Shirley Fry Irvin

Shirley Fry Irvin Biography

Shirley June Fry Irvin (ne Fry; born June 30, 1927) is a former world No. 1 American tennis player.

Biography

She is one of 10 women to have won each Grand Slam singles tournament at least once during her career. She is also one of seven women (with Hart, Court, Navratilova, Pam Shriver, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams) to have won all four Grand Slam doubles tournaments. At the U.S. National Championship (precursor of the U.S. Open) in 1942, Irvin reached the singles quarterfinals at the age of 15. At Wimbledon in 1953, Irvin and Hart lost only four games during the entire women's doubles tournament and won three matches without losing a game, including the semifinals and finals, the latter over Connolly and Julie Sampson Haywood. Irvin won the last three Grand Slam singles tournaments she entered, including wins over Althea Gibson in the Wimbledon quarterfinal and U.S. Championship final in 1956 and the Australian Open final in 1957.

Irvin was ranked in the world top 10 in 1946 and 1948 and from 1950 through 1955 (no rankings issued from 1940 through 1945), and #1 in 1956. The United States Lawn Tennis Association ranked her in the U.S. top 10 from 1944 through 1955 and #1 in 1956. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1970. She married Karl Irvin in Australia, in February 1957.

Grand Slam record

Australian Championships
- Singles champion: 1957
- Women's Doubles champion: 1957
French Championships
- Singles champion: 1951
- Singles runner-up: 1948, 1952
- Women's Doubles champion: 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953
- Women's Doubles runner-up: 1948
- Mixed Doubles runner-up: 1952
Wimbledon
- Singles champion: 1956
- Singles runner-up: 1951
- Women's Doubles champion: 1951, 1952, 1953
- Women's Doubles runner-up: 1950, 1954
- Mixed Doubles champion: 1956
- Mixed Doubles runner-up: 1953
U.S. Championships
- Singles champion: 1956
- Singles runner-up: 1951
- Women's Doubles champion: 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954
- Women's Doubles runner-up: 1949, 1950, 1955, 1956
- Mixed Doubles runner-up: 1951, 1955

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 8 (4 titles-4 runners-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1948	French Championships	Clay	Nelly Adamson Landry	2-6, 6-0, 0-6
Winner	1951	French Championships	Clay	Doris Hart	6-3, 3-6, 6-3
Runner-up	1951	Wimbledon	Grass	Doris Hart	1-6, 0-6
Runner-up	1951	U.S. Championships	Grass	Maureen Connolly	3-6, 6-1, 4-6
Runner-up	1952	French Championships	Clay	Doris Hart	4-6, 4-6
Winner	1956	Wimbledon	Grass	Angela Buxton	6-3, 6-1
Winner	1956	U.S. Championships	Grass	Althea Gibson	6-3, 6-4
Winner	1957	Australian Championships	Grass	Althea Gibson	6-3, 6-4

Doubles: 19 (12 titles, 7 runner-ups)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1948	French Championships	Clay	Mary Prentiss	Doris Hart Patricia Canning Todd	4-6, 2-6
Runner-up	1949	U.S. Championships	Grass	Doris Hart	Louise Brough Margaret Osborne duPont	4-6, 8-10
Winner	1950	French Championships	Clay	Doris Hart	Louise Brough Margaret Osborne duPont	1-6, 7-5, 6-2
Runner-up	1950	Wimbledon	Grass	Doris Hart	Louise Brough Margaret Osborne duPont	4-6, 7-5, 1-6
Runner-up	1950	U.S. Championships	Grass	Doris Hart	Louise Brough Margaret Osborne duPont	2-6, 3-6
Winner	1951	French Championships	Clay	Doris Hart	Beryl Bartlett Barbara Scofield	10-8, 6-3
Winner	1951	Wimbledon	Grass	Doris Hart	Louise Brough Margaret Osborne duPont	6-2, 13-11
Winner	1951	U.S. Championships	Grass	Doris Hart	Nancy Chaffee Patricia Canning Todd	6-4, 6-2
Winner	1952	French Championships	Clay	Doris Hart	Hazel Redick-Smith Julia Wipplinger	7-5, 6-1
Winner	1952	Wimbledon	Grass	Doris Hart	Louise Brough Maureen Connolly	8-6, 6-3
Winner	1952	U.S. Championships	Grass	Doris Hart	Louise Brough Maureen Connolly	10-8, 6-4
Winner	1953	French Championships	Clay	Doris Hart	Maureen Connolly Julia Sampson	6-4, 6-3
Winner	1953	Wimbledon	Grass	Doris Hart	Maureen Connolly Julia Sampson	6-0, 6-0
Winner	1953	U.S. Championships	Grass	Doris Hart	Louise Brough Margaret Osborne duPont	6-2, 7-9, 9-7
Runner-up	1954	Wimbledon	Grass	Doris Hart	Louise Brough Margaret Osborne duPont	6-4, 7-9, 1-6
Winner	1954	U.S. Championships	Grass	Doris Hart	Louise Brough Margaret Osborne duPont	6-4, 6-4
Runner-up	1955	U.S. Championships	Grass	Doris Hart	Louise Brough Margaret Osborne duPont	3-6, 6-1, 3-6
Runner-up	1956	U.S. Championships	Grass	Betty Rosenquest	Louise Brough Margaret Osborne duPont	3-6, 0-6
Winner	1957	Australian Championships	Grass	Althea Gibson	Mary Bevis Hawton Fay Muller	6-2, 6-1

Grand Slam tournament timelines

Singles

Tournament	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946¹	1947¹	1948	1949	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	Career SR
Australian Championships	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	W	1 / 1
French Championships	R	R	R	R	A	A	A	F	A	QF	W	F	SF	A	A	A	A	1 / 5
Wimbledon	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	A	A	QF	4R	QF	F	SF	SF	QF	A	W	A	1 / 8
U.S. Championships	1R	QF	1R	QF	1R	1R	3R	3R	3R	QF	F	SF	SF	SF	QF	W	A	1 / 16
SR	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 3	1 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 1	2 / 2	1 / 1	4 / 30

R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under German occupation.
SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
¹In 1946 and 1947, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.

Doubles

Tournament	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946¹	1947¹	1948	1949	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	Career SR
Australian Championships	A	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	W	1 / 1
French Championships	R	R	R	R	A	A	A	F	A	W	W	W	W	A	A	A	A	4 / 5
Wimbledon	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	A	A	3R	SF	F	W	W	W	F	A	SF	A	3 / 8
U.S. Championships	A	1R	1R	QF	SF	SF	SF	SF	F	F	W	W	W	W	F	F	A	4 / 15
SR	0 / 0	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 3	0 / 2	1 / 3	3 / 3	3 / 3	3 / 3	1 / 2	0 / 1	0 / 2	1 / 1	12 / 29

R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under German occupation.
SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam doubles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
¹In 1946 and 1947, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.