Cahill, Mabel

Mabel Esmonde Cahill
Born: April 02, 1863
Died: January 01, 1905
Hometown: Ballyragget, County Kilkenny, Ireland
Citizenship: Ireland
Handed: Right
Inducted: 1976

Grand Slam Record
U.S. Singles 1891-92
   Doubles 1891-92
   Mixed 1892

Little is known of Mabel Esmonde Cahill except that, as an Irish citizen, she was the first foreigner to win one of the major championships. That was the U.S. singles of 1891 when she got even with Ellen Roosevelt, who had defeated her in the all-comers final of 1890 and gone on to win the title. In 1891, Cahill, a right-hander, decimated the Roosevelts, beating Ellen’s sister, Grace, in the all-comers final, 6-3, 7-5, and then Ellen in the challenge round, 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. She retained the title by defeating Bessie Moore in the 1892 challenge round, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, B 6-2. That year she also won the mixed doubles with Clarence Hobart.

But she declined to return to Philadelphia for the 1893 Championships, defaulting her title to Aline Terry in the challenge round. During her residence in the U.S. she belonged to the New York Tennis Club. She was born April 2, 1863, in Ballyragget, County Kilkenny, Ireland. No details of her death, believed to have occurred in Ireland in 1904 or 1905, have been found. She was named to the Hall of Fame in 1976.

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