Helen Jacobs
Encyclopedia
Helen Hull Jacobs was a World No. 1 American female tennis player who won ten Grand Slam
titles. She was born in Globe, Arizona
, United States
.
. Like both her Wightman Cup coach Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman and her archrival Helen Wills Moody, she grew up in Berkeley, California, learned the game at the Berkeley Tennis Club, pursued her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Berkeley and was inducted into the Cal Sports Hall of Fame.
Jacobs won five Grand Slam
singles titles and was an eleven-time Grand Slam singles runner-up. Six of those losses were to Helen Wills Moody
. Jacobs's only victory over Moody was in the final of the 1933 U.S. Championships
. Moody retired from the match with a back injury while trailing 3–0 in the third set to a chorus of boos from the audience who believed that Moody quit the match merely to deny Jacobs the satisfaction of finishing out her victory. It was reported by many witnesses after the match that Moody still planned to play her doubles match later that afternoon but was advised against it because she was "injured" after all. Years later, Moody confirmed her injury, saying, "My back is kind of funny. The vertebra between the fourth and fifth disk is thin. When the disk slips around it's intolerable. It rained the whole week before that final match. I lay in bed, and that was bad because it stiffened worse. I just couldn't play any longer, but I didn't say anything because it would look like an excuse." Jacobs almost defeated Moody again when she had match point at 6–3, 3–6, 5–4 in the 1935 Wimbledon
singles final but lost the match. In the 1938 Wimbledon final against Moody, Jacobs turned her ankle at 4–4 in the first set and hobbled around the court for the remainder of the match, with Moody winning the final eight games and the second set lasting a mere eight minutes. When asked after the match why she did not accept Hazel Wightman's on-court advice to quit the match after the injury, Jacobs said that continuing was the sporting thing to do so that Moody could enjoy the full taste of victory, an obvious allusion to Moody's retirement from the 1933 U.S. final. Moody said, "I was very sorry about Helen's ankle. But it couldn't be helped, could it? I thought there was nothing I could do but get it over as quickly as possible." In total, Jacobs lost 14 of the 15 career singles matches she played against Moody.
Jacobs won four Grand Slam women's doubles titles and one in mixed doubles. She was the runner-up at six Grand Slam women's doubles tournaments and one Grand Slam mixed doubles tournament. She won the singles and women's doubles titles at the Italian Championships
in 1934.
According to Wallis Myers and John Olliff of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail
, Jacobs was ranked in the world top ten from 1928 through 1939 (no rankings issued from 1940 through 1945), reaching a career high of World No. 1 in those rankings in 1936. With the exceptions of 1930 and 1938, Jacobs was included in the year-end top ten rankings by the United States Tennis Association
from 1927 through 1941. She was the top ranked U.S. player from 1932 through 1935.
Jacobs was a member of the U.S. Wightman Cup
team from 1927 through 1937 and again in 1939. Her lifetime record was 19–11.
In 1933, Jacobs became the first woman to break with tradition by wearing man-tailored shorts at Wimbledon.
While she was still playing tennis, Jacobs became a writer. Her first books were Modern Tennis (1933) and Improve Your Tennis (1936). She also wrote fictional works, such as Storm Against the Wind (1944). Her autobiography Beyond the Game appeared in 1936.
Jacobs was named Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year
in 1933. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame
in 1962.
in the U.S. Navy intelligence
during World War II
, one of only five women to achieve that rank in the Navy.
Long known to have been lesbian
, her lifelong companion was Virginia Gurnee.http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B04E7DF1639F937A35755C0A961958260 Jacobs died of heart failure in East Hampton, New York
on June 2, 1997.http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/bioj1/jaco3.html
NH = tournament not held.
R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under German occupation.
A = did not participate in the tournament.
SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
Grand Slam (tennis)
The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
titles. She was born in Globe, Arizona
Globe, Arizona
Globe has an arid climate, characterized by hot summers and moderate to warm winters. Globe's arid climate is somewhat tempered by its elevation, however, leading to slightly cooler temperatures and slightly more precipitation than Phoenix or Yuma....
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Tennis career
Jacobs had a powerful serve and overhead smash and a sound backhand, but she never learned to hit a flat forehand, despite her friendship, and some coaching, from Bill TildenBill Tilden
William Tatem Tilden II , nicknamed "Big Bill," is often considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. An American tennis player who was the World No. 1 player for seven years, he won 14 Majors including ten Grand Slams and four Pro Slams. Bill Tilden dominated the world of...
. Like both her Wightman Cup coach Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman and her archrival Helen Wills Moody, she grew up in Berkeley, California, learned the game at the Berkeley Tennis Club, pursued her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Berkeley and was inducted into the Cal Sports Hall of Fame.
Jacobs won five Grand Slam
Grand Slam (tennis)
The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
singles titles and was an eleven-time Grand Slam singles runner-up. Six of those losses were to Helen Wills Moody
Helen Wills Moody
Helen Newington Wills Roark , also known as Helen Wills Moody, was an American tennis player. She has been described as "the first American born woman to achieve international celebrity as an athlete."-Biography:...
