Tennis Anyone? Sports Notables Challenge - August 2023

Question

Well, we missed Wimbledon by a couple of weeks but hopefully some of our members are still in the mood for a little tennis.

For this month's Tennis Legends challenge, we've selected 40 of the sport's all-time greatest players, with the goal of raising each of their profiles to a higher level of excellence while also helping to expand the greater WikiTree.

We'll be focusing on making connections and increasing CC7s, as well as general profile improvement. To do this, we will need BioBuilders, Categorizers, Connectors, Data Doctors, Formatters, Photo Finders, Sourcerers, and any other WikiTreers looking to have a good time upgrading these tennis profiles.

Follow the link here to see our complete list of Tennis Legends and to learn more about what needs to be done. Then jump in wherever you think you'll have the most fun. Just be sure to drop us a note here to let us know what you're working on and to periodically update us on your progress.

Comments

Trivia: Anyone know who coined the phrase "Tennis Anyone?"

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We're almost half way through the month and it's time for me to start thinking about next month's challenge. Anyone have a favorite sort they'd like to recommend?

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Track and field?

(I had a made  a little space page about the infamous 1904 Olympic marathon at St. Louis by the way, although most participants would be a nightmare to connect - actually even to properly identify)

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In keeping with the World tour and expanding representation, I like the idea of looking at lesser-known notables from lesser-known sports from a wider range of countries.

In order not to be too obscure, you could look at the medal tables of the Olympics and start at the bottom   

Answer 1

Great list, David!  I'll take a stab at trying to connect some this month!

Comments

Well, I got lucky on my first pick!  Maureen Connolly-Brinkman should show connected soon. Turns out her grandmother was already connected.  Her CC7 could be expanded from sources I attached but I'll leave that to someone else.

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Congratulations Katie. You have to wonder if her grandmother's family has any idea just how closely related they are to a tennis legend.

Answer 2

Alice Marble is now connected.

Comments

Great job Katie. I'll update the roster.

Answer 3

Ooooh!!! Tennis! How did I miss this!

All the French Greats on the list are actually connected - Space page updated. (He didn't make the list but there is also a connected profile for Yvon Pétra - last French Gentlemen's Singles Wimbledon Champion - and the last who won wearing long trousers). 

Comments

To Isabelle and all interested members:

If you are not aware, the Notables Sports Project now has a permanent Tennis Page. We are currently lacking a coordinator, but if someone wants to spearhead it, we'd be happy to shift the stagnate page to an active sub-project. Or, if taking on all of tennis seems like too much, we welcome ideas for mini-projects such as Tennis Hall of Famers, or Winners of the French Open.  

The newly introduced Notables Projects (Sports, Entertainment, etc.) are all member-driven, so if there is anything you'd like to help us create, just let us know.   

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"Little Bill" Johnston should show up as connected soon, thanks to his sister-in-law.

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Another great job, Isabelle

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I've added a few family members around Don Budge, but I'm stuck now as his father migrated from Ireland and I've been unable to find sources confirming his mother's parents. Went a bit further with his wife, who appears to be 2nd or 3rd generation German. Can't find the maiden name of his second wife (who died 2010).

Next should be enlarging the circles around the French ones, I guess. (Note that Suzanne Lenglen is connected through ordinary mining families of the North of France, which I'm rather proud about).;

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I'm sitting in my doctor's waiting room right now so I'm limited on my ability to research. But I did notice that Don Budge had a sister. Did she ever marry? If so, we  might be able to find a connection  through her husband.

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There was a sister, and I think also a brother. Mostly I think we'll be close to a connection once his mother's parentage is established, but that would need someone with more expertise than me (she was born in California and her parents in Maine).

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And I think I got Don Budge connected, though his brother's wife.

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Got Doris Hart connected. That was a bit tricky because the family was apparently Catholic and married mostly to 2nd or 3rd generation immigrants - still plenty of room to expand American-Irish families.

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Great job once again!

Answer 4

I'll work on Ashley Cooper (Australia). Thanks David for organising this Challenge

Comments

Great. Please keep us posted on how it goes.

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Hi David, I've connected up Ashley Cooper, it should show up later today. I've added a few categories. There is still more to do on his bio, if anyone else wants to follow that up. I've also added birth and death sources to Sir Norman Brookes, and added his mother and 3 siblings.

