Shirley Fry

Shirley June Fry Irvin (née Fry; born June 30, 1927) is a former world No. 1 tennis player from the United States. During her career, which lasted from the early 1940s until the mid-1950s, she won the singles title at all four Grand Slam events as well as 13 doubles titles. As of 2021, Fry Irvin is the longest surviving female Grand Slam and Wimbledon singles champion.

Shirley Fry
Irvin in the Netherlands in 1953
Full nameShirley June Fry Irvin
Country (sports) United States
ResidenceOrlando, Florida, United States
Born (1927-06-30) June 30, 1927
Akron, Ohio, United States
Height5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Retired1957
PlaysRight–handed
Int. Tennis HoF1970 (member page)
Singles
Career record0–0
Highest rankingNo. 1 (1956)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian OpenW (1957)
French OpenW (1951)
WimbledonW (1956)
US OpenW (1956)
Doubles
Career record0–0
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian OpenW (1957)
French OpenW (1950, 1951, 1952, 1953)
WimbledonW (1951, 1952, 1953)
US OpenW (1951, 1952, 1953, 1954)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
French OpenF (1952)
WimbledonW (1956)
US OpenF (1951, 1955)
Team competitions
Wightman CupW (1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956)

Biography

Fry was raised in Akron, Ohio and started playing tennis competitively at age nine.[1][2] She was educated at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida where she graduated in 1949.[1][3]

Fry is one of 10 women[lower-alpha 1] to have won each Grand Slam singles tournament at least once during her career. She is also one of seven women (with Hart, Court, Navratilova, Pam Shriver, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams) to have won all four Grand Slam doubles tournaments. At the U.S. National Championship (precursor of the U.S. Open) in 1942, Irvin reached the singles quarterfinals at the age of 15. At Wimbledon in 1953, Fry and Hart lost only four games during the entire women's doubles tournament and won three matches without losing a game, including the semifinals and finals, the latter over Connolly and Julia Sampson. Fry won the last three Grand Slam singles tournaments she entered, including wins over Althea Gibson in the Wimbledon quarterfinal and U.S. Championship final in 1956 and the Australian Championships final in 1957.

Fry was ranked in the world top 10 in 1946 and 1948 and from 1950 through 1955 (no rankings issued from 1940 through 1945), and No. 1 in 1956.[4] The United States Lawn Tennis Association ranked her in the U.S. top 10 from 1944 through 1955 and No. 1 in 1956.[5] She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1970.

From 1951 through 1956 she participated in the Wightman Cup, the women's team competition between Great Britain and the United States, and contributed to the U.S. victory during each of these editions with the exception of 1954, when her final doubles rubber was not played. She compiled a 10–2 W/L record.[3]

Fry married Karl Irvin in Australia, in February 1957 after which she retired from top-level tennis. The couple had four children.[2][3]

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 8 (4 titles–4 runners-up)

Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss1948French ChampionshipsClay Nelly Adamson Landry2–6, 6–0, 0–6
Win1951French ChampionshipsClay Doris Hart6–3, 3–6, 6–3
Loss1951WimbledonGrass Doris Hart1–6, 0–6
Loss1951U.S. ChampionshipsGrass Maureen Connolly3–6, 6–1, 4–6
Loss1952French ChampionshipsClay Doris Hart4–6, 4–6
Win1956WimbledonGrass Angela Buxton6–3, 6–1
Win1956U.S. ChampionshipsGrass Althea Gibson6–3, 6–4
Win1957Australian ChampionshipsGrass Althea Gibson6–3, 6–4

Doubles: 19 (12 titles, 7 runner-ups)

Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss1948French ChampionshipsClay Mary Arnold Doris Hart
Patricia Canning Todd
4–6, 2–6
Loss1949U.S. ChampionshipsGrass Doris Hart Louise Brough
Margaret Osborne duPont
4–6, 8–10
Win1950French ChampionshipsClay Doris Hart Louise Brough
Margaret Osborne duPont
1–6, 7–5, 6–2
Loss1950WimbledonGrass Doris Hart Louise Brough
Margaret Osborne duPont
4–6, 7–5, 1–6
Loss1950U.S. ChampionshipsGrass Doris Hart Louise Brough
Margaret Osborne duPont
2–6, 3–6
Win1951French ChampionshipsClay Doris Hart Beryl Bartlett
Barbara Scofield
10–8, 6–3
Win1951WimbledonGrass Doris Hart Louise Brough
Margaret Osborne duPont
6–2, 13–11
Win1951U.S. ChampionshipsGrass Doris Hart Nancy Chaffee
Patricia Canning Todd
6–4, 6–2
Win1952French ChampionshipsClay Doris Hart Hazel Redick-Smith
Julia Wipplinger
7–5, 6–1
Win1952WimbledonGrass Doris Hart Louise Brough
Maureen Connolly
8–6, 6–3
Win1952U.S. ChampionshipsGrass Doris Hart Louise Brough
Maureen Connolly
10–8, 6–4
Win1953French ChampionshipsClay Doris Hart Maureen Connolly
Julia Sampson
6–4, 6–3
Win1953WimbledonGrass Doris Hart Maureen Connolly
Julia Sampson
6–0, 6–0
Win1953U.S. ChampionshipsGrass Doris Hart Louise Brough
Margaret Osborne duPont
6–2, 7–9, 9–7
Loss1954WimbledonGrass Doris Hart Louise Brough
Margaret Osborne duPont
6–4, 7–9, 1–6
Win1954U.S. ChampionshipsGrass Doris Hart Louise Brough
Margaret Osborne duPont
6–4, 6–4
Loss1955U.S. ChampionshipsGrass Doris Hart Louise Brough
Margaret Osborne duPont
3–6, 6–1, 3–6
Loss1956U.S. ChampionshipsGrass Betty Rosenquest Louise Brough
Margaret Osborne duPont
3–6, 0–6
Win1957Australian ChampionshipsGrass Althea Gibson Mary Bevis Hawton
Fay Muller
6–2, 6–1

Mixed doubles: 5 (1 title, 4 runner-ups)

Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss1951U.S. ChampionshipsGrass Mervyn Rose Doris Hart
Frank Sedgman
3–6, 2–6
Loss1952French ChampionshipsClay Eric Sturgess Doris Hart
Frank Sedgman
8–6, 3–6, 3–6
Loss1953WimbledonGrass Enrique Morea Doris Hart
Vic Seixas
7–9, 5–7
Loss1955U.S. ChampionshipsGrass Gardnar Mulloy Doris Hart
Vic Seixas
5–7, 7–5, 2–6
Win1956WimbledonGrass Vic Seixas Gardnar Mulloy
Althea Gibson
2–6, 6–2, 7–5

Grand Slam tournament timelines

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# A NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)

Singles

Tournament1941194219431944194519461194711948194919501951195219531954195519561957Career SR
Australian Championships NH NH NH NH NH A A A A A A A A A A A W 1 / 1
French Championships R R R R A A A F A QF W F SF A A A A 1 / 5
Wimbledon NH NH NH NH NH A A QF 4R QF F SF SF QF A W A 1 / 8
U.S. Championships 1R QF 1R QF 1R 1R 3R 3R 3R QF F SF SF SF QF W A 1 / 16
SR 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 3 0 / 2 0 / 3 1 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 2 0 / 1 2 / 2 1 / 1 4 / 30

Doubles

Tournament1941194219431944194519461194711948194919501951195219531954195519561957Career SR
Australian Championships A NH NH NH NH NH A A A A A A A A A A W 1 / 1
French Championships R R R R A A A F A W W W W A A A A 4 / 5
Wimbledon NH NH NH NH NH A A 3R SF F W W W F A SF A 3 / 8
U.S. Championships A 1R 1R QF SF SF SF SF F F W W W W F F A 4 / 15
SR 0 / 0 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 3 0 / 2 1 / 3 3 / 3 3 / 3 3 / 3 1 / 2 0 / 1 0 / 2 1 / 1 12 / 29

R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under German occupation.
1In 1946 and 1947, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.

See also

Notes

References

  1. David Whitley (September 8, 2000). "Orlando's Wimbledon Champion". Orlando Sentinel.
  2. "Shirley Fry engaged; to wed in February". St. Petersburg Times. December 4, 1956. p. 22 via Google News Archive.
  3. "Women's Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame". Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
  4. Collins, Bud (2008). The Bud Collins History of Tennis: An Authoritative Encyclopedia and Record Book. New York, N.Y: New Chapter Press. pp. 695, 702–3. ISBN 0-942257-41-3.
  5. United States Tennis Association (1988). 1988 Official USTA Tennis Yearbook. Lynn, Massachusetts: H.O. Zimman, Inc. p. 261.
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