest girl ever to win the national junior tennis championship. During an early match, Connolly lost control under the pressure of competition. She flew into a rage and threw her racket, but learned quickly to control her temper and to accept the decisions with grace. Off the court, she was a completely different person. Charming at all times, she endeared herself to every audience because of her youthful effervescence and extraordinary zest for the game of tennis. She won 50 championships by the age of 15 and was ranked 19th among women singles players in the U.S. Lawn Tennis standings in 1948. The personable, five-foot-three-inch teen-aged slammer became known affectionately as "Little Mo," after she won the national junior championship. The nickname, coined by a reporter, was derived from the "Big Mo," a term used in reference to the battleship U.S.S. Missouri.

Connolly graduated from junior competition to women's tennis after winning the USA Junior International Grass Courts Championships in 1949 and 1950. In 1950, her first year in the adult standings, she was ranked tenth among U.S. women singles players. In 1951 she successfully defended the Wightman Cup for the United States and was the youngest team member in the history of that competition. She went on to play for four consecutive years on the Wightman cup team, winning all of her matches in those tournaments. Connolly won eight successive tournaments in 1951, including the U.S. National Women's Title at Forest Hills-the competition that came to be known as the U.S. Open. Connolly, still a rookie at that time, was largely inexperienced in offensive playing techniques and was undeveloped in power serving, yet she was the youngest player in history to win the U.S. National Women's singles tournament, and she repeated the victory in 1952 and again in 1953. On July 5, 1952, at the age of 17, Connolly became the second youngest woman in history to win the women's singles tournament at Wimbledon, second only to Lottie Dod of England. Not since 1887 had the title gone to someone so young. Connolly retained the Wimbledon title through 1954.

Won the Grand Slam

In 1953, after three successive U.S. National titles and two Wimbledon victories. Connolly attained the pinnacle of women's tennis with a series of wins known as the Grand Slam of Tennis. During that calendar year she won not only the U.S. Nationals and Wimbledon, but the Australian Championship and the French Open. The four competitions together comprise the Grand Slam. Not only was Connolly the first woman, she was also the youngest woman in history to win the four Grand Slam tournaments, all within the same year. Only two other women ever accomplished the feat after Connolly: Margaret Court in 1970, and Steffi Graf in 1988. Graf, who was also a child tennis star, was Connolly's senior by three months when she took the Grand Slam title, leaving Connolly as the youngest Grand Slammer in the history of women's tennis. Connolly won not only the Grand Slam, she won all but one game set of the competitions involved.

Competitive Career Ended Tragically

In 1952, Connolly was the guest of honor at a parade organized by her home town of San Diego, following her unprecedented success at Forest Hills and Wimbledon. In recognition of her achievement, Connolly was given a horse named Colonel Merryboy. Two years later, on July 20, 1954, as Connolly rode Merryboy he became "spooked" and threw her from his back. In an instant Connolly was hurled into a cement truck and her leg was shattered by the impact. She spent some time in recuperation and returned to competitive tennis, but the extent of her leg injuries were ultimately too severe for the rigors of competition. On February 22, 1955, she announced that she would retire from professional tennis competition.

Connolly was not yet 21 when she announced her retirement. She had competed in women's professional tennis for less than five years. During her abbreviated career she amassed multiple wins in major tournaments around the world. In addition to her triumphs at the U.S. Nationals, Wimbledon, Australia, and France, Connolly won the Italian Championships in 1953 and again in 1954. She was honored by the Associated Press as the Female Athlete of the Year in 1951, 1952, and 1953. She was ranked the number one female tennis player in the world in 1952, 1953, and 1954.

A New Life

On the day that Connolly retired from competitive tennis, she announced her engagement to Norman Eugene Brinker. Five months later, on June 11, the couple married in San Diego. The 23-year-old Brinker, a naval officer and Olympic equestrian athlete, was a student at San Diego State College at the time of their marriage.

After Connolly retired from competition she devoted her time to coaching. She contributed a sports column to the San Diego Union, and on February 6, 1956 she signed with Wilson Sporting Goods in Chicago as a sports "pro" (a professional consultant) and public relations representative. Connolly by that time was just 21 years old. She devoted much of her energy to further the sport of tennis. She was deeply involved with tennis programs that encouraged women and children to play the game.

In time Connolly and Brinker set up housekeeping in Dallas, Texas where they raised two children. She was diagnosed with cancer and died in Dallas on June 21, 1969, at the age of 34. Before her death, Connolly was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1968. She was inducted posthumously into the Women's Sports Foundation Hall of Fame in 1987. The tennis world honors her memory with the Maureen Connolly Brinker Continental Players Cup for junior girls, an international competition that was dominated by Britain during the 1990s. In 1998, Farrey praised Connolly and held her as a standard for modern women's tennis contenders to emulate. "Show me what Maureen Connolly showed us," he demanded, and went on, "Her game demonstrated that she was No. 1."

Further Reading

Krull, Kathleen. Lives of the Athletes, Harcourt Brace, 1997.

Woolum, Janet. Outstanding Women Athletes Who Influenced American Sports, Oryx Press, 1992.

Sports Illustrated, August 29, 1988, p. 124.

ESPN Sports Zone, July 1, 1998, available at http://espn.go.com/ gen/columns/farrey (March 18, 1999). □