Alice Marble was a professional tennis player from the United States. In 1939, she became World Number 1. That year, she won the Wimbledon and US Open singles titles.

Player Profile

Alice Irene Marble was born on September 28, 1913, in Beckwourth, California in the United States. She died on December 13, 1990, in Palm Springs, California.

Born 28 Sep 1913
Died 13 Dec 1990 (77 years)
Nationality United States United States

She attended the San Francisco Polytechnic High School where she played basketball and baseball in addition to tennis. Her brother encouraged her to try tennis, which he viewed to be a more lady-like sport. It turned out that Marble’s shift of love, from baseball to tennis, was the best thing that ever happened in her life.

Career

“Looks can be deceiving” is a cliché still worth applying to the case of retired tennis pro Alice Marble.

Blonde, lady-like, and sweet-looking on the outside, Marble could deliver mean serves and powerful volleys that could match a man’s play; she truly was a force on the courts who played in a very masculine way, even when she looked exactly the opposite.

Marble won eighteen (18) Grand Slam championship titles. Five of these titles were won in the Singles category; six (6) were golden triumphs under the Women’s Doubles category and seven (7) were won in the Mixed Doubles category.

Her smashing serves and volleys placed her on equal footing with the hotshot male players of her day; like Don Budge, Harry Hopman, and Bobby Riggs. In fact, these three men became her partners in winning Mixed Doubles titles.

On top of these legendary tennis accomplishments, Marble led a very eventful life outside of the sport. She admitted to being a government spy for the United States in 1945 and was shot while getting information on the Nazis during World War II.

She was also one of the most powerful reasons that the racial barrier in professional tennis was eroded. In 1950, she wrote an editorial in favor of Althea Gibson, an African-American woman, who, because of segregation, failed to play in Grand Slam events like the US Open. Largely because of Marble’s words that Gibson was admitted as a serious competitor.

Marble was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1964. Twenty-six (26) years later, in 1990, Alice Marble passed away at her Palm Springs home. She was seventy-seven (77) years old.

Career Record

Singles

  • Highest Singles Ranking: 1 (1939)

Best Grand Slam Singles Performances

  • French Open - 2R (1934)
  • Wimbledon - W (1939)
  • US Open - W (1936, 1938, 1939, 1940)

Doubles

Best Grand Slam Doubles Performances

  • Wimbledon - W (1938, 1939)
  • US Open - W (1937, 1938, 1939, 1940)

Best Grand Slam Mixed Doubles Performances

  • Wimbledon - W (1937, 1938, 1939)
  • US Open - W (1936, 1938, 1939, 1940)

Team Competitions

  • Wightman Cup - W (1933, 1937, 1938, 1939)

People Ask

Where was Alice Marble born?

She was born in Beckwourth, California in the United States of America.

When did Alice Marble become World Number 1?

She reached the career-high singles ranking of Number 1 in 1939.

When did Alice Marble win Wimbledon?

She won her first and only Wimbledon singles title in 1939.

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