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Congratulations Gillian. Thanks for the great work.

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My pleasure. It's a little difficult connecting up for Ashley's time frame in Australia, as neither the birth or death records are in the public domain, and we don't have censuses, so sources can be hard to locate. I'll see if I can find a more substantial source for his father, but the newspaper article and the electoral roll for his father tie them together (father being a teacher at Eildon, which is a small town in Victoria).

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I don't know what the Open Access time frame is in Australia, but it always difficult to research individuals whose records are still private, Newspapers can be very handy here but they are often limited in details. So, we do the best we can.

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Hi David, I've connected up Jack Crawford (Crawford-25659). His wife was also a tennis player, so I've added her in as well.

Answer 5

I'd like to get involved, but after having taken quite a few months away, I think I need to polish/update my skills first. Would Wikitree Academy be a good place to start?

Comments

The WikiTree Academy is one option. You can also check out Betsy Ko's New Member Q&A sessions on YouTube. I think her next session may be postponed until September due to the upcoming Summer Games, but you should still be able to catch prior sessions in the YouTube archive.

Another option would be to sign up with the Profile Improvement Project (PIP) where you will be assigned a one-on-one guide to help you learn how to develop ideal profiles.

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Thank you! That's a big help.

Answer 6

I think I’ve connected May Sutton.

Comments

You are correct. Congratulations! May Sutton is now connected.

Answer 7

William "Big Bill" Tilden should show connected soon! Thanks to Philadelphia ancestry.

Comments

Great job again Katie!

Answer 8

I'll try to work on "Bunny" Austin-16512 (Great Britain). Thanks, Daniel for organising this new challenge.

Comments

[[Austin-16512|"Bunny" Austin]] connected.

Answer 9

I'll give it a try

Answer 10

I'll see what I can do on Marion Anthony Trabert

Answer 11

I'll take a look at either CC7 or connecting, probably both, haha.  I've randomly picked Jack Kramer's profile.

Comments

As a fan of Jack Kramer's, I would love to see him connected.

Answer 12

I added parents and put some research notes on William Charles Renshaw, I think it needs fresh eyes.  Note his (twin) brother is also a significant tennis figure.  

I connected Maud Watson and did a basic profile but again, more can be done.  And again, her sister is also a tennis player worthy of mention, if not a notable herself. Her father also had his own Wikipedia page as a mathematician, so quite a family there!

I built the profile of Fred Perry before all this, so thanks for including him, and to those who have been building out his family.  Feel free to jazz the profile up a bit more.

I also connected Bobby Riggs back on 2 Aug before I realised what was going on here!  Found quite a short path, but again his family needs filling out.

Comments

Molla Mallory connected.

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Great job Stephen. Glad we've been able to keep you busy!

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William Charles Renshaw connected.

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Louise Brough connected.

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I put some research notes on the two Panchos.  There's a gimme for Pancho Gonzales if anyone's comfortable negotiating the complications of creating a living person profile - he married Andre Agassi's sister.  But there are plenty of other promising leads, and a few notables in his in-laws.  For Pancho Segura too there's a pathway to a connected person but passing through a spouse who may or may not be living.

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I had no idea he was related to Andre Agassi. I can create a profile for his wife under management of the Notables Project. Because she is still living but not notable herself, her profile will not be visible to the general membership, but it will allow for the connection to be made.

As a general rule, the Notables Project recommends against creating profiles for living family members of Notables who are not independently notable themselves, unless their profile is necessary to connect to the Global Tree. In this case, it is best if you sent the family member's basic info privately to one of the project leaders (Scott or myself) and allow us to create the profile under the management of the project.

Thanks for all your hard work, Stephen!

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There may be other ways to connect Pancho Gonzales, I'll keep pulling at the threads. If it comes to it, all the information needed to create his and Pancho Segura's wives' profiles, is either in the research notes or in the links.

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Pancho Gonzales connected.  A lovely, leisurely, meandering route through Hollywood actresses, movie producers, Russian immigrants, a Mayor of Beverly Hills, and a slight tangent to a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge.

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Wow, I love these sorts of connections. I'm heading over to his profile to read through the trail now. - David

Answer 13

In eleven days, the Tennis Team has connected 11 tennis greats to the Global Tree. That leaves just nine tennis legends still to be connected. Fantastic job everyone!

