Born in San Diego, California, on September 17, 1934, Maureen Connolly began playing tennis at the age of ten. After a few months of training under a professional teacher she entered her first tournament and in 1947 won the girl╒s fifteen-and-under title in the Southern California Invitational. By the time she was fifteen she had won more than 50 championships and had failed to win only 4 tournaments. In 1949 she became the youngest girl ever to win the national junior championship, and she successfully defended the title the following year. In 1951, her second year in women╒s division play, she won eight major tournaments and lost three, and helped the U.S. Wightman Cup team to victory. In September of that year she won the national women╒s singles championship at Forest Hills and was just a few months short of being the youngest woman ever to hold that title. Dubbed ╥Little Mo╙ by an affectionate press, Connolly was deceptively slight and engaging off court, but in action she displayed awesome power in her drives and a distractingly expressionless face. In 1952 she retained her U.S. title and won the prestigious Wimbledon championship in England. The next year she became the first woman to achieve the tennis ╥grand slam,╙ winning the Australian, French, English, and U.S. championships. In 1954 she won her third Wimbledon title and second French title. From 1951 through 1954 she was a regular Wightman Cup team member and did not lose a single match in four years of cup play. An Associated Press sportswriters╒ poll named her woman athlete of the year in 1952, 1953, and 1954. In 1954 she suffered a crushed leg in a horseback riding accident and never again entered tournament play. She was subsequently a tennis instructor. In 1968 she was elected to the National Lawn Tennis Hall of Fame. She died in Dallas, Texas, on June 21, 1969.
