Tennis Legend Louise Brough Goes To The Big Grass Court in Heaven

Written by: on 5th February 2014
Louise-Brough-Clapp-1
Tennis Legend Louise Brough Goes To The Big Grass Court in Heaven  |

Louise Brough Clapp, the United States tennis star who was unquestionably one of the sport’s true legends, winning 35 Grand Slam titles in the 1940’s and ‘50’s, has died at the age of 90.

 

After being enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame as long ago as 1967, she lived quietly in Vista, California and passed there earlier this week, surrounded by her family, after a short illness.

 

Her 35 Grand Slam titles ties her with Doris Hart for fifth on the all-time list, behind only Margaret Court, Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, and her long time doubles partner Margaret Osborne duPont.

 

In total Brough Clapp won 13 titles at Wimbledon, 17 titles at the U.S. Championships, three titles at the French Championships, and two titles at the Australian Championships.

 

Together with Osborne DuPont, she was part one of the sport’s most successful doubles pairings in the sport’s history. Together, they won 20 titles at majors (12 U.S., five Wimbledon, three French).

 

From 1942 through 1950, Brough Clapp and duPont won nine consecutive women’s doubles titles at the U.S. Championships, which remains the longest championship run in history in any event at any Grand Slam tournament.

 

She also appeared in 21 of the 30 finals contested at Wimbledon from 1946 through 1955 in singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles.

 

She was born in Oklahoma City but moved to Beverly Hills, California with her parents at the age of four. She took up tennis at a young age and was coached by the legendary Dick Skeen who also worked with legends such as Jack Kramer, Gussie Moran and Pauline Betz.

 

Editors Note: Steve Pratt a Los Angeles publicist and a member of tennis guardian’s of the game (Ojai especially! he is one of their guardian angels)

He added this note: it was sad to hear of the passing of one of Ojai’s all- time greats. Louise first played in the Ojai way back in 1938 when she won the girls 14 and under for Beverly Hills High School against Gussy Moran of Santa Monica California. Louise Brough Clapp is a member of the Ojai Wall of Fame , and went on to win 35 grand slam titles.

Topics: , , , , , , , , , ,








10sBalls Top Stories

In Case You Missed It

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA thumbnail

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA

Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday that Eugenie Bouchard is the winner of the 2018 Excellence Awards in the Female Player of the Year and Singles Player of the Year categories.
TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE

Time to get tickets to watch! Surly you have heard about The Largest Open Tennis Event in America!
TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER

According to Uncle Toni, Rafael Nadal was supposed to be back at practice on either Dec. 4 or 5. Well, better late than never!
Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife thumbnail

Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife

Española y checa ya trabajaron juntas durante el pasado Open de Estados Unidos
ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS thumbnail

ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS

Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia hits a forehand to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia during her second round match at the Nature Valley International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, Great Britain, on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.