Comments

Only 5 remain unconnected.  Alice is working on Tony Trabert, the Panchos can both be connected via a living spouse, Maria Bueno and Manolo Santana look impossible (at least to an English speaker).

Answer 14

I've had a look at Maria Bueno and she will be a challenge to connect, even for Spanish speakers.  Familysearch has some records from Sao Paulo but nothing I can trace on this family.  She was born, lived and died in Brazil, she never married, there is little information on her parents (I don't want to make assumptions about Spanish-language surnames which have different rules), she had one brother who married and had children but all I can find is the eldest son's name, Pedro.  He runs her legacy website, so possibly the easiest way to get more information on the family might be to email him!

Comments

I have not worked much with Legacy but as part of the 15 Nations Tour I have found several trees for our selected Notables on Geni.com. These trees are almost never sourced. However, I have had amazing success with contacting the tree managers, They are often family members who have a wealth of sourced information that are happy to share. A few have even become Wikitree members themselves.

Short of that, I would remind you that "connecting" is just one of our goals. Even getting a well written bio with a handful of family members attached, improves the odds of getting her connected down the road.

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I don't know about "well written" but I've put something in the bio so anyone else taking a look knows what info I found and where it came from.

I think you misunderstood "legacy website" it seems to just be an English-language webpage (mariabueno.org) - a very well-written one! - honouring her life and interests.  Anyone interested in her life story can just click the link, but it's not very detailed on her genealogy, which is what we're interested in.  Her father's surname would be a good start, then at least we could at least add her brother, Pedro Bueno-Nete (I don't understand Spanish surnames at all, or where the Nete bit comes from!).

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Yes, I was confused by the "legacy" term. I've now been to mariabueno.org and am a little puzzled as to why they would share so much information about what amazing parents she had, without bothering to name either one of them.

According to her New York Times obituary (9 Jun 2018), her parents were named Pedro and Esther Bueno. No other information about them is provided.

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While I again stress my ignorance about how Brazilian names really work, and may be wrong, it is something along the lines of people generally having two surnames, one from the mother and one from the father in that order.

As Maria's surnames are Andion Bueno in other sources, or Andonia Bueno here, that would suggest that one of her mother's surnames was Andion. Her father must be a Bueno but must have another name too.  I'm sure the NYT is a fine journal but western media have a tendency to simplify Spanish language names.  So if there are local records and references to be found for Pedro Bueno the father - not Pedro Bueno the brother or Pedro Bueno the nephew - my guess is there will probably be other essential identifying elements to the name we will need to know. It's much more complex than looking for an English record for one particular Peter Good in London.  Maybe a Hispanic Wikitreer can confirm or set me straight?

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I am certainly not an expert on Brazilian naming patterns, but it's important to keep in mind that Brazil's national language is Portuguese, not Spanish.

In many Spanish cultures individuals have two surnames - the father's paternal family name and then the mother's paternal family name. The father's family name is the one most commonly used to address people. For example, Pedro Carlos Bueno Lopez would be abbreviated to Pedro Bueno. But again, I'm not sure how this works in Brazil or Portuguese in general.    

Also, I interpret Andonia as a middle name, not a surname, but I could be wrong.

Answer 15

Good evening

Im working on this profile [[Raymond-6190|Louis Bosman Raymond (1895-1962)]] for South African tennis notable. He won the 1920 Olypic mens singles,

Comments

Hi Susanna!  Great profile.  I added a couple of categories and Olympedia/Wikipedia links.  There is an Olympic sticker which I think looks pretty cool and gives profiles of Olympic athletes an exclusive feel - your call whether to add it!  {{Occupation |image=Olympic_Movement.png |text=represented South Africa at the Olympic Games}}

Answer 16

I wish I had found this a month ago. I have 2 women (sisters) that would fit in this group perfectly. They are Margaret Curtis

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Curtis-13160

and Harriet Sumner Curtis

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Curtis-13159

Comments

This project wasn't here a month ago!  You should definitely categorise any tennis players you find in the "Tennis" category, which will help other people trying to find them.  There are other categories for Professional players, International Hall of Fame inductees, Wimbledon Championships etc which apply to some players but not all of them.

