Ethel Sutton Bruce (January 22, 1881 – June 18, 1957) was an English-born American tennis player.

Early life

Ethel Mathilda Godfray Sutton was born in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, England, the daughter of Adolphus DeGrouchy Sutton and Adeline Esther Godfray Sutton. Adolphus Sutton was a naval captain. The family moved to

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

when Ethel was a girl. Three of her sisters,

May Sutton May Godfrey Sutton (September 25, 1886 – October 4, 1975) was an American tennis player who was active during the first decades of the 20th century. At age 17 she won the singles title at the 1904 U.S. National Championships (tennis), U.S. Na ...

, Florence Sutton, and Violet Sutton, were also competitive tennis players.

Career

Ethel Sutton often played against her sisters; together, the Suttons won every Southern California women's singles championship between 1899 and 1915. Ethel won the title in 1906, 1911, 1912, and 1913. Ethel also won titles in doubles and mixed doubles events. Ethel Sutton Bruce wrote a series of articles about tennis for the ''San Francisco Call'' newspaper in 1913. She later co-authored a book, ''Tennis, Fundamentals and Timing'' (1938) with her husband. She also taught tennis in physical education classes for women at the

University of California Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the Cal ...

. In 1947, all four Sutton sisters wore 1890s-style tennis costumes to play at a Santa Monica fundraiser for

Children's Hospital Los Angeles Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care Pediatrics, children's hospital in the East Hollywood, Los Angeles, East Hollywood district of Los Angeles, on Sunset Boulevard at the corner of Vermont Avenue ...

Personal life

Ethel Sutton married Robert O. Bruce; they had a son, Robert. She died in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

in 1957, aged 76 years. Ethel Sutton Bruce's brother-in-law was tennis player

Tom Bundy Thomas Clark Bundy (October 8, 1881 – October 13, 1945) was a tennis player from Los Angeles, California, who was active in the early 20th century. With Maurice McLoughlin, he won three doubles titles at the U.S. National Championships. Bundy ...

. She was the aunt of several tennis players of a younger generation, including

Dorothy Cheney Dorothy "Dodo" May Sutton Bundy Cheney (September 1, 1916 – November 23, 2014) was an American tennis player from her youth into her 90s. In 1938, Bundy was the first American to win the women's singles title at the Australian Open, Australia ...

and

John Doeg John Thomas Godfray Hope Doeg (December 7, 1908 – April 27, 1978) was a male tennis player from the United States. In August 1929 Doeg won the singles title at the Seabright Invitational defeating Richard Norris Williams in three straight sets ...

. In 1976, Ethel Sutton Bruce, Violet Sutton Hope-Doeg, and Florence Sutton were inducted into the Southern California Tennis Association Hall of Fame."Women's History Month From A Tennis Perspective"
''Southern California Tennis News'' (March 1, 2016).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton Bruce, Ethel 1881 births 1957 deaths American female tennis players English emigrants to the United States Sportspeople from Portsmouth