Maud Barger-Wallach

Maud Barger-Wallach

Country (sports)	United States
Born	June 15, 1870 New York, New York
Died	April 2, 1954(1954-04-02) (aged 83) Baltimore, Maryland
Plays	Right-handed
Int. Tennis HoF	1958 (member page)
Singles
Grand Slam singles results
US Open	W (1908)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
US Open	F (1912)

Barger-Wallach's 1908 National Women's Singles Championship Trophy at the International Tennis Hall of Fame museum

Maud Barger-Wallach (June 15, 1870 – April 2, 1954) was an American tennis player of the early 1900s.

Biography

She was the daughter of Samuel F. Barger, a lawyer and director of the New York Central Railroad, and Edna Jenie LaFavor. In June 1890 she married sportsman Richard Wallach. ^[1]

She only began playing tennis when she was about 30 years old. ^[1] In 1908, Barger-Wallach became the oldest U.S. Open champion at the age of 38 (42-year-old Molla Mallory won in 1926, taking away her old-age record). ^[2]

At the age of 61 in 1931, she traveled overseas with the U.S. men's tennis contingent, and when Sidney Wood of the U.S. won the Wimbledon Gentlemen's Singles over Frank Shields of the U.S. in the final, in a walkover because Shields was injured, Wood gave his trophy to Barger-Wallach to hold until the next time that he and Shields should play each other on grass (as at Wimbledon), telling her to give it to the winner. Wood finally met Shields in a tournament on grass at Queen's Club in London three years later, beating him, and Barger-Wallach then gave Wood's Wimbledon trophy to him. ^[3]

She was a right-handed baseline player with an accurate but soft forehand and a weak backhand which, if possible, she tried to run around. She had an unorthodox playing style characterized by an underhand serve, accurate placements as well as tennis intelligence and determination. ^[1]

Barger-Wallach was inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1958.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 3 (1 title, 2 runners-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1906	U.S. National Championships	Grass	Helen Homans	4–6, 3–6
Win	1908	U.S. National Championships	Grass	Evelyn Sears	6–3, 1–6, 6–3
Loss	1909	U.S. National Championships	Grass	Hazel Hotchkiss	0–6, 1–6

Doubles: 1 runner-up

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1912	U.S. National Championships	Grass	Mrs. Frederick Schmitz	Mary Browne Dorothy Green	2–6, 7–5, 0–6

References

1. David L. Porter (1995). Biographical Dictionary of American Sports: 1992-1995 Supplement for Baseball, Football, Basketball, and Other Sports. Westport: Greenwood. pp.  651, 652. ISBN   978-0313284311.
2. Collins, Bud (2010). The Bud Collins History of Tennis (2nd ed.). [New York]: New Chapter Press. pp. 15, 467. ISBN   978-0942257700.
3. "Sydney Wood". The Telegraph. January 15, 2009. Retrieved May 9, 2012.

External links

• Maud Barger-Wallach at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
• Sportspundit.com profile