ISBN: 0-88739-334-9
234 pp.
Size: 6 x 9
Pub Date: 6/2001
Paperback Original
Price: $15.95
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First Lady of Tennis Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman
Tom Carter
A pioneering story of the development of women's tennis in the early 20th century, and of Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman who may have had the most to do with it. Women players were expected to be demure, less than aggressively competitive. But this changed when May Sutton, the world champion women's player, was challenged by Hazel Hotchkiss, who began a new style of sport for women-she played like a man. She profoundly influenced leading players from around the world, and in later life guided, taught, even housed and fed some of the best of them. Her legacy is unforgettable.
May's forehand blew her out of the court. In all Hazel's mounting tournament experience she had never faced such power from a woman. Gradually, the college girl began to win more games. She mixed her shots better. She found a 'tell' in May's forehand, and she began obsessively picking on May's chopped backhand.
She began to open her home as a sorority house for the elite girls and women of American tennis. Her home became a mission, a sanctuary, the venerated lodge of champions, with Hazel presiding as Queen Mother. Probably the earliest visitors had been teenager Helen Wills and her mother in 1921.
Bio: TOM CARTER was contracted to write this book by Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman's nephew, who said, "Aunt Hazel played hard, but she played by the rules. She was gracious whether she won or lost..."
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