Who Was Helen Wills Moody?

Helen Wills Moody was an American tennis champion regarded as one of the greatest female players in the history of the game. During her professional career, she won a total of 19 singles titles at the French championships, Wimbledon, and the United States championships.

She was born in 1905 and in 1922 when she was hardly 16 years old she reached the finals of the US championships. She played with extreme calm and composure without showing emotion and therefore she quickly became known as Little Miss Poker Face. Wills's was known for her powerful forehand that helped her dominate women's tennis in the 1920s. At the 1924 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, she got two gold medals in both singles for her country. From 1923 to 1929, she won six US women's singles championships.

After her marriage in 1930, she did not enter the US championship that year, but returned next year to win another US title for herself. Wills Moody was also a proud member of the winning women's doubles team at the US championships in 1922, 1924, and 1925. She collected eight Wimbledon women's singles titles (1927-1930, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1938) and four French singles titles (1928-1930, 1932). She died in 1998.