Eileen Bennett Whittingstall

Eileen Bennett Whittingstall (née Bennett; 16 July 1907 – c. 18 August 1979, full name Eileen Viviyen Bennett Fearnley-Whittingstall[1]) was a female tennis player from the United Kingdom who won six Grand Slam doubles titles from 1927 to 1931.

Eileen Bennett Whittingstall
Full nameEileen Viviyen Bennett Fearnley-Whittingstall
Country (sports) United Kingdom
Born(1907-07-16)16 July 1907
Paddington, London, England
Died18 August 1979(1979-08-18) (aged 72)
Singles
Highest rankingNo.3 (1931)
Grand Slam Singles results
French OpenF (1928)
WimbledonQF (1928, 1932)
US OpenF (1931)
Doubles
Grand Slam Doubles results
French OpenW (1928, 1931)
WimbledonF (1928)
US OpenW (1931)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
French OpenW (1928, 1929)
WimbledonSF (1930, 1932)
US OpenW (1927)

Career

Although most of her success was in women's doubles or mixed doubles, Whittingstall reached the singles final of the 1928 French Championships and the 1931 US Championships. She lost both of these finals in straight sets to Helen Wills Moody.[2] She twice won the women's doubles title at the French Championships: in 1928 with Phoebe Holcroft Watson and in 1931 with Betty Nuthall. Whittingstall and Nuthall lost the 1932 final to the team of Moody and Elizabeth Ryan.

Whittingstall teamed with Ermyntrude Harvey to reach the 1928 women's doubles final at Wimbledon, losing to the team of Watson and Peggy Saunders 2–6, 3–6. She also teamed with Shoemaker to win the 1931 women's doubles title at the U.S. Championships, defeating Helen Jacobs and Dorothy Round Little in the final in two sets.[2] Whittingstall twice partnered with Henri Cochet to win the mixed doubles title at the French Championships. In both 1928 and 1929, they defeated the team of Moody and Frank Hunter in the final. Whittingstall and Cochet lost the 1930 French final to the team of Bill Tilden and Cilly Aussem.

Whittingstall and Cochet won the mixed doubles title at the 1927 US Championships, defeating Hazel Wightman and René Lacoste in the final.

According to A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph] and the Daily Mail, Whittingstall was ranked in the world top 10 in 1928, 1929, 1931, and 1932, reaching a career high of World No. 3 in those rankings in 1931.[3]

Bennett is credited with first wearing an above-the-knee form of divided skirt for competitive tennis.[4][5][6]

Personal life

She was married on 19 November 1929 to Edmund Fearnley-Whittingstall,[7] a painter, and divorced in 1936.[1] She married Marcus Marsh, a racehorse trainer, on 28 September 1936 and gave birth to a daughter on 7 March 1937.[8][9][10] She was divorced from Mr Marsh in early 1947 and married Mr Geoffrey Ackroyd in June 1947.[11] She married for a fourth and final time in June 1957 to Mr Carl Vyvyan Forslind who outlived her.[11]

Grand Slam finals
Bennett (r) and Phoebe Holcroft Watson at the 1928 French Championships

Singles (2 runners-up)
Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up1928French ChampionshipsClay Helen Wills1–6, 2–6
Runner-up1931U.S. National ChampionshipsGrass Helen Wills4–6, 1–6

Doubles (3 titles, 2 runners-up)
Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner1928French ChampionshipsClay Phoebe Holcroft Suzanne Deve
Sylvie Jung		6–0, 6–2
Runner-up1928WimbledonGrass Ermyntrude Harvey Peggy Saunders
Phoebe Holcroft		2–6, 3–6
Winner1931French ChampionshipsClay Betty Nuthall Cilly Aussem
Elizabeth Ryan		9–7, 6–2
Winner1931U.S. National ChampionshipsGrass Betty Nuthall Helen Jacobs
Dorothy Round		6–2, 6–4
Runner-up1932French ChampionshipsClay Betty Nuthall Elizabeth Ryan
Helen Wills		1–6, 3–6

Mixed doubles (3 titles, 1 runner-up)
Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner1927U.S. National ChampionshipsGrass Henri Cochet Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman
René Lacoste		6–2, 6–0, 6–3
Winner1928French ChampionshipsClay Henri Cochet Helen Wills
Frank Hunter		6–2, 6–3
Winner1929French ChampionshipsClay Henri Cochet Helen Wills
Frank Hunter		6–3, 6–2
Runner-up1930French ChampionshipsClay Henri Cochet Cilly Aussem
Bill Tilden		4–6, 4–6

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline
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)
Tournament19251926192719281929193019311932193319341935Career SR
Australian Championships A A A A A A A A A A A 0 / 0
French Championships A A SF F SF 2R 2R QF QF A A 0 / 7
Wimbledon 1R 2R 3R QF 4R 2R 4R QF 4R 2R 4R 0 / 11
US Championships A A 3R A A A F A A A A 0 / 2
SR 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 3 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 3 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 20

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

See also

References
  1. "Decree Nisi Against Mrs. Eileen Fearnley Whittingstall: Whittingstall v. Whittingstall And Marsh". The Times. 17 March 1936. p. 4.
  2. "Wonderful Tennis 1931". British Pathé. 3 September 1931.
  3. Collins, Bud (2008). The Bud Collins History of Tennis: An Authoritative Encyclopedia and Record Book. New York, N.Y: New Chapter Press. pp. 695, 701–2. ISBN 0-942257-41-3.
  4. Sarah Kirkham (30 October 2014). "Throwback Thursday: Daring fashionistas of 1930s Wimbledon". AELTC.
  5. Christopher Breward; Becky Conekin; Caroline Cox, eds. (2002). The Englishness of English Dress. Berg Publishers. ISBN 978-1-85973-528-2.
  6. "What Do You Think?". British Pathé. 20 July 1933.
  7. "At Forest Hills". Time. 31 August 1931.
  8. "Tennis Star To Marry". Dundee Evening Telegraph. British Newspaper Archive. 24 September 1936. p. 4.
  9. "Noted Tennis Player Wed". Aberdeen Journal. British Newspaper Archive. 29 September 1936. p. 6.
  10. "Untitled". The Glasgow Herald. 9 March 1937. p. 7.
  11. England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005
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