May Godfray Sutton Bundy
Born: September 25, 1886
Died: October 04, 1975
Hometown: Plymouth, United Kingdom
Citizenship: United States
Handed: Right
Inducted: 1956
Grand Slam Record
Wimbledon Singles 1905, 07
Singles finalist 1906
U.S. Singles 1904
Doubles 1904
Doubles finalist 1925
Mixed finalist 1904
Tournament Record
Wightman Cup 1925
May Godfray Sutton was, as a U.S. the first outsider from beyond the British Isles–and the first American–to win Wimbledon, she had a distinct English connection. Born in Plymouth September 25, 1886, daughter of a British Adolphus Sutton, she moved with the family at age six to a ranch outside of Pasadena CA. There her father built a concrete tennis court, the starting point for herself and three of her four sisters to become outstanding players.
Capt. Sutton was one of the greatest tennis sires: May won Wimbledon; grandchildren Dorothy Bundy (Cheney, daughter of May) won the Australian in 1938, John Doeg (son of Violet) won the U.S. in 1930; great grandson Brian Cheney had a U.S. national ranking and played the U.S. and Wimbledon. The saying in Southern California was “It takes a Sutton to beat a Sutton” because four of them–May, Violet, Florence, Ethel–dominated that section for almost a generation through 1915.
May, a husky 5-foot-4 1/2, 140-pound, highly competitive right-hander with a powerful topspin forehand, was the best known of them, with her U.S. title of 1904, 6-1, 6-2, over defending Bessie Moore, and her two Wimbledon titles over Dorothea Douglass, in 1905 and 1907. She took the title from the Englishwoman, 6-3, 6-4, lost in the following year, and subdued Dorothea (who’d become Mrs. Lambert Chambers), 6-1, 6-4, as the two contested three successive finals. She shocked English crowds at first by rolling up her sleeves to bare her elbows, and wearing a shorter skirt than most, showing ankles.
In 1912 she married Tom Bundy, a top player who won three U.S. doubles titles (1912, 1913, 1914) with Maurice McLoughlin. Their daughter, Australian champ Dorothy Cheney, ranked as high as No. 6 in the world in 1946. Now in her 80s, she continues to win a record number of U.S. senior titles. May had her best days before U.S. rankings for women were established in 1913. But her groundstrokes were formidable enough when she made a comeback in 1921 to earn her the No. 4 ranking at age 35. That made her the third of the sisters to rank in the U.S. Top Ten–a record. Ethel was No. 2 in 1913; Florence 3, 2 and 4 in 1913, 1914 and 1915, respectively. Moreover, May played Wightman Cup for the U.S. four years later and ranked No. 5 in 1928 at 42. She entered the Hall of Fame in 1956, and died October 4, 1975, in Santa Monica, CA.
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