Cal Women's Tennis Endowment
Few of California's many outstanding women athletes have attained
the international success of California Hall of Fame members Hazel
Hotchkiss Wightman ('11), Anna McCune Harper ('24), Helen Wills Moody
Roark ('25) and Helen Hull Jacobs ('30), who helped establish the
continuing standard of excellence that extends through the Golden Bears
of today.
A two-time Olympic gold medalist, Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman was the
first (and only) woman ever to win the U.S. National singles, doubles
and mixed doubles titles in the same year (1909), repeating the
achievement again in 1910 and 1911. In 1923, she left a lasting
contribution women's tennis by creating the Wightman Cup Championship
between British and American women, competing herself in 1923-24, '27,
'29 and '31. In her honor, the Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman Tennis
Scholarship is awarded each season to the top women's tennis recruit.
Harper, Roark and Jacobs all left their mark on the California
campus during the 1920s, with each eventually moving on to international
acclaim. A lifetime Bay Area resident, Harper began her competitive
career on the Cal courts and quickly established herself nationally,
eventually becoming the nation's top-ranked singles player in 1930. A
Top 10 singles player from 1928-32, Harper won the 1931 Wimbledon mixed
doubles title. In her honor, a scholarship is awarded annually in
Harper's name to the Cal tennis player with the highest grade point
average.
Jacobs, too, achieved international success, winning a Wimbledon
singles championship in addition to singles and doubles titles at the
Italian Open. Jacobs spent a total of 13 years in the USTA's First 10
and capped off her career as the top ranked U.S. woman from 1932-35.
Roark (better known in tennis circles as Helen Wills Moody) was one
of the most successful women ever to play the game and was the
top-ranked player in the United States seven times during her career.
She won a total of 13 U.S. and six French National championships,
collecting eight Wimbledon singles, three doubles and one mixed doubles
championship and a gold medal in both singles and doubles at the 1924
Olympics.
In December 1994, Roark established an endowment for a grant-in-aid
in women's tennis with a $100,000 gift to the program. Roark has also
been a significant benefactor to research at the university,
establishing a major endowment for support of research in the biological
sciences.
The achievements of women like Wightman, Harper, Roark and Jacobs
set the standard to which the California women's tennis program aspires.
The tradition that began with these early greats has spawned countless
All-Americans and tennis professionals, culminating in the top-flight
players who grace Hellman Tennis Courts today.
