Jeanne Matthey
Matthey in 1914
Country (sports) France
Born(1886-01-25)25 January 1886
Alexandria, Egypt
Died24 November 1980(1980-11-24) (aged 94)
Paris, France
Singles
Grand Slam singles results
French OpenW (1909, 1910, 1911, 1912)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
French OpenW (1909, 1910, 1911, 1912)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
French OpenW (1909)

Jeanne-Marie Matthey-Jonais (25 January 1886 – 24 November 1980) was a French tennis player. She competed during the first two decades of the 20th century. Matthey won the French Open Women's Singles Championship four times in succession from 1909 to 1912, but lost the 1913 final to Marguerite Broquedis.[1][2]

Matthey was born in Alexandria, Egypt to a Swiss father and a French mother. The family moved to Paris, France in 1900 where she started playing tennis at the Racing Club de France.[3]

In July 1913 she won the singles events at the tournaments of Chantilly and Compiègne. At Chantilly she defeated 14 year old-Suzanne Lenglen in the semifinal and Kate Gillou-Fenwick in the final.[4] At Compiègne later that month she had a walk-over in the final against Lenglen.[5] In October 1913 she won the singles title at the Paris Covered Court Championships, played at the Sporting Club de Paris, after a three-set victory in the final against Broquedis.[6]

In World War I she served as a Red Cross nurse. As she was serving on front she was seriously wounded several times. Because of the wounds to her right arm she gave up playing tennis.[3] In 1972 when she attended Roland Garros she jokingly said that she consisted of many pieces because of her war wounds.[3]

In 1927 she received the bronze Medal of Honour for public assistance (médaille d'honneur de l'assistance publique) for her services as a nurse.[7] In 1952 she was named a knight in the Legion of Honour, in 1958 she became an officer and in 1962 she was promoted to the rank of commander.[3]

During World War II she was active in the resistance, tasked with relaying messages, and after being arrested and tortured by the Gestapo was interned in German concentration camps in 1945.[8][9][10][3]

References

  1. ^ French Open winners Archived 7 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
  2. ^ "Lawn Tennis". Le Matin (in French). No. 10709. 23 June 1913. p. 5 – via Gallica.
  3. ^ a b c d e "The heroic Jeanne Matthey". rollandgarros.com. Fédération Française de Tennis (FFT). 8 April 2019.
  4. ^ "Lawn-Tennis". Le Figaro (in French). No. 193. 12 July 1913. p. 5 – via Gallica.
  5. ^ "Lawn-Tennis". Le Figaro (in French). No. 209. 28 July 1913. p. 6 – via Gallica.
  6. ^ "Lawn Tennis". Le Matin (in French). No. 10837. 29 October 1913. p. 5 – via Gallica.
  7. ^ "Médailles d'honneur de l'assistance publique". Journal officiel de la République française (in French). No. 135. 11 June 1927. p. 6006 – via Gallica.
  8. ^ Medrala, Jean (2005). Les Réseaux de Renseignements Franco-polonais, 1940-1944. Paris, France: L'Harmattan. p. 381. ISBN 978-2747581578.
  9. ^ "Otages et détenus politiques (Hostages and political prisoners), 1939-1952 (bulk 1940-1950)". ushmm.org. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM).
  10. ^ "Transport parti de Paris le 15 août 1944 (I.264.)". bddm.org. Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Déportation.

External links

French Open women's singles champions
French Open women's doubles champions
French Open mixed doubles champions
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