Eileen Bennett Whittingstall

Eileen Bennett Whittingstall

Full name	Eileen Viviyen Bennett Fearnley-Whittingstall
Country (sports)	United Kingdom
Born	16 July 1907 Paddington, London
Died	18 August 1979 (aged 72)
Singles
Highest ranking	No.3 (1931)
Grand Slam Singles results
French Open	F (1928)
Wimbledon	QF (1928, 1932)
US Open	F (1931)
Doubles
Grand Slam Doubles results
French Open	W (1928, 1931)
Wimbledon	F (1928)
US Open	W (1931)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
French Open	W (1928, 1929)
Wimbledon	SF (1930, 1932)
US Open	W (1927)

Eileen Bennett Whittingstall (16 July 1907 – ca. 18 August 1979^[1]) was a female tennis player from the United Kingdom who won six Grand Slam doubles titles from 1927 to 1931.

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 those 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 Shoemaker. Whittingstall and Shoemaker 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 ten in 1928, 1929, 1931, and 1932, reaching a career high of World No. 3 in those rankings in 1931.^[3]

She was married on 19 November 1929 to Edmund Fearnley-Whittingstall,^[4] 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.^[5][6][7] Bennett is credited with first wearing an above-the-knee form of divided skirt for competitive tennis.^[8][9][10]

Grand Slam finals

Singles (2 runners-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1928	French Championships	Clay	Helen Wills	1–6, 2–6
Runner-up	1931	U.S. National Championships	Grass	Helen Wills	4–6, 1–6

Doubles (3 titles, 2 runners-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1928	French Championships	Clay	Phoebe Holcroft	Suzanne Deve Sylvie Jung	6–0, 6–2
Runner-up	1928	Wimbledon	Grass	Ermyntrude Harvey	Peggy Saunders Phoebe Holcroft	2–6, 3–6
Winner	1931	French Championships	Clay	Betty Nuthall	Cilly Aussem Elizabeth Ryan	9–7, 6–2
Winner	1931	U.S. National Championships	Grass	Betty Nuthall	Helen Jacobs Dorothy Round	6–2, 6–4
Runner-up	1932	French Championships	Clay	Betty Nuthall	Elizabeth Ryan Helen Wills	1–6, 3–6

Mixed doubles (3 titles, 1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1927	U.S. National Championships	Grass	Henri Cochet	Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman René Lacoste	6–2, 6–0, 6–3
Winner	1928	French Championships	Clay	Henri Cochet	Helen Wills Frank Hunter	6–2, 6–3
Winner	1929	French Championships	Clay	Henri Cochet	Helen Wills Frank Hunter	6–3, 6–2
Runner-up	1930	French Championships	Clay	Henri Cochet	Cilly Aussem Bill Tilden	4–6, 4–6

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Tournament	1925	1926	1927	1928	1929	1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935	Career 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

A = did not participate in the tournament.

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

See also

• Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final

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. "At Forest Hills". Time. 31 August 1931. (subscription required (help)).
5. "Tennis Star To Marry Again". Dundee Evening Telegraph (British Newspaper Archive). 24 September 1936. p. 4. (subscription required (help)).
6. "Noted Tennis Player Wed". Aberdeen Journal (British Newspaper Archive). 29 September 1936. p. 6. (subscription required (help)).
7. "Untitled". The Glasgow Herald. 9 March 1937. p. 7.
8. Sarah Kirkham (30 October 2014). "Throwback Thursday: Daring fashionistas of 1930s Wimbledon". AELTC.
9. Christopher Breward, Becky Conekin, Caroline Cox, ed. (2002). The Englishness of English Dress. Berg Publishers. ISBN 978-1-85973-528-2.
10. "What Do You Think?". British Pathé. 20 July 1933.

External links

• "Eileen Vivian Bennett (later Mrs Fearnley-Whittingstall) (1907–1979), Tennis player; former wife of Edmund Fearnley-Whittingstall". National Portrait Gallery. Set of eight portraits by Bassano's studio