55 Years After Little Mo

55 years ago, Maureen Connolly became the first female tennis player to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same calendar year. Jon Levey and Peter Bodo discuss the little dynamo.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Tennis
• Magazine
• Tennis.com

[bendiet]

I went to Maureen Connoly Brinker Elementary School..named after her!

[JimAsian1]

RF

Of Course Maureen Connolly could compete whenever she played. Because Tennis is not Basketball. You don't have to be 7 Feet tall t win at Tennis. If people are so hung up on size, just pump iron and lift those weights and eat like today's pros do. Tennis, like any game, is a mental sport.

It's just frustrating when present day commentators or players make that assumption that past players can't compete now. Of course they could with new training ways.

JimAsian1 56 seconds ago

[MARKBPHARM]

@58christinekay Australian champions Ken Rosewall and Margaret Court were both left handed also, but were told it was best to play right handed. It seems so silly now. Being left handed ought to be an advantage.

[58christinekay]

Something they didn't mention on the video is that Maureen Connolly was actually left-handed, but was encouraged to play right-handed because her coaches felt it would be better for her game. So she was dominating the opposition with what was effectively her weaker hand! It was tragic that she had that awful accident so young, or she would have dominated the game for years to come.

[FFX2HALO3rn]

they named a school after her

[iamthebest19]

her career reminds me of monica seles

[Ariamaluum]

It was during the amateur era. She wouldn't have played much longer because she had shoulder problems like Tracy Austin. Likewise, she was planning to retire and get married after 1954 or 1955.

[Spiralbevel]

They are trying to promote Little Mo tournament so 8,9,10,11 years old kids can test their skill level. We went to San Fransisco Little Mo to play B8s. because kids from SoCal play better they made draws in violation of USTA rules with 3 seeded players and SoCal finalist playing against each other in the first round. They would also penalize SoCal kids for a few games to give an advantage to kids from San Fran. Too mush of politics in Little Mo

[yepheth]

She marked an era like only Suzanne Lenglen did before her. So talented and unlucky woman, she stopped playing tennis prematurely because the truck accident and few years later died so young. No videos about her on youtube? i am speechless!

[newmark401]

Pity television was in its infancy back in the early 1950s; otherwise it would be possible to watch some of Little Mo's matches. I would particularly like to see her 1953 Wimbeldon with Doris Hart, which Maureen won 8-6, 7-5. I can dream..