The early years
United States · born Brooklyn, 1876 · died 1959 · four times US champion
All playersBack to the rankings
4
US singles titles, 1896 to 1905
8
US singles finals, 1892 to 1905
16
Her age at the 1892 US final
105
Games in two five-set wins, 1901
Elisabeth Holmes Moore, known as Bessie, was born in Brooklyn in 1876 and grew up in Ridgewood, New Jersey, where she took up the game at about 12. At 16 she reached the 1892 US final in Philadelphia and lost to Mabel Cahill in five sets. She won the US singles four times, in 1896, 1901, 1903 and 1905, and played eight US finals in 14 years. She also won two US doubles and two mixed titles, and in 1898 played the Irish Championships in Dublin. She won the first US Indoor singles title in 1907 and the indoor doubles in 1908, and was still winning tournaments in her early forties. She divided her later years between New York and Florida, died in 1959, and was elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971.
| Major singles titles | 4: US (1896, 1901, 1903, 1905) |
|---|---|
| Major singles finals lost | 4: US 1892, US 1897, US 1902, US 1904 |
| Other grass singles titles | 1: Pennsylvania Championships (1905) |
| Major doubles titles | 2 doubles (US 2), 2 mixed (US 2) |
| US finals, 1892 to 1897 | 1892: lost to Mabel Cahill 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 2-6, the first five-set match between two women. 1896: beat Juliette Atkinson 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. 1897: lost to Atkinson 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 3-6 |
| US finals, 1901 to 1905 | 1901: beat Myrtle McAteer 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2. 1902: lost to Marion Jones 1-6, 0-1 retired. 1903: beat Jones 7-5, 8-6. 1904: lost to May Sutton 1-6, 2-6. 1905: champion when Sutton did not defend |
| US doubles partners | Juliette Atkinson 1896; Carrie Neely 1903 |
| US mixed partner | Both titles with Wylie Grant: 1902, 1904 |
| Abroad | Irish Championships, Dublin, 1898: the first American woman to play a major tournament overseas |
| US Championships | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1896 | Women's doubles | with Juliette Atkinson |
| 1896 | Women's singles | |
| 1901 | Women's singles | |
| 1902 | Mixed doubles | with Wylie Grant |
| 1903 | Women's doubles | with Carrie Neely |
| 1903 | Women's singles | |
| 1904 | Mixed doubles | with Wylie Grant |
| 1905 | Women's singles | |
| Pennsylvania Grass Court Championships (Merion) | ||
| 1905 | 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
"I do not think any such change should be made without first canvassing the wishes of the women players."
The person behind the player.
Ridgewood, New Jersey, late 1880s
Her father, George, a wealthy cotton trader, was president of the Hohokus Valley Tennis Club, and she took up lawn tennis there at about 12. Her mother encouraged her to be active and she rode her pony on the local trails. Within a few years she was winning ladies' tournaments.
Source: NJSports.comPhiladelphia 1892
At 16 she reached the US final against the holder, Mabel Cahill. It went to five sets, the first five-set match between two women. Between sets Cahill left the court to cool off while Moore waited in the sun, and Cahill won the fifth 6-2. Harper's Young People called her the little girl from New Jersey.
Source: NJSports.comPhiladelphia 1896
The day after she and Juliette Atkinson won the US doubles together, she beat Atkinson 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 for her first singles title. Atkinson took it back a year later in five sets, and their rivalry carried the women's championship through the late 1890s.
Source: NJSports.comDublin 1898
In 1898 she crossed the Atlantic to play the Irish Championships in Dublin. She did not win, but she was the first American woman to play a major tournament overseas. She was 22, had won the US title two years earlier and lost it to Juliette Atkinson in 1897.
Source: NJSports.comPhiladelphia 1901
She beat Marion Jones in the all-comers final and Myrtle McAteer in the challenge round, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2, both in five sets and 105 games between them. The association then moved women's matches to best of three. Moore objected that the women players had not been asked.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameOn court
She was right-handed and practised both ways. When a ball was out of reach on her backhand side she would sometimes switch the racquet to her left hand. Her forehand and backhand looked much alike, and she relied on court coverage, anticipation and accuracy rather than pace.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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