Eileen Bennett Whittingstall (née Bennett; 16 July 1907 – c. 18 August 1979, full name Eileen Viviyen Bennett Fearnley-Whittingstall
) was a tennis player from the United Kingdom who won six
Grand Slam doubles titles from 1927 to 1931.
Career
Although most of her success was in women's doubles or mixed doubles, Whittingstall reached the singles final of the 1928
French Championships
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam tennis events eve ...
and the 1931
US Championships. She lost both of these finals in straight sets to
Helen Wills Moody.
She twice won the women's doubles title at the French Championships: in 1928 with
Phoebe Holcroft Watson and in 1931 with
Betty Nuthall. Whittingstall and Nuthall lost the 1932 final to the team of Moody and
Elizabeth Ryan.
Whittingstall teamed with
Ermyntrude Harvey to reach the 1928 women's doubles final at
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
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, losing to the team of Watson and
Peggy Saunders 2–6, 3–6. She also teamed with Shoemaker to win the 1931 women's doubles title at the U.S. Championships, defeating
Helen Jacobs and
Dorothy Round Little in the final in two sets.
[ Whittingstall twice partnered with Henri Cochet to win the mixed doubles title at the French Championships. In both 1928 and 1929, they defeated the team of Moody and Frank Hunter in the final. Whittingstall and Cochet lost the 1930 French final to the team of Bill Tilden and Cilly Aussem.
Whittingstall and Cochet won the mixed doubles title at the 1927 US Championships, defeating Hazel Wightman and ]René Lacoste
Jean René Lacoste (; 2 July 1904 – 12 October 1996) was a French tennis player and businessman. He was nicknamed "the Crocodile" because of how he dealt with his opponents; he is also known worldwide as the creator of the Lacoste tennis s ...
in the final.
According to A. Wallis Myers of ''The Daily Telegraph'' and the ''Daily Mail'', Whittingstall was ranked in the world top 10 in 1928, 1929, 1931, and 1932, reaching a career high of World No. 3 in those rankings in 1931.
Bennett is credited with first wearing an above-the-knee form of divided skirt for competitive tennis.
Personal life
She was married on 19 November 1929 to Edmund Fearnley-Whittingstall, a painter, and divorced in 1936. She married Marcus Marsh, a racehorse
Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...
trainer, on 28 September 1936 and gave birth to a daughter on 7 March 1937. She was divorced from Mr Marsh in early 1947 and married Mr Geoffrey Ackroyd in June 1947.[England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005] She married for a fourth and final time in June 1957 to Mr Carl Vyvyan Forslind who outlived her.
Grand Slam finals
Singles (2 runners-up)
Doubles (3 titles, 2 runners-up)
Mixed doubles (3 titles, 1 runner-up)
Grand Slam singles tournament timeline
See also
* Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final
References
External links
*
* ''Set of eight portraits by Bassano's studio''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whittingstall, Eileen Bennett
French Championships (tennis) champions
United States National champions (tennis)
1907 births
1979 deaths
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles
English female tennis players
British female tennis players
Tennis players from the City of Westminster
People from Paddington
20th-century English sportswomen