Olympic Games Attended: Paris 1924

Olympic Medals: Singles (gold) and doubles (gold)

Additional Accomplishments: 31 Grand Slam titles Wimbledon Single Champion 1927-1932, 1933, 1935, and 1938 Wimbledon Doubles Champion 1924, 1927, & 1930 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles Champion 1929 Inducted International Tennis Hall of Fame, 1959

Helen Newington Wills Roark (1905-1998), also known as Helen Wills Moody, has generally been considered one of the greatest female tennis players of all time. Born Helen Newington Wills in Centerville (now Fremont), California, she learned to play tennis in Berkeley. She was already famous when she married Frederick Moody in

1929. She won approximately one-half of her major championships as Helen Wills and one-half as Helen Wills Moody. Wills divorced Moody in 1937 and married Aidan Roark in 1939.

Wills won 31 Grand Slam titles (singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles) during her career, including seven singles titles at the U.S. Championships, eight singles titles at Wimbledon, and four singles titles at the French Championships. Wills also won two Olympic gold medals in Paris in 1924, the last year that tennis was an Olympic sport until 1988.

Wills was the U.S. girls' singles champion in 1921 and 1922, and she won her first women's national title at the age of 17 in 1923, making her the youngest champion at that time. From 1919 through 1938, she amassed a 398-35 (0.919) match record, including a 158-match winning streak from 1927 to 1932. Her greatest playing strength was a powerful forehand, and her unchanging expression earned her the nickname "Little Miss Poker Face." She helped free women tennis players from ankle-length skirts and petticoats, typically wearing a white sailor suit having a pleated knee-length skirt, white shoes, and a white visor.

One of the most famous tennis matches of all time occurred between Helen Wills and Suzanne Lenglen. On Feb. 16, 1926, the 20-year-old Wills met six-time Wimbledon champion Suzanne Lenglen in the final of a tournament at the Carlton Club in Cannes. Public anticipation of their match was immense, resulting in high scalper ticket prices. Roofs and windows of nearby buildings were crowded with spectators, including the King of Sweden. Lenglen won the match 6-3, 8-6 after being down 2-1 in the first set and 5-4 in the second set. It was the first and only time they played each other, because Lenglen turned professional after the season.

Wills was an avid writer and painter. She wrote a coaching manual, Tennis (1928); an autobiography, Fifteen-Thirty: The Story of a Tennis Player (1937); and a mystery, Death Serves an Ace (1939, with Robert Murphy). She wrote articles for the Saturday Evening Post and other magazines. Her paintings and etchings appeared in New York galleries and art exhibits. She also continued to play tennis into her 80s.