Ellen Forde Hansell Allderdice
Born: September 28, 1869
Died: May 11, 1937
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Citizenship: United States
Handed: Right
Inducted: 1965
Grand Slam Record
U.S. Singles 1887
Singles finalist 1888
The original U.S. female champion, Ellen Forde Hansell Allderdice was a Philadelphian who won the title in 1887, in her hometown, not long before her 18th birthday. She beat Laura Knight, 6-1, 6-0, at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, but lost the title the following year to Bertha Townsend, and wasn’t a factor again. A right-hander, she served sidearm, as, she said, did most of the women in that inaugural.
Forty-four years later, she recalled that she had been an anemic child, who showed some “enthusiasm and aptitude” for tennis. Her mother was advised by the family doctor to take Ellen out of school and put her on a court daily to build herself up. She remembered her mother making her tennis dresses of red plaid gingham: “A red felt hat topped the tight-collared and be-corseted body. I also wore a blazer of red and blue stripes …we did now and then grip our overdraped, voluminous skirts with our left hand to give us a bit more limb freedom when dashing to make a swift, snappy stroke, every bit as well placed as today, but lacking the force and great physical strength of the modern girl. Is it possible for you to envision the gallery? A loving, but openly prejudiced crowd standing within two feet of the court lines, calling out hurrahs of applause plus groans of disappointment, and some suggestive criticism, such as: ‘Run to the net.’ ‘Place it to her left.’ ‘Don’t dare lose this game.’”
She was born September 18, 1869, in Philadelphia, and died, Mrs. Taylor Allderdice, May 11, 1937, in Pittsburgh. Induction into the Hall of Fame came in 1965.
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