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Note also that the WikiTree Notables Project does now have an official Tennis Project, which is actually a sub-project of our brand new Sports Project. It is not very active yet, but we welcome any interested members to help us develop ideas.

Anyone interested in serving as our Tennis Commissioner?

Answer 17

More tennis-celebrity connection tidbits!  While researching the Renshaw brothers one name that kept coming up was Herbert Fortescue Lawford (Lawford-317).  He kept losing Wimbledon mens' finals to the Renshaw boys - his 5 final defeats is a joint record, even today - before finally breaking his duck against Ernest in 1887.  Familysearch had a bad record for his death and no info on his wife, which I have now corrected.  Even though he represented Scotland, he was a London stockbroker, the son of a London stockbroker, all English-born.  The juicy part is that his brother was a notable WWI general who was the father of Hollywood Rat Packer, Peter Lawford!

Comments

Very cool. It's amazing how often notables connect to each other. In this case, if Herbert Lawford was the uncle of Peter Lawford, it means he was also an extended member of the Kennedy Clan!

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I didn't stop there, I made a profile for John Thorneycroft Hartley (Hartley-6872) the only vicar to win Wimbledon (twice), beating Lawford in 1880.  There was already a profile for his 1879 opponent, Irish champion Vere St Leger Goold (Goold-271) - a sad story there.

I haven't got round to Herbert Wilberforce, who beat Hartley in the second round in 1883, but his dad Edward (Wilberforce-22) was a judge and grandson of abolitionist William Wilberforce, so it's all good to go.

They are all connected to the main tree, but could all use some CC7 love...

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I love this. A challenge can only focus in a limited number if individuals, but there are so many more that deserve attention. Its really cool that you are helping to bring these people's stories back from the past.

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Charlotte Dod - WikiTree Profile

Charlotte "Lottie" Dod would not be out of place among the Tennis Legends, although I actually swept her up while working on the Team GB Olympics project.  Starting at the age of 15 - the youngest ever singes champion - she won the Ladies' Singles Wimbledon title 5 times 1887-1893, all against the same opponent, Blanche (Bingley) Hillyard.  She didn't show up in 1889-90 and actually never lost a singles match at Wimbledon (but bear in mind the defending champion only had to play 1 match in those days, so she really only played 2 full tournaments, the first year there were only 6 other players).  She was so good that she played in doubles with James Renshaw against experienced men pairings, and won.

And then she retired from tennis.  But she wasn't done yet.

She played international field hockey for Great Britain.  She did the Cresta Run in tobogganing.  She climbed mountains.  She helped initiate ladies golf tournaments and became national champion in THAT sport as well as tennis.  She was a hair's breadth from winning the national championships at archery too.  In fact she won a silver medal at the 1908 Olympics in archery having only lifted a bow for the first time THREE YEARS previously!

Truly a legend!

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Wonderful story Stephen, and thanks for your contributions to our new Olympics Project. I've added Lottie's portrait to her WikiTree profile.

Answer 18

Update: My goal has been to post a new Notables Sports challenge every month. Unfortunately, life got in the way this month and there is no September Sports Challenge. However, the Tennis Challenge remains open, and members are also free to return to our Baseball Challenge from July (we still have 5 unconnected baseball legends.) 

The good news is that I do have a really exciting double-size challenge in the works for October. This one will have an undeniable international flair, so if you're ready to put your global skills to the test, stay tuned.

Answer 19

Progress Report: Our success on the Tennis Challege has been truly amazing. In the month of August, we connected 17 previously unconnected tennis legends to the Global Tree. This includes eleven Americans, three Brits, two Australians, and one Norwegian. 

We also began the month with 20 unconnected tennis legends with a combined starting CC7 of 9. The combined CC7 of those 20 individuals now stands at 3,222!

We now have just four tennis notables left to connect to the Global Tree:

Maria Bueno of Brazil

Manuel Santana of Spain

Pancho Segura of Ecuador

Tony Trabert of the USA.

Remember that, although making connections and increasing CC7s is a fun way to keep track of our successes, we also want our project profiles to be shining stars for the community. Now might be a good time to go back and flesh out some biographies, search for additional sources, etc.   

Answer 20

I have just connected Tony Trabert to the Global Tree through his wife, Shauna (Wood) Trabert.