Simonne Mathieu ( Passemard;) (31 January 1908 – 7 January 1980) was a tennis player from France, born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, who was active in the 1930s. She won the French Championships singles title in 1938 and 1939.
During World War II, she created and led the Corps of French Volunteers in the Free French Forces, the first female unit in the military history of France.
Tennis career Mathieu is best remembered for winning two major singles titles at the French Championships (in 1938 and 1939), and for reaching the final of that tournament an additional six times, in 1929, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1936, and 1937. In those finals, she lost three times to Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling, twice to Helen Wills Moody, and once to Margaret Scriven.
Mathieu won 11 Grand Slam doubles championships: three women's doubles titles at Wimbledon (1933–34, 1937), six women's doubles titles at the French Championships (1933–34, 1936–39), and two mixed-doubles titles at the French Championships (1937–38). She completed the rare triple at the French Championships in 1938, winning the singles, women's doubles, and mixed-doubles titles.
Mathieu's 13 Grand Slam titles are second only to Suzanne Lenglen's 21 among French women.
According to A. Wallis Myers and John Olliff of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail respectively, Mathieu was ranked in the world top 10 from 1929 through 1939 (no rankings were issued from 1940 through 1945), reaching a career high of world No. 3 in 1932.
The winners' trophy of the women's doubles event at the French Open is named in her honour as the Coupe Simonne-Mathieu.
World War II During World War II, Captain Mathieu was founder of the Corps Féminin Français, the women's volunteer branch of the Free French Forces, similar to the British Auxiliary Territorial Service. Mathieu was succeeded in that position by Captain Hélène Terré. For their service, each woman was named an Officer of the Legion of Honour.
Honours She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2006.
In November 2017, the French Tennis Federation (FFT) announced that the third show-court at Roland Garros will be named Court Simonne-Mathieu in her honor.
Grand Slam finals Singles: 8 (2 titles, 6 runner-ups) ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 1929 French Championships Clay Helen Wills 3–6, 4–6Loss 1932 French Championships Clay Helen Wills 5–7, 1–6Loss 1933 French Championships Clay Margaret Scriven 2–6, 6–4, 4–6Loss 1935 French Championships Clay Hilde Krahwinkel 2–6, 1–6Loss 1936 French Championships Clay Hilde Krahwinkel 3–6, 4–6Loss 1937 French Championships Clay Hilde Krahwinkel 2–6, 4–6Win 1938 French Championships Clay Nelly Landry 6–0, 6–3Win 1939 French Championships Clay Jadwiga Jędrzejowska 6–3, 8–6
Doubles: 13 (9 titles, 4 runner-ups) ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1930 French Championships Clay Simone Barbier Elizabeth Ryan Helen Wills 3–6, 1–6Win 1933 French Championships Clay Elizabeth Ryan Sylvie Jung Henrotin Colette Rosambert 6–1, 6–3Win 1933 Wimbledon Championships Grass Elizabeth Ryan Freda James Billie Yorke 6–2, 9–11, 6–4Win 1934 French Championships Clay Elizabeth Ryan Helen Jacobs Sarah Palfrey 3–6, 6–4, 6–2Win 1934 Wimbledon Championships Grass Elizabeth Ryan Dorothy Andrus Sylvie Jung Henrotin 6–3, 6–3Loss 1935 Wimbledon Championships Grass Hilde Krahwinkel Freda James Kay Stammers 1–6, 4–6Win 1936 French Championships Clay Billie Yorke Jadwiga Jędrzejowska Susan Noel 2–6, 6–4, 6–4Win 1937 French Championships Clay Billie Yorke Dorothy Andrus Sylvie Jung Henrotin 3–6, 6–2, 6–2Win 1937 Wimbledon Championships Grass Billie Yorke Phyllis King Elsie Goldsack 6–3, 6–3Win 1938 French Championships Clay Billie Yorke Nelly Adamson Arlette Halff 6–3, 6–3Loss 1938 Wimbledon Championships Grass Billie Yorke Sarah Palfrey Alice Marble 2–6, 3–6Loss 1938 US Championships Grass Jadwiga Jędrzejowska Sarah Palfrey Alice Marble 8–6, 4–6, 3–6Win 1939 French Championships Clay Jadwiga Jędrzejowska Alice Florian Hella Kovac 7–5, 7–5
Mixed doubles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups) ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1937 French Championships Clay Yvon Petra Marie-Luise Horn Roland Journu 7–5, 7–5Loss 1937 Wimbledon Championships Grass Yvon Petra Alice Marble Don Budge 1–6, 4–6Win 1938 French Championships Clay Dragutin Mitić Nancye Wynne Bolton Christian Boussus 2–6, 6–3, 6–4Loss 1939 French Championships Clay Franjo Kukuljević Sarah Palfrey Elwood Cooke 6–4, 1–6, 5–7
Grand Slam singles performance timeline
Tournament 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 – 1944 1945 19461 Career SR Australian OpenAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANHNHA 0 / 0 French ChampionshipsQFQF3RA FQFQF F F SF F F F W WNHRAA 2 / 14 WimbledonA1R2RA3R SF SF SFQF SFQF SF SFQFQFNHNHNH1R 0 / 14 US ChampionshipsAAAAAAAAAAAAAQF1RAAAA 0 / 2 SR0 / 10 / 20 / 20 / 00 / 20 / 20 / 20 / 20 / 20 / 20 / 20 / 20 / 21 / 31 / 30 / 00 / 00 / 00 / 1 2 / 30
R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under German occupation.
1In 1946, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.
See also Performance timelines for all female tennis players since 1978 who reached at least one Grand Slam final
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