The early years
Ireland · born New Inn, County Tipperary, 1866 · died 1907 · Wimbledon champion 1890, the only Irishwoman to win the singles
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1890
Wimbledon singles champion, in her second and last Championships
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Wimbledon singles finals, 1889 and 1890
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Match points she held in the 1889 final, and lost
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Entrants in the 1890 ladies' singles, the smallest field in Wimbledon history
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Irishwoman to win the Wimbledon singles: Rice is still the only one
Helena Bertha Grace Rice was born on 21 June 1866 at Marlhill, New Inn, County Tipperary, the second youngest of eight children of Spring Rice, a landowner, and Anna Rice. Her father died in 1868. She learned the game on the lawn at home with her sister Annie and then at the Cahir Lawn Tennis Club, where she often played visiting British Army officers. Her strengths were a powerful service and a strong forehand.
Her first season of open competition was 1889. At the Irish Championships at Fitzwilliam in Dublin in May she lost the singles semi-final to Blanche Hillyard, reached the doubles final with Hillyard, and won the mixed doubles with Willoughby Hamilton. At Wimbledon that summer she reached the All Comers' final, which was the title match because the holder, Lottie Dod, did not defend. She took the first set from Hillyard and held three match points in the second, but lost 4-6, 8-6, 6-4.
In 1890 she lost the Irish singles final and won a tournament at the Lansdowne club before returning to Wimbledon. Only four players entered the ladies' singles. Rice beat Mary Steedman and then May Jacks 6-4, 6-1 to become champion. It was her last tournament. She did not defend her title in 1891 and the Wimbledon record gives the reason as retired from the game. She never married, lived at Marlhill all her life, and died there of tuberculosis on 21 June 1907, her 41st birthday.
| Wimbledon 1889 | All Comers' final, the title match in the absence of Lottie Dod: lost to Blanche Hillyard 4-6, 8-6, 6-4, after leading 5-3 in the second set with three match points. The Wimbledon Compendium lists it among the finals won from match point down |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon 1890 | Champion in a field of four: beat Mary Steedman, then May Jacks 6-4, 6-1 in the final. Hillyard, expecting her first child, and Dod did not enter. The prize was the 50 guinea challenge trophy and 20 guineas |
| Irish Championships 1889 | Fitzwilliam, Dublin: singles semi-final, lost to Blanche Hillyard; doubles final with Hillyard; mixed doubles title with Willoughby Hamilton |
| The year of the Irish | In 1890 Irish players won all three Wimbledon titles: Rice the ladies' singles, Willoughby Hamilton the gentlemen's singles, and Joshua Pim and Frank Stoker the doubles |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1890 | Women's singles | |
| Irish Championships | ||
| 1889 | Mixed doubles | with Willoughby Hamilton |
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
"She was a wonderful player with a terrible 'Irish' drive and a powerful serve."
The person behind the player.
Marlhill and Cahir
Rice and her sister Annie learned on the lawn at Marlhill, the family's Georgian house half a mile from New Inn. Both joined the Cahir Lawn Tennis Club, where Lena often played the British Army officers stationed in the area.
Source: Dictionary of Irish BiographyWimbledon 1889
In 1889, the year before she won the title, Rice acted as a line judge at Wimbledon for the gentlemen's fourth round match between William Renshaw and Herbert Lawford.
Source: Wimbledon Compendium 2025 (AELTC)Wimbledon 1890
With the 20 guineas that came with the title she bought an emerald and diamond ring. The Tipperary Star later reported that her great-niece, Susan Faithfull, wore it. For the final she wore a floral ankle-length skirt and a blouse fastened tightly at the waist.
Source: Irish ExaminerMarlhill, 1891
Rice spent the following year at Marlhill looking after her mother, Anna, who had run the estate and raised the children alone since 1868. Anna Rice died on St Patrick's Day 1891, aged 63. Lena did not go back to Wimbledon to defend her title.
Source: Irish ExaminerNew Inn, 1907
She died at home on her 41st birthday, 21 June 1907, after a tubercular illness. She is buried with her parents in the old Protestant cemetery at New Inn known as Downey's Field.
Source: Irish ExaminerFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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