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Portrait of Helen Wills

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Helen Wills

Helen Wills was an American tennis player renowned for her dominance in Grand Slam tournaments.

Helen Wills is one of 1344 people in the A–Z index, listed under H.

Is Helen Wills dead or alive?

Who is Helen Wills?

Helen Wills is best known for Winning 31 Grand Slam tennis titles, including 19 singles championships. On Dead or Alive, Helen Wills is listed in the Tennis Legends category, where you can test yourself on similar names. Dead or Alive is a trivia game: you decide whether a famous person is still alive, then see the answer. The status for Helen Wills is checked against public sources such as Wikidata and is shown only after you answer.

Facts

Known for
Winning 31 Grand Slam tennis titles, including 19 singles championships
Listed under
Tennis Legends

About Helen Wills

She won 31 Grand Slam tournament titles (singles, doubles, and mixed doubles) during her career, including 19 singles titles. Wills was the first American woman athlete to become a global celebrity, making friends with royalty and film stars despite her preference for staying out of the limelight. She was admired for her graceful physique and for her fluid motion. She was part of a new tennis fashion, playing in knee-length pleated skirts rather than the longer ones of her predecessors, and was known for wearing her hallmark white visor, which would become a popular tennis attire among players at all levels of the sport right up to the present day. Unusually, she practiced against men to hone her craft, and she played a relentless predominantly baseline game, wearing down her female opponents with power and accuracy. In February 1926 she played a high-profile and widely publicized match against Suzanne Lenglen which was called the Match of the Century. Wills had a 180-match win streak from 1927 until 1933. In 1933, she beat the eighth-ranked US male player in an exhibition match. Her record of eight wins at Wimbledon was not surpassed until 1990 when Martina Navratilova won her ninth.

Text from the Wikipedia article Helen Wills, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Sentences about life status are left out so the game is not spoiled.

Frequently asked questions

What is Helen Wills known for?

Helen Wills is known for Winning 31 Grand Slam tennis titles, including 19 singles championships.

Which Dead or Alive categories include Helen Wills?

Helen Wills appears in Tennis Legends.

Is Helen Wills still alive?

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