Mary Hardwick Wood Stylist Tennis Racquet by Wilson in Nice Vintage Condition
This vintage tennis racquet is in very nice vintage condition. Please view all pictures carefully as what you see is what you get and best describes the lightly used condition of this collectable tennis racquet.
A nice Mary Hardwick racquet like this would be highly prized and displayed by tennis aficionado. Here's some facts about Mary Harwick:
HARDWICK, “MARY” (Ruth Mary Hardwick)
United Kingdom
Born 8 September 1913
Died 12 December 2001
Married Charles Edgar Hare, 30 January 1943
[Active 1931-1941]
She decided to become a tennis player after seeing Henri Cochet play at Wimbledon. Hardwick later received coaching from Dan Maskell, a noted teacher of the time. With her attacking style of play Hardwick was at her best on grass or indoors. Gaining in singles as the 1930s went on, she made the prestigous Wightman Cup team from 1936 to 1938.
1939 and 1940 were her best years. Mary made the quarterfinals at both the French and Wimbledon in 1939. She ended the year ranked #7 or #8 in the world rankings posted by various experts. Stuck in the United States when war broke out, she decided to stay and toured North America in 1940. Hardwick reached the semifinals at the US Championships in Forest Hills, extending #2 seed Helen Jacobs to 3 sets in a 2-6 6-1 6-4 defeat. She then signed a pro contract as foil to Alice Marble, who beat her in 72 out 75 pro matches in late 1940 through 1941.
Hardwick (Mrs Hare from 1943) taught and gave exhibitions for the war effort until 1945. After her active tennis career she stayed involved with the sport as a writer for Lawn Tennis and Badminton and World Tennis Magazines. In 1962 Mrs Hare produced a report for the ILTF demonstrating the support for a women's version of the Davis Cup. The Federation Cup came to fruition the next year.
Titles:
1933-Welsh Championships
1935-London Covered Court Championships
1938-Scandinavian Indoors
1940-Hot Springs