Fry-Irvin, Shirley

Shirley June Fry-Irvin
Born: June 30, 1927
Hometown: Akron, Ohio, United States
Citizenship: United States
Handed: Right
Inducted: 1970

Grand Slam Record
Australian Singles  1957
Doubles 1957

Wimbledon Singles 1956
Singles finalist 1951
Doubles 1951-53
Doubles finalist 1950, 54
Mixed 1956
Mixed finalist 1953

French Singles 1951
Singles finalist 1948, 52
Doubles 1950-53
Doubles finalist 1948
Mixed finalist 1952

U.S. Singles 1956
Singles finalist 1951
Doubles 1951-54
Doubles finalist 1949, 50, 55, 56
Mixed finalist 1951, 55

Tournament Record
Wightman Cup   1949, 51-53, 55-56

One of the elite dozen men and women to win each of the major championships in singles, Shirley June Fry Irvin is also one of only five to win them all in doubles as well. The French was the first to fall to her, in 1951, the Australian the last, in 1957, after which she retired to become Mrs. Karl Irvin and live in Hartford, CT.

She won Wimbledon and–on the 16th and last try–the U.S. in 1956, beating, respectively, Shirley Bloomer, 6-4, 6-4, and Althea Gibson. A right-hander, born on June 30, 1927, and raised in Akron, Ohio, she was in 1941 the youngest ever to play in the U.S. Championships until slightly younger fourteen-year-olds Kathy Horvath (1979) and Mary Joe Fernandez (1985).

As a 15-year-old, she became, unseeded, the Championships’ youngest quarterfinalist. She lost the 1951 final to Maureen Connolly, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, but came through five years later, out steadying Gibson, 6-3, 6-4. She had a solid groundstroking game but showed her volleying skills in doubles alongside Doris Hart. They were the only team to win four straight French (1950-53). They won three straight Wimbledons (1951-53) and four straight U.S. (1951-54).

In their hard-fought 1953 final-round victory, 6-2, 7-9, 9-7, despite two match points, over Louise Brough and Margaret Osborne DuPont, they ended the Brough-duPont record streaks of nine straight titles (1942-50) and 41 matches. Their own streak, until losing the 1955 final to Brough-duPont, was 20 matches.

Shirley, 5-foot-5, 125 pounds, ranked in the U.S. Top Ten 13 straight years (1944-56), No. 1 in 1956, and in the World Top Ten nine times between 1946 and 1956, No. 1 the last year. She played Wightman Cup for the U.S. six times, never on a loser, winning 10 of her 12 matches. She entered the Hall of Fame in 1970.

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