The early years
United States · born Philadelphia, 1869 · died 1909 · US champion in 1888 and 1889, the first woman to defend the title
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2
US singles titles, 1888 and 1889
1st
Woman to retain the US singles title
1889
Winner of the first US women's doubles, with Margarette Ballard
8-3
Singles record at the US Championships
19
Her age when she first won the title
Bertha Louise Townsend was born in Philadelphia in March 1869. The women's championship was played in her home city, at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, from its start in 1887. In 1888 she beat the first champion, Ellen Hansell, 6-3, 6-5, and in 1889 she defended the title against Lida Voorhees 7-5, 6-3, the first woman to do so. That year she and Margarette Ballard also won the first national women's doubles, beating Marion Wright and Laura Knight 6-0, 6-2.
Her run ended in 1890, when Ellen Roosevelt beat her 6-2, 6-2 in the Challenge Round; she and Ballard were also runners-up in the doubles. She then played little for three years. In 1894 she reached the All-Comers final, losing to Helen Hellwig 6-2, 7-5, and in 1895 she made the semi-finals in singles and in doubles with Ethel Bankson. Her record at the championships was 8-3.
She married and became Bertha Townsend Toulmin. She died in May 1909, aged 40, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1974.
| US Championships singles | 1888: beat Marion Wright 6-2, 6-2 in the All-Comers final and the holder Ellen Hansell 6-3, 6-5 in the Challenge Round. 1889: beat Lida Voorhees 7-5, 6-3 in the Challenge Round. 1890: lost the Challenge Round to Ellen Roosevelt 6-2, 6-2. 1894: lost the All-Comers final to Helen Hellwig 6-2, 7-5. 1895: semi-finalist |
|---|---|
| US doubles | 1889 champion with Margarette Ballard in the first national women's doubles, beating Marion Wright and Laura Knight 6-0, 6-2; runner-up with Ballard in 1890; semi-finalist with Ethel Bankson in 1895 |
| Style | The Hall of Fame credits her with developing the backhand and with mastering the underhand serve |
| US Championships | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1888 | Women's singles | |
| 1889 | Women's doubles | with Margarette Ballard |
| 1889 | Women's singles | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
The person behind the player.
Philadelphia, 1888
Richard Sears, writing in 1890, described the 1888 tournament as one "purporting to be for the ladies' championship", won by Miss Townsend, and said that in 1889 she "actually won the title" in a tournament held under the national association. The association had only then voted to authorise a ladies' championship in Philadelphia.
Source: R. D. Sears, Badminton Library (1890)Philadelphia, 1889
Sears noted that her most formidable rival, Miss Robinson, was not among the 1889 entries because she was in Europe, and he looked forward to a meeting between the two in 1890. That year it was Ellen Roosevelt who took the title from Townsend.
Source: R. D. Sears, Badminton Library (1890)The Wissahickon Inn Prize
The women's challenge trophy from 1887 to 1898, the Wissahickon Inn Prize made by Bailey Banks & Biddle, went first to Ellen Hansell and then to Townsend, Roosevelt, Mabel Cahill, Aline Terry, Helen Hellwig and Elisabeth Moore, before Juliette Atkinson's third win retired it in 1898. The West Side Tennis Club gave it to the Hall of Fame in 1992.
Source: International Tennis Hall of Fame1894
After losing her title in 1890 she was not seen at the championships until 1894. She still had enough game to reach the All-Comers final, where Helen Hellwig beat her 6-2, 7-5, and she reached the semi-finals again in 1895.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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