Womanica

Prodigies: Suzanne Lenglen

Episode Summary

Suzanne Lenglen (1899-1938) was the first tennis diva of the 20th century. She was known for her show-stopping fashion, celebrated for her impressive tennis skills, and infamous for her larger-than-life behavior on and off the court.

Episode Notes

Suzanne Lenglen (1899-1938) was the first tennis diva of the 20th century. She was known for her show-stopping fashion, celebrated for her impressive tennis skills, and infamous for her larger-than-life behavior on and off the court.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more.  Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures. 

Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Ale Tejeda, Sara Schleede, and Alex Jhamb Burns. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.

Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.

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Episode Transcription

Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Luvvie Ajayi Jones. I’m a New York Times Best Selling author and host of the podcast Professional Troublemaker. I’m so excited to be your guest host for this month of Womanica! 

This month we’re highlighting Prodigies: women who achieved greatness at a young age.

Today, we’re talking about the first tennis diva of the 20th century. She was known for her show-stopping fashion, celebrated for her impressive tennis skills, and infamous for her larger-than-life behavior on and off the court. Please welcome “La Divine,”  “The Goddess,” Suzanne Lenglen.

Suzanne was born in Compiègne, France, on May 24, 1899, to Charles and Anaïs Lenglen. As a child, Suzanne was often sick. She suffered from chronic asthma, and other illnesses that left her fatigued. One summer, while vacationing on the Riviera, Charles bought 11-year-old Suzanne a tennis racquet, hoping the sport would help her boost her stamina– and the rest was history.

Suzanne was a natural on the court, something Charles quickly realized. The sport that was meant to simply be a pastime soon became an all-encompassing way of life for young Suzanne. She practiced for hours, all the while under Charles’ watchful eye. His training methods were harsh: he taught her to play tennis in men’s style, adopting harsh swings and aggressive attacks at the net. He would place a French franc [frank] on the ground and instruct Suzanne to hit it with her serve. If she missed, or slacked off in any way, he’d yell “stupid girl!” Soon, Suzanne rarely missed the coin.

By the time she was 14, Suzanne was winning premier tournaments and quickly becoming a darling of the French press. She was also turning into one of the most infamous celebrities of her time.

On the court, Suzanne played up every aspect of her performance. She leapt into the air for serves, and glided back and forth in front of the net. She was also a fashion-forward player, turning up to games in full makeup, a chic silk headband, and painted nails. Her clothes demonstrated a new freedom for women in the 1920s: she swapped out bulky undergarments for lighter, silk, sleeveless dresses cut above her calf– shocking to audiences of the time.

Suzanne was also a troublemaker. Between sets, she liked to sneak a sip of cognac from a flask. Court officials weren’t so keen on that habit. So, Suzanne changed tactics, soaking sugar cubes in liquor and bringing those onto the court with her, instead.

And, perhaps most importantly: Suzanne was a pro on the court. She made her Wimbledon debut in 1919, at a fresh 20 years old. In the final, she challenged seven-time Wimbledon winner, 40-year-old Dorothea Lambert Chambers. In the audience of 8,000 were the likes of King George V and Queen Mary. Suzanne swept the match, became the first non-English speaker to gain the Wimbledon title, and set off one of the most impressive tennis runs in history. She won five of the next six Wimbledons, five French Opens in a row, and two gold medals at the Antwerp Olympics. Between 1919 and 1926, she lost just one match.

Simply put: Suzanne was a star… and a finicky one at that. She was known for her mercurial moods, and for, more than once, throwing a fit on the court that ended with a broken racquet.

Her only loss came in 1921, in the form of a default against Molla Mallory. After losing the first set, Suzanne began throwing coughing fits and crying, eventually telling the umpire she couldn’t continue the game. While it was her only on-court default, Suzanne was prone to citing illness or injury to delay a match, only to be spotted dancing and drinking at night.

In 1926, Suzanne was one half of the most anticipated tennis match of the season: The Goddess versus the American Girl. She played against Helen Wills, a 20-year-old, 3-time US title winner. By this point, Suzanne was 27, the best female player in the world, and Helen was poised to take up her mantle as the young ingenue upstart of the sport. Fans paid upwards of 50 francs for a spot in the arena, close to 700 U.S. dollars in today’s terms. Those who couldn’t afford it peered in from nearby windows, ladders, and treetops. Suzanne emerged victorious. It’d be the only time she and Helen met on the court.

That same year, Suzanne became the first woman tennis player to go professional. It spelled the beginning of the end for her adventurous career. At the time, most tournaments, like Wimbledon, were open only to amateurs. Instead, Suzanne was paid to take on other professionals. In her first match, she defeated her opponent in 38 straight matches. 

Throughout her career, Suzanne was unceremonious about her role as a tennis star and the pomp and circumstance that accompanied it. She was vocal about the fact that tennis was simply off limits for people without economic means or social status already. She asked, “Under these absurd and antiquated amateur rulings, only a wealthy person can compete, and the fact of the matter is that only wealthy people do compete. Is that fair? Does it advance the sport? Does it make tennis more popular—or does it tend to suppress and hinder an enormous amount of tennis talent lying dormant in the bodies of young men and women whose names are not in the social register?"

In 1927, at the age of 28, Suzanne retired from the sport. She returned to Paris and founded a school to teach tennis. She also helped popularize shorts for women that ended above the knee. 

When Suzanne was in her 30s, the sicknesses she had faced as a child caught up to her. She suffered from appendicitis and leukemia, among other maladies. She died on July 4, 1938. She was 39 years old. 

For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast. 

Special thanks to creators Jenny and Liz Kaplan for having me as your guest host.. 

Talk to you tomorrow!