Mary Louisa "Mollie" Martin (3 September 1865 – 24 October 1941) was a

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player from Ireland. She was considered the leading Irish female player of her time. She was active from 1884 to 1908 and contested 35 career singles finals, and won 24 titles.

Career

Martin started playing tennis in 1885 and early on was successful at the tournaments in Bath at the

West of England Championships West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

and at Buxton at the

Derbyshire Championships The Derbyshire Championships originally known as the Championship of Derbyshire was a men's and women's grass court tennis tournament held at the Buxton Lawn Tennis Club, Buxton, Derbyshire, Great Britain from 1883 to 1953. History A tennis tourna ...

. In 1898 she entered the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...

for the first time and, after two wins and two byes, reached the All-comers' final, but was beaten in two sets by

Charlotte Cooper Charlotte Cooper may refer to: * Charlotte Cooper (tennis) (1870–1966), British tennis player * Charlotte Cooper (author) (born 1968), British author and LGBT activist * Charlotte Cooper (born 1986), British musician in The Subways The Subwa ...

. She did not play Wimbledon in 1899, and the following year, she again reached the All-comer's final to face Cooper and again lost. Her third and final entry at Wimbledon in 1901 also ended with a loss in the All-comers' final against Cooper. Martin won nine singles titles at the

Irish Championships The Irish Open was a hard court tennis tournament founded in 1879 as the Irish Championships, a major tennis tournament of the late 19th to early 20th centuries. It was played at the Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club, Dublin, Ireland. Also known as the ...

between 1889 and 1903, then considered the second major tennis tournament of the 19th century and was a runner-up three times. She also won seven singles titles at the

Northern Championships Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

, also considered the third major tournament of the period which was held alternately in Liverpool and Manchester. With Sydney H. Smith, she won two mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon. She was a member of the

Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club is a tennis and squash (sport), squash club in Dublin, Ireland, with a gymnasium, padel courts, clubhouse facilities (including dining) and an indoor swimming pool. Established in 1877, Fitzwilliam is one of the olde ...

in Dublin, Ireland, and was coached by the clubs resident professional George J. Kerr.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 runner-up)

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Louisa 1865 births 1941 deaths 19th-century female tennis players 19th-century Irish sportswomen Irish female tennis players Sportspeople from County Leitrim British female tennis players