Margaret Molesworth

Margaret Molesworth

Full name	Maud Margaret Molesworth
Country (sports)	Australia
Born	18 October 1894 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Died	9 July 1985 (aged 90) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Singles
Highest ranking	No. 10 (1922)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	W (1922, 1923)
French Open	3R (1934)
Wimbledon	1R (1934)
Doubles
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	W (1930, 1933, 1934)
Wimbledon	3R (1934)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open	F (1923)

Maud Margaret 'Mall' Molesworth (18 October 1894 – 9 July 1985) (née Mutch) was a tennis player from Queensland, Australia who won the inaugural Australasian Championships women's singles title in 1922 and 1923.

Tennis career

She won her first major tennis title in 1914 – the Queensland ladies doubles. For much of the next five years, sporting contests in Australia were cancelled due to World War I.

Molesworth won tennis championships in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania beginning in 1919. At the first Australian Championships in 1922, Molesworth defeated fellow Australian Esna Boyd Robertson 6–3, 10–8 in the final. A year later, she successfully defended her title, again defeating Robertson in the final.

Molesworth was unable to compete overseas until 1934 when, at age 40, she reach the last sixteen of the French Championships. At the 1934 Wimbledon Championships she lost in the first round of the singles event to Madzy Rollin Couquerque and reached the third round of the doubles with Joan Hartigan.^[1]

In doubles, Molesworth won three women's titles at the Australian Championships with Emily Hood Westacott, in 1930, 1933, and 1934. She was also runner-up in women's and mixed doubles at the Australian Championships in 1923.

Molesworth was the first Australian woman tennis player to be listed in the world's top ten rankings. A. Wallis Myers of the Daily Telegraph rated her No. 10 in 1922 and 1923.^[2]

In 1924, mainly for health reasons, Molesworth retired from the sport. She came back a few years later, always considered a threat in Australian tournaments. In 1934, she reached the Australian singles final once more. Later that year, she competed overseas for the first time, playing at Wimbledon and the French Championships.

Retirement

After her retirement from competitive play, Molesworth became one of the first female professional coaches in Australia. Until her death in 1985, she maintained a lifelong interest in the sport of tennis.

On 19 June 1918, in Brisbane, she married Bevil Hugh Molesworth, an educator and radio broadcaster.^[3]

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Opponent in final	Score in final
Winner	1922	Australian Championships	Esna Boyd Robertson	6–3, 10–8
Winner	1923	Australian Championships	Esna Boyd Robertson	6–1, 7–5
Runner-up	1934	Australian Championships	Joan Hartigan	6–1, 6–4

Doubles: 4 (4 titles, 0 runner-up)

Result	Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponents in final	Score in final
Runner-up	1923	Australian Championships	Beryl Turner	Esna Boyd Robertson Sylvia Lance Harper	1–6, 4–6
Winner	1930	Australian Championships	Emily Hood Westacott	Marjorie Cox Crawford Sylvia Lance Harper	6–3, 0–6, 7–5
Winner	1933	Australian Championships	Emily Hood Westacott	Joan Hartigan Marjorie Gladman	6–3, 6–2
Winner	1934	Australian Championships	Emily Hood Westacott	Joan Hartigan Ula Valkenburg	6–8, 6–4, 6–4

Mixed doubles: 1 (0 titles, 1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponents in final	Score in final
Runner-up	1923	Australian Championships	Bert St. John	Sylvia Lance Harper Horace Rice	6–2, 4–6, 4–6

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Tournament	1922	1923	1924	1925	1926	1927	1928	1929	1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935	Career SR
Australian Championships	W	W	QF	A	A	A	QF	QF	QF	1R	A	QF	F	2R	2 / 10
French Championships^1	A	A	NH	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	3R	A	0 / 1
Wimbledon	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	0 / 1
US Championships	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 0
SR	1 / 1	1 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 0	0 / 1	0 / 3	0 / 1	2 / 12

NH = tournament not held.

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.

¹Through 1923, the French Championships were open only to French nationals. The World Hard Court Championships (WHCC), actually played on clay in Paris or Brussels, began in 1912 and were open to all nationalities. The results from the 1922 and 1923 editions of that tournament are shown here. The Olympics replaced the WHCC in 1924, as the Olympics were held in Paris. Beginning in 1925, the French Championships were open to all nationalities, with the results shown here beginning with that year.

See also

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

References

1. "Wimbledon players archive – Maud Molesworth". AELTC.
2. 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. ISBN 0-942257-41-3.
3. Molesworth, Bevil Hugh (1891–1971)