Margaret Osborne duPont, 1918–2012

last updated 8 January 2015

Margaret Osborne duPont kept a crowded trophy cabinet. A permanent fixture in women’s tennis for more than 25 years, duPont won 37 Grand Slam titles, 31 of them in doubles, placing her fourth on the list of all-time greatest female players. She smashed her way to victory at the French Open singles in 1946 and 1949, the Wimbledon singles in 1947, and the U.S. Open singles from 1948 to 1950. DuPont could probably have won the Australian Open, too, but her husband—chemicals heir William duPont Jr.—refused to travel there, thinking the weather would be bad for his health. “He threatened to divorce me if I went to Australia,” she said. “That was that.”

Born in Joseph, Ore., duPont became obsessed with tennis at age 11 when her family moved to San Francisco, said the El Paso, Texas, Times. “My mother would take me to the tennis courts at Golden Gate Park,” she recalled last year. “When my mother couldn’t take me, I would just put on my skates and roller-skate to the tennis courts.” She competed in tournaments as a teenager and turned professional after graduating from high school in 1936, said The New York Times. She started at age 18 “by taking the train to Philadelphia and winning the junior nationals singles and doubles titles.”

DuPont interrupted her career only twice: in 1947, to marry duPont, and in 1952, to give birth to their son, William III. “Having a child didn’t slow down her tennis competition,” said the Associated Press. Her last Grand Slam title, mixed doubles at Wimbledon, came in 1962. After her retirement, duPont saw tennis change almost beyond recognition. “We played with wooden rackets, and the balls are much harder now,” she said. “Our game was more about finesse, not so much power as today.” She added that the stars of her day couldn’t secure huge sponsorship deals, so they played for one simple reason: “for the love of the game.”