Maureen Connolly facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Maureen Connolly

Maureen Connolly in 1953
Full name	Maureen Catherine Connolly
Country (sports)	United States
Born	(1934-09-17)September 17, 1934 San Diego, California, U.S.
Died	June 21, 1969(1969-06-21) (aged 34) Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Height	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Turned pro	Amateur
Retired	February 1955 (age 20)
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
College	Southern Methodist University (1964–196x)
Int. Tennis HoF	1968 (member page)
Official website	mcbtennis.org
Singles
Highest ranking	No. 1 (1952)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	W (1953)
French Open	W (1953, 1954)
Wimbledon	W (1952, 1953, 1954)
US Open	W (1951, 1952, 1953)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	W (1953)
French Open	W (1954)
Wimbledon	F (1952, 1953)
US Open	F (1952)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open	F (1953)
French Open	W (1954)
Wimbledon	SF (1954)
Team competitions
Wightman Cup	(1951, 1952, 1953, 1954)

Maureen Catherine Connolly-Brinker (born September 17, 1934 – died June 21, 1969), known as "Little Mo", was an amazing American tennis player. She won nine big tennis championships called Grand Slams in the early 1950s.

In 1953, Maureen made history. She became the first woman to win all four major tennis tournaments in the same year! This incredible achievement is known as a "Grand Slam." She is also the only player ever to win a title at all four major championships without losing a single set. Sadly, a horseback riding accident in July 1954 seriously injured her right leg. This accident ended her tennis career when she was only 19 years old. She passed away at the age of 34.

Maureen's Early Life

Maureen was born in San Diego, California, on September 17, 1934. Her parents divorced when she was three. She was raised by her mother and an aunt. As a child, Maureen loved horseback riding. However, her family could not afford riding lessons. So, she started playing tennis instead.

Maureen began her tennis journey at age 10 on the public courts in San Diego. Her first coach, Wilbur Folsom, helped her switch from playing left-handed to right-handed. She quickly became a powerful player. She was known for hitting the ball hard and accurately from the back of the court, especially with her strong backhand shot.

When she was 11, a sportswriter from San Diego, Nelson Fisher, gave her the nickname "Little Mo." He compared the power of her tennis shots to the huge firepower of the USS Missouri, a famous battleship nicknamed "Big Mo." In 1948, Eleanor Tennant became her new coach. Tennant had also coached other famous tennis champions. At 14, Maureen won 56 matches in a row. The next year, she became the youngest person ever to win the U.S. national championship for girls aged 18 and under.

Her Amazing Tennis Career

At the U.S. Championships in 1951, Maureen was only 16 years old. She defeated Shirley Fry to win the tournament. At that time, she was the youngest person ever to win America's most important tennis event. Eleanor Tennant was still her coach then.

Maureen won her first Wimbledon title in 1952. She beat Louise Brough in the final match. Maureen had a shoulder injury before the tournament, but she refused to quit, even when her coach Tennant told her to. This disagreement led to the end of their coaching partnership. Maureen was the top player at the U.S. Championships in 1952. She successfully defended her title by beating Doris Hart in the final.

For the 1953 tennis season, Maureen hired a new coach, Harry Hopman. He was the captain of the Australian Davis Cup team. That year, she entered all four Grand Slam tournaments for the first time. She won the Australian Championships by defeating Julie Sampson Haywood. Then, she beat Doris Hart in the finals of the French Championships, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Championships. This made her the first woman, and only the second tennis player after Don Budge, to win all four major titles in the same year. This is what we call a "Grand Slam." She lost only one set in all four of those tournaments!

Maureen won the last nine Grand Slam singles tournaments she played. She also won 50 singles matches in a row! During her time playing in the Wightman Cup from 1951 to 1954, she won all seven of her singles matches. Maureen's achievements made her very popular. She was named the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year for three years in a row, from 1951 to 1953. In 1954, she did not play in the Australian Championships. However, she successfully defended her French and Wimbledon titles.

Later Life

Horseback Riding Accident

Two weeks after winning her third Wimbledon title, Maureen was horseback riding in San Diego on July 20, 1954. A large concrete mixer truck drove by and scared her horse, named Colonel Merryboy. The horse pinned Maureen between itself and the truck. She was thrown off and broke a bone in her right leg. This serious injury ended her tennis career when she was just 19. She had planned to become a professional tennis player after the 1954 U.S. National Championships.

