Elizabeth Montague Ryan (February 5, 1892 – July 6, 1979) was an American

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

player who was born in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

, but lived most of her adult life in the United Kingdom. Ryan won 26 Grand Slam titles, 19 in women's doubles and mixed doubles at Wimbledon, an all-time record for those two events. Twelve of her Wimbledon titles were in women's doubles and seven were in mixed doubles. Ryan also won four women's doubles titles at the

French Championships The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ve ...

, as well as one women's doubles title and two mixed-doubles titles at the U.S. Championships.

Career

Although she reached the Wimbledon singles finals twice, Ryan never won the title. Eight of her losses at Wimbledon were to players generally considered to be among the best ever. Ryan had to play Dorothea Lambert Chambers in the all-comers final of 1920;

Suzanne Lenglen Suzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen (; 24 May 1899 – 4 July 1938) was a French tennis player. She was the inaugural world No. 1 from 1921 to 1926, winning eight Grand Slam titles in singles and twenty-one in total. She was also a four-time World ...

in the 1919 semifinals (losing 6–4, 7–5), 1921 final, 1922 quarterfinals, 1924 quarterfinals (losing 6–2, 6–8, 6–4), and 1925 second round; and Helen Wills Moody in the 1928 semifinals and 1930 final. In the 1926 singles final at the U.S. Championships, the 34-year-old Ryan led 42-year-old

Molla Bjurstedt Mallory Anna Margrethe "Molla" Bjurstedt Mallory (née Bjurstedt; 6 March 1884 – 22 November 1959) was a Norwegian tennis player, naturalized American. She won a record eight singles titles at the U.S. National Championships. She was the first woman ...

4–6, 6–4, 4–0 and had a match point at 7–6 in the third set before losing the final three games of the match. Ryan and her longtime partner Lenglen never lost a women's doubles match at Wimbledon, going 31–0. Only

Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943) is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's double ...

(224 match wins) and

Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova ( cs, Martina Navrátilová ; ; born October 18, 1956) is a Czech–American, former professional tennis player. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Navratilova won 18 major singles titles, 31 maj ...

won more matches at Wimbledon than Ryan (190 match wins): 47–15 in singles, 73–4 in women's doubles, and 70–9 in mixed doubles. The longtime tennis writer

Ted Tinling Cuthbert Collingwood "Ted" Tinling (23 June 1910 – 23 May 1990), sometimes known as Teddy Tinling, was a fashion designer, spy and author. He was a firm fixture on the professional tennis tour for over 60 years and is considered the foremost d ...

has credited Ryan with inventing the volleying style later perfected by players such as

Sarah Palfrey Cooke Sarah Hammond Palfrey Danzig (née Palfrey; September 18, 1912 – February 27, 1996) was an American tennis player whose adult amateur career spanned 19 years, from June 1926 until September 1945. She won two singles, nine women's doubles, and ...

Alice Marble Alice Marble (September 28, 1913 – December 13, 1990) was an American tennis player who won 18 Grand Slam championships between 1936 and 1940: five in singles, six in women's doubles, and seven in mixed doubles. She was ranked world No. 1 in 19 ...

, Louise Brough Clapp,

Margaret Osborne duPont Margaret Osborne duPont (born Margaret Evelyn Osborne; March 4, 1918 – October 24, 2012) was a world No. 1 American female tennis player. DuPont won a total of 37 singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles Grand Slam titles, which places ...

Doris Hart Doris Hart (June 20, 1925 – May 29, 2015) was an American tennis player from who was active in the 1940s and first half of the 1950s. She was ranked world No. 1 in 1951. She was the fourth player, and second woman, to win a Career Grand Slam in ...

Darlene Hard Darlene Ruth Hard (January 6, 1936 – December 2, 2021) was an American professional tennis player, known for her aggressive volleying ability and strong serves. She captured singles titles at the French Championships in 1960 and the U.S. Champ ...

Margaret Court Margaret Court (''née'' Smith; born 16 July 1942), also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian retired former world No. 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, her 24 maj ...

, Navratilova, and King. "Before World War I, women's tennis consisted primary of slogging duels from the baseline. There were a few volleying pioneers, notably ... Hazel otchkissWightman and Ethel homsonLarcombe, but volleying as a fundamental, aggressive technique was first injected into the women's game by ... Ryan." Tinling, however, also said about Ryan, "Elizabeth wasn't fast enough for singles. Too heavy." According to

A. Wallis Myers Arthur Wallis Myers (24 July 1878 – 17 June 1939) was an English tennis correspondent, editor, author and player. He was one of the leading tennis journalists of the first half of the 20th century. Family life Myers was son of the Rev. John ...

of ''The Daily Telegraph'' and the ''Daily Mail'', Ryan was ranked in the world top 10 from 1921 (when the rankings began) through 1928 and again in 1930, reaching a career high of world No. 3 in those rankings in 1927. Ryan was ranked second behind Mallory in the year-end rankings issued by the

United States Lawn Tennis Association The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for 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, ...

for 1925 and 1926. Ryan died on July 6, 1979, at age 87 on the grounds of the

All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, also known as the All England Club, based at Church Road, Wimbledon, London, England, is a private members' club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam ...

at Wimbledon, following the ladies singles final and the day before Billie Jean King broke her record number of Wimbledon wins by winning her 20th title. When tennis writer and television commentator

Bud Collins Arthur Worth "Bud" Collins Jr. (June 17, 1929 – March 4, 2016) was an American journalist and television sportscaster, best known for his tennis commentary. Collins was married to photographer Anita Ruthling Klaussen. Education Collins was ...

tried to arrange for Ryan and King to film an interview together at Wimbledon in 1979, Ryan refused. King said "I always liked seeing Miss Ryan at Wimbledon, and I'd try to be friendly, but she didn't seem to want it. For me, it wasn't personal. Sure, I wanted the record, but I wasn't trying to steal a possession of hers." King also said " ere is no doubt in my mind that she just didn't want to be alive to see her record broken. She was 7 she had held it for a long, long time and she wanted it for herself. But records are there to be broken." Two years before her death, Ryan had told

, the tennis fashion designer, "I hope I don't live to see my record broken, but if someone is to break it, I hope it is Billie Jean. She has so much courage on the court." According to reports, Ryan became ill while watching the men's doubles final and excused herself, heading for the women's rest room. She collapsed there and was rushed to the hospital, where she died at 5:20 p.m. London time.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 3 (3 runner-ups)

Women's doubles: 21 (17 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Mixed doubles: 14 (9 titles, 5 runner-ups)

Grand Slam tournament timelines

Singles

ACF = All comers final, with the winner to play the defending champion. ¹ Ryan did not play. Her opponent got a walkover.

Women's doubles

Mixed doubles

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Elizabeth American female tennis players American emigrants to the United Kingdom French Championships (tennis) champions Sportspeople from Anaheim, California International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Tennis people from California United States National champions (tennis) Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era) 1892 births 1979 deaths Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles 20th-century American women 20th-century American people