Helen Wills Biography - Early Years, Center Court, Chronology, Retirements And Comebacks, "little Miss Poker Face", "every Woman Who Goes Into Athletics Owes Something To Her"

American tennis player

Helen Wills revolutionized the face of sports for American women. At a time when women were not thought capable of athletic achievement, Wills played some of the best tennis in the world, with a strength and ferocity that was far more typical of the male athletes of her time than of the female ones. She was not only dominant in women's tennis, winning thirty-one Grand Slam events over the course of her career, but she also played and beat some of the top-ranked men of her time, including the ranking Italian men's champion and the best player at Stamford University.