Evening star., 1938-02-26

ecope OF Women's sports have increased,
greatly in the postwar period, which
gave impetus to all athletic activity,
The disappearance Of "old-fashioned"
Ideals, like long skirts for feminine
stennis players. combined with the en-
thusaaUn Of more youthful participa-
ton to focus the spotlight on what
Ring Lardner called the Opposite
sex"
y Battle Men Evenly.
Such has been feminine progress, in
fact, that there has arisen some &C.
tual debate over eventual supremacy.
Without taking this subject too Sc
siously, the fact is that Joyce Weth-
cred, the renowned British golfer,
could trounce many a low-handicap
masculine opponent; that such tennis
stars as Helen Wills Moody and Su-
sanne Lenglen, at their best, were
capable Of extending and, on occasion,
beating top-flight men players; that
Babe Didrikson, the Texas wonder
girl. can outdrive many ranking golf
professionals, and that Helene Mayer,
the famous German girl fencer, COM
peted with men on even terms.
On the other hand, feminine per-
Formers In many branches of sport,
including track and field, hardly
stack up against even the best school,
boy feats. It is in such sports as
tennis. golf, swimming and skating
that the general level of performance
has been high enough under COMPETE
tive pressure to achieve recognition.
. It is. naturally, from such sports that
our selections have been made for the
honor roll. The alphabetical listing
OF the top 10 is based, not upon side
stepping grounds but on the obvious
face that no accurate comparisons can
be made among competitors in differ
ent sports
g.. Helen and Suzanne.
So far as tennis is concerned Mrs.
Moody has by far the most formidable
record Of national championship con-
quests In the grass-court realm. The
Californian so dominant she could
and did forego continuous title COM
petition, captured seven Wimbledon,
seven American and four French sin
giles championships besides winning
the Olympic crown in 1924 and figur-
ing in numerous Wightman Cup tri-
umphs for the U. S. A.
Yet it's debatable whether Helen
the First, at her best, could have taken
the measure of the great Lenglen,
queen OF Wimbledon for six postwar
years. They met once, on the Riv-
iera, and Suzanne won. On her one
visit as an amateur to the United
States. in 1921. the French star was
Ill and defaulted to Molla Bjurstedt
Mallory, in her first match.
Wightman Record Strong.
For all-around contribution to ten
mis-. Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman be-
longs at the head of the class. Over
. period of 80 years she won up
ward of 50 tournaments, indoors and
out; played conspicuous role as
coach and developer of young tai
ent (including Helen Wills; was
donor Of the Wightman Cup, and
raised family of four children. At
oO she still Is a tactical wizard on
the court. She won four national
singles titles, the first in 1909 and the
last in 1919.
We have selected Mary K. Browne
In preference to Mrs. Mallory for the
hall Of fame" because of her versa
'tility. Miss Browne won only three
national tennis titles. to Mrs. NAL
lory's eight, but she turned 50 success
fully to golf that she reached the finals
of the 1924 national championship. a
dozen, years after winning her first
court crown. 81.
Honorable mention in tennis be-
longs to Dorothea Douglass Chambers,
seven times British champion from
1902 to 1914 and still q great player
In postwar times; May Sutton Bundy,
drst woman to capture both the Amer
lean and Wimbledon titles; Elizabeth
Ryan and Helen Jacobs, four-time
American titleholder.
Eleonora Sears was runner-up three
times In the "all-comers" Of American
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