Maureen officially retired from tennis in February 1955. She announced this when she shared that she was going to marry Norman Brinker.

Marriage and Legacy

In June 1955, Maureen married Norman Brinker. He was part of the 1952 U.S. Olympic equestrian team and also loved horses. They had two daughters, Cindy and Brenda. Maureen stayed involved in tennis by writing for some U.S. and British newspapers at major tennis tournaments. She also coached the British Wightman Cup team when they visited the U.S. In Texas, where she lived, Maureen started the Maureen Connolly Brinker Foundation. This foundation helps promote tennis for young players.

In 1957, she wrote her autobiography called Forehand Drive.

Death

In 1966, Maureen was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She had an operation for a stomach tumor in June 1969. She passed away nearly three weeks later, on June 21, at the age of 34.

Her Lasting Impact

Tennis experts John Olliff and Lance Tingay ranked Maureen Connolly among the world's top 10 players from 1951 to 1954. She was ranked as the world's number one player from 1952 to 1954. The United States Tennis Association also ranked her in the top 10 from 1950 to 1953. She was the top-ranked U.S. player from 1951 to 1953.

Maureen Connolly was honored in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1969. She was also inducted into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in 1987. In 1956, she joined the Breitbard Hall of Fame in San Diego, which celebrates great athletes from the area.

Since 1973, a yearly tennis competition called the Maureen Connolly Challenge Trophy has been played. It features the best female tennis players aged 18 and younger from the United States and Great Britain. Brinker Elementary School in Plano, Texas, is named after her. The school was opened on November 20, 1988.

In 1978, Maureen was played by Glynnis O'Connor in a TV movie called Little Mo. In 2019, the United States Postal Service released a special stamp in her honor.

Grand Slam Finals

Maureen Connolly played in many Grand Slam finals. Here are her results:

Singles: 9 (9 titles)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score	Ref
Win	1951	U.S. Championships	Grass	Shirley Fry	6–3, 1–6, 6–4
Win	1952	Wimbledon	Grass	Louise Brough	6–4, 6–3
Win	1952	U.S. Championships (2)	Grass	Doris Hart	6–3, 7–5
Win	1953	Australian Championships	Grass	Julia Sampson	6–3, 6–2
Win	1953	French Championships	Clay	Doris Hart	6–2, 6–4
Win	1953	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Doris Hart	8–6, 7–5
Win	1953	U.S. Championships (3)	Grass	Doris Hart	6–2, 6–4
Win	1954	French Championships (2)	Clay	Ginette Bucaille	6–4, 6–1
Win	1954	Wimbledon (3)	Grass	Louise Brough	6–2, 7–5

Doubles: 6 (2 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score	Ref
Loss	1952	Wimbledon	Grass	Louise Brough	Doris Hart Shirley Fry	6–8, 3–6
Loss	1952	U.S. Championships	Grass	Louise Brough	Doris Hart Shirley Fry	8–10, 4–6
Win	1953	Australian Championships	Grass	Julia Sampson	Beryl Penrose Mary Bevis Hawton	6–4, 6–2
Loss	1953	French Championships	Clay	Julia Sampson	Doris Hart Shirley Fry	4–6, 3–6
Loss	1953	Wimbledon	Grass	Julia Sampson	Doris Hart Shirley Fry	0–6, 0–6
Win	1954	French Championships	Clay	Nell Hall Hopman	Maud Galtier Suzanne Schmitt	7–5, 4–6, 6–0

Mixed doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score	Ref
Loss	1953	Australian Championships	Grass	Hamilton Richardson	Julia Sampson Rex Hartwig	4–6, 3–6
Loss	1953	French Championships	Clay	Mervyn Rose	Doris Hart Vic Seixas	6–4, 4–6, 0–6
Win	1954	French Championships	Clay	Lew Hoad	Jacqueline Patorni Rex Hartwig	6–4, 6–3

Grand Slam Singles Tournament Record

Images for kids

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  Maureen Connolly in 1953

See also

In Spanish: Maureen Connolly para niños