. Jacobs's only victory over Moody was in the final of the 1933 U.S. Championships
U.S. Open (tennis)
The US Open, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships, is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern iteration of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, which for men's singles was first contested in 1881...
. Moody retired from the match with a back injury while trailing 3–0 in the third set to a chorus of boos from the audience who believed that Moody quit the match merely to deny Jacobs the satisfaction of finishing out her victory. It was reported by many witnesses after the match that Moody still planned to play her doubles match later that afternoon but was advised against it because she was "injured" after all. Years later, Moody confirmed her injury, saying, "My back is kind of funny. The vertebra between the fourth and fifth disk is thin. When the disk slips around it's intolerable. It rained the whole week before that final match. I lay in bed, and that was bad because it stiffened worse. I just couldn't play any longer, but I didn't say anything because it would look like an excuse." Jacobs almost defeated Moody again when she had match point at 6–3, 3–6, 5–4 in the 1935 Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
singles final but lost the match. In the 1938 Wimbledon final against Moody, Jacobs turned her ankle at 4–4 in the first set and hobbled around the court for the remainder of the match, with Moody winning the final eight games and the second set lasting a mere eight minutes. When asked after the match why she did not accept Hazel Wightman's on-court advice to quit the match after the injury, Jacobs said that continuing was the sporting thing to do so that Moody could enjoy the full taste of victory, an obvious allusion to Moody's retirement from the 1933 U.S. final. Moody said, "I was very sorry about Helen's ankle. But it couldn't be helped, could it? I thought there was nothing I could do but get it over as quickly as possible." In total, Jacobs lost 14 of the 15 career singles matches she played against Moody.
Jacobs won four Grand Slam women's doubles titles and one in mixed doubles. She was the runner-up at six Grand Slam women's doubles tournaments and one Grand Slam mixed doubles tournament. She won the singles and women's doubles titles at the Italian Championships
Rome Masters
The Italian Open is an annual tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is the most prestigious red clay tennis tournament in the world after the French Open, with the men's competition being an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, and the women's...
in 1934.
According to Wallis Myers and John Olliff of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
, Jacobs was ranked in the world top ten from 1928 through 1939 (no rankings issued from 1940 through 1945), reaching a career high of World No. 1 in those rankings in 1936. With the exceptions of 1930 and 1938, Jacobs was included in the year-end top ten rankings by the United States Tennis Association
United States Tennis Association
The United States Tennis Association is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, from the grass-roots to the professional levels...
from 1927 through 1941. She was the top ranked U.S. player from 1932 through 1935.
Jacobs was a member of the U.S. Wightman Cup
Wightman Cup
The Wightman Cup was a team tennis competition for women contested from 1923 through 1989 between teams from the United States and Great Britain. U.S. player Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman wanted to generate international interest in women's tennis the way Davis Cup did for men's...
team from 1927 through 1937 and again in 1939. Her lifetime record was 19–11.
In 1933, Jacobs became the first woman to break with tradition by wearing man-tailored shorts at Wimbledon.
While she was still playing tennis, Jacobs became a writer. Her first books were Modern Tennis (1933) and Improve Your Tennis (1936). She also wrote fictional works, such as Storm Against the Wind (1944). Her autobiography Beyond the Game appeared in 1936.
Jacobs was named Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year
Associated Press Athlete of the Year
The first Athlete of the Year award in the United States was initiated by the Associated Press in 1931. At a time when women in sports were never given the same recognition as men, the AP offered a male and a female athlete of the year award to either a professional or amateur athlete...
in 1933. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame
International Tennis Hall of Fame
The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. The hall of fame and honors players and contributors to the sport of tennis and includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indoor tennis facility, and a court tennis facility.-History:The hall of fame and...
in 1962.
World War II and personal life
Jacobs served as a commanderCommander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
in the U.S. Navy intelligence
Intelligence (information gathering)
Intelligence assessment is the development of forecasts of behaviour or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on a wide range of available information sources both overt and covert. Assessments are developed in response to requirements declared by the leadership...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, one of only five women to achieve that rank in the Navy.
