Eleanor Tennant

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Eleanor "Teach" Tennant (1895 – May 11, 1974[1]) was a tennis player and coach from the U.S., notable for the being the first female player to turn professional.[2] Tennant was once ranked third in America[3] and was the coach of Grand Slam winners Alice Marble, Bobby Riggs, Pauline Betz, and Maureen Connolly. Tennant also coached Hollywood stars including Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, who gave her the nickname Teach.[2][4]

Grand Slam finals[edit]

Doubles: (1 runner-up)[edit]

Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1920 U.S. Championships Grass United States Helen Baker United States Eleanor Goss
United States Marion Zinderstein
3–6, 1–6

Further reading[edit]

  • Spain, Nancy (1953). Teach Tennant: The Story of Eleanor Tennant, the Greatest Tennis Coach in the World. London: W. Laurie.
  • Marble, Alice; Leatherman, Dale (1991). Courting Danger. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312928131.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Eleanor Tennant, who taught many tennis‐notables, dead". The New York Times. May 13, 1974.
  2. ^ a b "Eleanor Tennant". www.si.com. Sports Illustrated. January 13, 1958.
  3. ^ "Alice Marble: excerpts from Courting Danger: QuickSports Tennis". Tennis.quickfound.net. 1990-12-12. Retrieved 2010-07-14.
  4. ^ Everettt R. Holles (September 18, 1973). "Old coach on Riggs: 'boring'". The New York Times.