Margaret Croft Scriven-Vivian (née Scriven; 17 August 1912 – 25 January 2001) was a British

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 ...

player and the first woman from that country to win the singles title 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 ven ...

in 1933. She also won the singles title at the 1934 French Championships, defeating Helen Jacobs in the final. She was ranked No. 5 in the world in 1933 and 1934.

Early life

Margaret Scriven was born on 18 August 1912 at

Chapel Allerton Chapel Allerton is an inner suburb of north-east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, from the city centre. It sits within the Chapel Allerton ward of Leeds City Council and had a population of 18,206 and 23,536 at the 2001 and 2011 census respe ...

, Leeds. She was educated at home. Her parents were club level tennis players and she played the game from an early age, playing on holiday and entering local tournaments. According to one source, there was a tennis court at her family home and she was coached by her father, Edgar Scriven and by her mother.

Career

Scriven won the British Junior Championships held at Wimbledon in September 1929. In the final, Scriven defeated Miss P. Burt from Nottingham, 6–1, 6–3. In June 1930, Scriven played at the Wimbledon Championships for the first time, where she was beaten in the first round by Miss K. le Messurier. At Wimbledon in 1931, Scriven, was far more successful than at first attempt in the previous year. She reached the quarter-finals where she was beaten by the French player, Simonne Mathieu, 1–6, 6–2, 7–5. In 1932 she won the singles title at the British Covered Court Championships, played on the wooden courts at the Queen's Club, after a victory in the final against Kay Stammers. For the 1933 French Championships, Scriven was not selected to go with the official British touring party. Instead, she travelled to Paris independently. After beating top British players

Mary Heeley Mary Cartwright Heeley was a British female tennis player. Heeley was born on 30 March 1911 in Birmingham and was educated at the Edgbaston High School. In 1928 she won the Junior Championships of Great Britain. Heeley reached the doubles final ...

and Betty Nuthall on her way to the final, Scriven won the tournament, beating Simonne Mathieu in the final. She also triumphed in the mixed doubles, partnered by the Australian player, Jack Crawford. In early August, 1933, Scriven was part of the losing British team in the

Wightman Cup The Wightman Cup was an annual team tennis competition for women contested from 1923 through 1989 (except during World War II) between teams from the United States and Great Britain. History U.S. player Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman wanted to generate ...

held at Forest Hills, New York. Later in the same month, Scriven was at Forest Hills for the US Championships. In the singles, she reached the last 16 of the tournament, being knocked out by the American, Josephine Cruickshank. She also competed in the doubles and mixed doubles at the championships. Partnered by the Australian player Jack Crawford, Scriven reached the semi-finals of the mixed doubles. In May 1934, Scriven was back at the French Championships, this time as part of the official British team. On 3 June 1934, Scriven retained her French title, beating Helen Jacobs of America, 7–5, 4–6, 6–1. The final started at the late time of 6.30pm and, after two sets had been played, both players appealed against the light. The appeal was turned down, however, and the match continued in twilight. After 3 more games, with Scriven leading 2–1, Jacobs appealed again against the light but was turned down. Scriven went on to win all the remaining games. At the French Championships in 1935, Scriven was unable to win the singles for the third time, being beaten in the semi-finals. However, she did win the doubles, partnered by Katherine Stammers. Scriven-Vivian was the last British woman to win the same

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

singles tournament for two consecutive years. In addition, she was the first left-handed woman to win a Grand Slam singles title and was the only unseeded woman ever to win the French Championships or French Open until the 2017 singles title was won by

Jeļena Ostapenko Jeļena Ostapenko (born 8 June 1997), also known as Aļona Ostapenko, is a Latvian professional tennis player. She has career-high WTA rankings of world No. 5 in singles, achieved on 19 March 2018, and world No. 9 in doubles, reached on 22 Augus ...

. She played for the British

team in 1933, 1934 and 1938. According to A. Wallis Myers of

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

and the Daily Mail, Scriven-Vivian was ranked in the world top ten from 1933 through 1935, reaching a career high of World No. 5 in those rankings in 1933 and 1934.

Personal life

Scriven married Harvey Vivian on 28 November 1940 who was a house master and a wartime RAF officer. The couple had a son and a daughter.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (2 titles)

Doubles (1 title)

Mixed doubles (1 title)

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

. ¹In 1946 and 1947, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.

References

External links

National Portrait Gallery image
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scriven, Margaret English female tennis players French Championships (tennis) champions Sportspeople from Leeds 1912 births 2001 deaths Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's singles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees British female tennis players Tennis people from West Yorkshire