Long known to have been lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, her lifelong companion was Virginia Gurnee.http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B04E7DF1639F937A35755C0A961958260 Jacobs died of heart failure in East Hampton, New York
East Hampton (town), New York
The Town of East Hampton is located in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, at the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. It is the easternmost town in the state of New York...
on June 2, 1997.http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/bioj1/jaco3.html
Grand Slam record
- French Championships
- Singles runner-up: 1930, 1934
- Women's Doubles runner-up: 1934
- WimbledonThe Championships, WimbledonThe Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
- Singles champion: 1936
- Singles runner-up: 1929, 1932, 1934, 1935, 1938
- Women's Doubles runner-up: 1932, 1936, 1939
- U.S. Championships
- Singles champion: 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935
- Singles runner-up: 1928, 1936, 1939, 1940
- Women's Doubles champion: 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935
- Women's Doubles runner-up: 1931, 1936
- Mixed Doubles champion: 1934
- Mixed Doubles runner-up: 1932
Wins (5)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1932 | U.S. Championships |  Carolin BabcockCarolin Babcock Carolin Babcock Stark was a female tennis player from the United States. She won the women's doubles title with Marjorie Van Ryn at the 1936 U.S. Championships. Babcock was the runner-up in singles at the 1932 U.S. Championships, losing to Helen Hull Jacobs 6–2, 6–2... |
6–2, 6–2 |
| 1933 | U.S. Championships (2) | Helen Wills Moody Helen Wills Moody Helen Newington Wills Roark , also known as Helen Wills Moody, was an American tennis player. She has been described as "the first American born woman to achieve international celebrity as an athlete."-Biography:... |
8–6, 3–6, 3–0 retired |
| 1934 | U.S. Championships (3) | Sarah Palfrey Cooke Sarah Palfrey Cooke Sarah Hammond Palfrey Fabyan Cooke Danzig was a female tennis player from the United States.... |
6–1, 6–4 |
| 1935 | U.S. Championships (4) | Sarah Palfrey Cooke |
6–2, 6–4 |
| 1936 | Wimbledon The Championships, Wimbledon The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors... |
 Hilde Krahwinkel SperlingHilde Krahwinkel Sperling Hildegard "Hilde" Krahwinkel Sperling was a German tennis player, although she became a Danish national after marrying Svend Sperling from Denmark in 1933. She is generally regarded as the second-greatest female German tennis player in history, behind Steffi Graf... |
6–2, 4–6, 7–5 |
Runner-ups (11)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1928 | U.S. Championships | Helen Wills Moody Helen Wills Moody Helen Newington Wills Roark , also known as Helen Wills Moody, was an American tennis player. She has been described as "the first American born woman to achieve international celebrity as an athlete."-Biography:... |
6–2, 6–1 |
| 1929 | Wimbledon The Championships, Wimbledon The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors... |
Helen Wills Moody |
6–1, 6–2 |
| 1930 | French Championships | Helen Wills Moody |
6–2, 6–1 |
| 1932 | Wimbledon | Helen Wills Moody |
6–3, 6–1 |
| 1934 | French Championships | Margaret Scriven-Vivian Margaret Scriven Margaret Croft "Peggy" Scriven-Vivian was a British tennis player and the first woman from that country to win the singles title at the French Championships in 1933... |
7–5, 4–6, 6–1 |
| 1934 | Wimbledon |  Dorothy Round LittleDorothy Round Little Dorothy Edith Round Little was a World No. 1 British female tennis player. She was born in Dudley, Worcestershire, England, where she attended the Dudley Girls High School.... |
6–2, 5–7, 6–3 |
| 1935 | Wimbledon | Helen Wills Moody |
6–3, 3–6, 7–5 |
| 1936 | U.S. Championships | Alice Marble Alice Marble Alice Marble was a World No. 1 American tennis player who won 18 Grand Slam championships : 5 in Singles, 6 in Women's Doubles, and 7 in Mixed Doubles.-Early life:Born in the small town of Beckwourth, Plumas County, California, Marble moved with her family at the age of... |
4–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
| 1938 | Wimbledon | Helen Wills Moody |
6–4, 6–0 |
| 1939 | U.S. Championships | Alice Marble |
6–0, 8–10, 6–4 |
| 1940 | U.S. Championships | Alice Marble |
6–2, 6–3 |
Grand Slam singles tournament timeline
| Tournament | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | Career SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Championships Australian Open The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court... |
A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | NH | 0 / 0 |
| French Championships | A | A | A | A | A | F | QF | QF | SF | F | SF | A | QF | A | A | NH | R | 0 / 7 |
| Wimbledon The Championships, Wimbledon The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors... |
A | A | A | 3R | F | QF | SF | F | SF | F | F | W | QF | F | QF | NH | NH | 1 / 12 |
| U.S. Championships U.S. Open (tennis) The US Open, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships, is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern iteration of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, which for men's singles was first contested in 1881... |
2R | A | SF | F | SF | A | QF | W | W | W | W | F | SF | 3R | F | F | SF | 4 / 15 |
| SR | 0 / 1 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 3 | 1 / 3 | 1 / 3 | 1 / 3 | 1 / 3 | 1 / 2 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 5 / 34 |
NH = tournament not held.
R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under German occupation.
A = did not participate in the tournament.
SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
See also
- Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam finalTennis performance timeline comparison (women)This article presents in a tabular form the career tennis Grand Slam, World Hard Court Championships and Olympic singles results of every woman who has reached the singles final of at least one Grand Slam, World Hard Court Championships or Olympic tournament during her career...
- List of select Jewish tennis players