Marjory Gengler

Last updated
Marjory Gengler
Full nameMarjory Logan Gengler Smith
Country (sports)Flag of the United States.svg United States
Born (1951-05-03) May 3, 1951 (age 72)
Singles
Grand Slam singles results
US Open 2R (1970)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
US Open 2R (1971)
Education
Spouse Stan Smith
Children4
Relatives

Marjory Logan Gengler Smith (born May 3, 1951) is an American retired tennis player. In 1973, while a student at Princeton University, she was captain of the women's tennis team and led them to an undefeated season in 1972. She was the top ranked player at Princeton, the number one-ranked female player in the Eastern United States, and the first woman to be featured, as "Princeton's Best Athlete", on the cover of Princeton Alumni Weekly . In 1973, inspired by the Battle of the Sexes between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, Gengler took on Jeffrey Lewis-Oakes, the top ranked men's junior varsity player, but lost the match. Gengler competed at the US Open in mixed doubles in 1971, 1973, and 1974 and in doubles in 1971, as well as singles in 1968, 1969, 1970, and 1971. She also competed at Wimbledon in mixed doubles in 1972. Gengler is married to retired professional tennis player Stan Smith.

Contents

Early life and education

Marjory Logan Gengler grew up on Long Island in Locust Valley, New York. [1] Her father, Herbert B. Gengler, was a member of the New York Stock Exchange and a partner in Gengler Brothers, a brokerage firm. [1] [2] Gengler has six siblings: Louise, Nancy, Jeanne, Marion, John, and Herbert. [1] Her maternal grandfather, William John Logan, was senior vice president of Central Hanover Bank & Trust and a former football player at Princeton University. [2] Her grandmother, Marjorie Church Loegan, was murdered by a neighbor's servant. [3]

She attended The Bishop's School, an Episcopal private school in La Jolla, San Diego. [1] [2]

Gengler, a member of the New York Junior Assemblies, was presented to society as a debutante at the 1969 Debutante Cotillion of the Junior League of the North Shore and at the Debutante Cotillion and Christmas Ball at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. [1] [2]

After high school, she attended Princeton University, where she was a member of the university's first four-year coeducational class, graduating in 1973. [1] [4]

Tennis career

In 1963 Gengler was the champion of the twelve-and-under category at the Junior Orange Bowl.

At Princeton, Gengler was captain of the women's tennis team in 1972 and led them to an undefeated season. [1] [4] She was the top ranked player at Princeton and ranked as the number one tennis player in the Eastern United States in 1973. [1] [2] [5] She was the first woman to earn a white "P" sweater and to be featured on the cover of Princeton Alumni Weekly , on May 1, 1973, as "Princeton's Best Athlete." [4]

She and her doubles partner, Helen Gourlay, were runners-up at the 1971 Pennsylvania Grass Court Championships in Haverford, Pennsylvania. [6] Inspired by the 1973 Battle of the Sexes between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, Gengler took on the top ranked men's junior-varsity tennis player, Jeffrey Lewis-Oakes, but lost the match. [4]

While still an undergraduate student, Gengler competed at the Wimbledon in mixed doubles in 1972 and in mixed doubles and doubles the US Open in 1971, 1973, and 1974. [4] [7] She made it to the second round of the first qualifier for Women's Singles at the 1972 Wimbledon Championships and made it to the qualifying competition of the seventh qualifier for Women's Singles at the 1973 Wimbledon Championships.

