On this day, the 23 May, 1911, English tennis player, Betty May Nuthall- Shoemaker [née Nuthall] was born in Surbiton, Surrey.

Known for her powerful forehand, Nuthall was ranked in the world top ten in 1927, reaching a career high of World No. 4 in 1929. Her father taught her tennis, and she won the junior championships of Great Britain aged 13, and in 1924-1926. In 1927, at the age of 16, Nuthall tied Elisabeth Moore as the youngest women’s singles finalist, at the time, ever at the U.S. Championships. She lost the final in straight sets to Helen Wills, serving under-hand. 

Nuthall laid claim to several other championship successes, including: the singles final of the French Open [1931];  and in 1930, became the first non-American since 1892 to win a women’s singles title, the U.S. Championship, defeating Anna McCune Harper in straight sets.

Nuthall also won Grand Slam Doubles events including: the French Open [1931]; the US Open [1930,1931, 1933].

And Grand Slam Mixed Doubles Championships, including the French Open [1931,1932]; the US Open [1929,1931]

In 1927, Nuthall played on the British Wightman Cup team and defeated Helen Jacobs in her debut. She also represented Great Britain in the 1929,1931–1934 Wightman Cup competitions.

Nuthall was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1977.

In 1954 she married Franklin Shoemaker, who died in 1982, and in November 1983, Betty died in New York, of a coronary arrest, aged 72.

23 May, 2019