Maureen Connolly's 1953 US Title Secures First Women's

Eighteen-year-old Maureen Connolly defeated Doris Hart 6-2, 6-4 on September 7, 1953, to win the US National Championships in New York. With that victory, Connolly became the first woman in tennis history to win all four major tournaments in a single calendar year, a feat previously achieved only by Donald Budge in 1938.

Connolly's triumph at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills capped a season of total dominance. She had already won the Australian Open and Roland-Garros earlier in the year, and she defeated Hart for the third time in a major final that season, having also beaten her at the French and Wimbledon championships.

The Path to the Final

Maureen Connolly arrived at the 1953 US Championships having lost just two matches all season. She had dropped only one set in her three previous Grand Slam victories that year. Her path to the final in New York was equally commanding, as she did not lose a single set. Her opponent, Doris Hart, was a formidable champion in her own right, having won Wimbledon in 1951. Hart was also one of the only two players to have beaten Connolly that year, securing a victory at the Italian Open. Their Wimbledon final earlier that summer was an intense battle that both women later called the best match of their lives.

The Historic Match

In front of 12,000 spectators, Connolly overwhelmed Hart in a match that lasted just 43 minutes. Her only stumble came when leading 4-2 in the second set. Hart rallied to level the set at 4-4. Connolly quickly regained her composure to win the next two games and secure her place in history. Across the 22 matches of her 1953 Grand Slam campaign, Connolly lost an average of only three games per match and dropped just one set.

Connolly and Hart's Careers

Maureen Connolly, nicknamed 'Little Mo' for her powerful groundstrokes, had been a dominant force since 1951. She won six consecutive Grand Slam tournaments she entered from 1951 through her 1953 US title. Her career was tragically cut short in July 1954 by a horseback riding accident where she was hit by a truck, severely injuring her leg. She later worked as a commentator and won a substantial personal injury settlement. Connolly died of cancer in 1969 at age 34.

Doris Hart, who played with a permanently impaired right leg from a childhood illness, retired in 1955. She became the first woman to achieve a career Grand Slam 'Boxed Set,' winning at least one title in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles at each major. Her final major tallies were six singles titles, 14 in doubles, and 15 in mixed doubles.

Lasting Legacy

Connolly and Hart remained the only women to face each other in three Grand Slam finals in a single year until Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert did so in 1984. The Williams sisters became the third pair to achieve this in 2002. Only two other women have matched Connolly's calendar-year Grand Slam: Margaret Court in 1970 and Steffi Graf, who added an Olympic gold for a 'Golden Slam' in 1988. In men's tennis, Rod Laver later completed the calendar Slam twice, in 1962 and 1969.