Personal life

On November 23, 1974 Gengler married professional tennis player Stan Smith, a former US Open singles champion and 1972 Wimbledon champion, at St John's of Lattingtown Episcopal Church in Lattingtown, New York. [1]

She and her husband mentored South African tennis player Mark Mathabane, and became involved in the political movements in South Africa fighting to end apartheid.[ citation needed ]

She was a member of the New York Junior Assemblies and is on the board of the Boys & Girls Club of Hilton Head, South Carolina. [1] She previously worked as a director of sports promotion in the New York office for Sea Pines Company. [1]

Gengler and her husband live at Sea Pines Plantation in Hilton Head, South Carolina and have four children. [8] [9]

Related Research Articles

Sarah Virginia Wade is a British former professional tennis player. She won three Major tennis singles championships and four major doubles championships, and is the only British woman in history to have won titles at all four majors. She was ranked as high as No. 2 in the world in singles, and No. 1 in the world in doubles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Court</span> Australian tennis player (born 1942)

Margaret Court, also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, her 24 women's singles major titles and total of 64 major titles are the most in women's tennis history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evonne Goolagong Cawley</span> Australian aboriginal tennis player (born 1951)

Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Goolagong was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilie Năstase</span> Romanian tennis player (born 1946)

Ilie Theodoriu Năstase is a Romanian former world No. 1 tennis player. He held the top singles spot from 23 August 1973 to 2 June 1974, and was the first man to hold the position on the computerized ATP rankings. Năstase is one of the 10 players in history who have won over 100 total ATP titles, with 64 in singles and 45 in doubles. Năstase won seven major titles: two in singles, three in men's doubles and two in mixed doubles. He also won four Masters Grand Prix year-end championship titles. He was the first professional sports figure to sign an endorsement contract with Nike, doing so in 1972. Năstase wrote several novels in French in the 1980s, and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Bueno</span> Brazilian tennis player

Maria Esther Andion Bueno was a Brazilian professional tennis player. During her 11-year career in the 1950s and 1960s, she won 19 major titles, making her the most successful South American tennis player in history, and the only one to ever win Wimbledon. Bueno was the year-end No. 1 female player in 1959 and 1960 and was known for her graceful style of play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Newcombe</span> Australian tennis player

John David Newcombe AO OBE is an Australian former professional tennis player. He is one of the few men to have attained a world No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles. At the majors, he won seven singles titles, a former record 17 men's doubles titles, and two mixed doubles titles. He also contributed to five Davis Cup titles for Australia during an age when the Davis Cup was deemed as significant as the majors. Tennis magazine rated him the 10th best male player of the period 1965–2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Rosewall</span> Australian tennis player (born 1934)

Kenneth Robert Rosewall is an Australian former world top-ranking professional tennis player. Rosewall won 147 singles titles, including a record 15 Pro Majors and 8 Grand Slam titles for a total 23 titles at pro and amateur majors. He also won 15 Pro Majors in doubles and 9 Grand Slam doubles titles. Rosewall achieved a Pro Slam in singles in 1963 by winning the three Pro Majors in one year and he completed the Career Grand Slam in doubles.

Robert Lutz is an American former amateur and a professional tennis player of the 1960s and 1970s. He and Stan Smith were one of the best doubles teams of all time. Bud Collins ranked Lutz as world No. 7 in singles in 1972. From 1967 to 1977, he was ranked amongst the top-10 American players eight times, with his highest ranking being No. 5 in both 1968 and 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stan Smith</span> American tennis player (born 1946)

Stanley Roger Smith is an American former professional tennis player. A world No. 1 player and two-time major singles champion, Smith also paired with Bob Lutz to create one of the most successful doubles teams of all-time. In 1970, Smith won the inaugural year-end championships title. In 1972, he was the year-end world No. 1 singles player. In 1973, he won his second and last year end championship title at the Dallas WCT Finals. In addition, he won four Grand Prix Championship Series titles. In his early years he improved his tennis game through lessons from Pancho Segura, the Pasadena Tennis Patrons, and the sponsorship of the Southern California Tennis Association headed by Perry T. Jones. Since 2011, Smith has served as President of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Outside tennis circles, Smith is best known as the namesake of a popular brand of tennis shoes.

Clark Graebner is a retired American professional tennis player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Françoise Dürr</span> French tennis player

Françoise Dürr is a retired French tennis player. She won 50 singles titles and over 60 doubles titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louise Brough</span> American tennis player

Althea Louise Brough Clapp was an American tennis player. In her career between 1939 and 1959, she won six Grand Slam titles in singles as well as numerous doubles and mixed-doubles titles. At the end of the 1955 tennis season, Lance Tingay of the London Daily Telegraph ranked her world No. 1 for the year.

Tom Gorman is a retired ATP tour American tennis player and coach. He won 7 singles and 9 doubles titles and reached semi-finals in the 3 of the 4 ATP tour grand slam events. His ATP ranking peaked at 8 in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilana Kloss</span> South African tennis player, coach, and commissioner

Ilana Sheryl Kloss is a former professional tennis player, tennis coach, and commissioner of World TeamTennis from 2001-21. She was the World's No. 1 ranked doubles player in 1976, and World No. 19 in singles in 1979. She won the Wimbledon juniors singles title in 1972, the US Open juniors singles title in 1974, and the US Open Doubles and French Open Mixed Doubles titles in 1976. She won three gold medals at the 1973 Maccabiah Games in Israel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helga Niessen Masthoff</span> West German tennis player

Helga Niessen Masthoff is a retired tennis player from West Germany. Her best Grand Slam singles tournament was when she reached the 1970 French Open final, losing to Margaret Court in straight sets. She won the German Open three consecutive years from 1972 through 1974, beating Martina Navratilova in the 1974 final in three sets. Masthoff was the runner-up at that tournament in 1971, losing to Billie Jean King.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Pasarell</span> Puerto Rican tennis player and promoter (born 1944)

Charles Manuel Pasarell Jr. is a Puerto Rican former tennis player, tennis administrator and founder of the current Indian Wells tournament. He has also commented for the Tennis Channel and with Arthur Ashe and Sheridan Snyder formed the National Junior Tennis League. He was ten times ranked in the top ten of the U.S. and No. 1 in 1967 and world No. 11 in 1966. Representing the United States as a player, he has been heavily engaged in the administration of the professional game from the inception of the ATP in 1972 and has been Vice President when he was still playing and until recently on the Board of Directors representing the Americas tournaments. In 2013, Pasarell was elected into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erik van Dillen</span> American tennis player

Erik van Dillen is an American retired tennis player who played over 25 Grand Slam championships at Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open. He was active from 1964 to 1982 and won 9 careers singles titles.

William John Logan was an American football player and banker, as well as a politician who served as the 2nd Mayor of Flower Hill, New York.

Roy Emerson and Rod Laver were prevented from defending their title due to the International Lawn Tennis Federation ban on World Championship Tennis contract players competing in their tournaments.

Douglas "Hank" Irvine is a Rhodesian born American former professional tennis player.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Stan Smith Weds Miss Gengler". The New York Times. November 24, 1974. Archived from the original on August 29, 2021. Retrieved August 29, 2021– via NYTimes.com.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Stan Smith, the Tennis Player, Will Marry Marjory Gengler". The New York Times. August 4, 1974. Archived from the original on August 29, 2021. Retrieved August 29, 2021– via NYTimes.com.
  3. ↑ "Logan Murder Trial Opens Today: Logan Murder Trial Opens Today". Newsday . October 7, 1946. pp. 1, 3, 46 – via ProQuest.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Whatever happened to Marjory Gengler Smith '73?". Princeton Alumni Weekly. January 21, 2016. Archived from the original on August 29, 2021. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
  5. ↑ LLC, New York Media (August 26, 1974). "New York Magazine". New York Media, LLC – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ "Marjory Gengler – Players – Grand Slam History". www.grandslamhistory.com. Archived from the original on 2021-08-29. Retrieved 2021-08-29.
  7. ↑ "Marjorie Gengler Tennis Player Profile | ITF". Archived from the original on 2021-08-29. Retrieved 2021-08-29.
  8. ↑ "Meet Stan Smith: The tennis ace who inspired the world's most famous shoe". Harper's BAZAAR. September 18, 2018. Archived from the original on August 29, 2021. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
  9. ↑ Renwick, Finlay (July 12, 2019). "Stan Smith: The Man Who Became A Shoe". Esquire. Archived from the original on August 29, 2021. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.