Suzanne Lenglen, the divine. Who is the woman to whom the second stage of Roland Garros was dedicated?

Paris. For many it is only the name attributed to the second most important stadium of Roland Garros after the Philippe Chatrier. But Suzanne Lenglen was above all the greatest French tennis player in history, the first woman to make tennis a profession, the first international star of women’s sport who introduced glamor on tennis courts. It is for all these reasons that Gianni Clerici decided in 1984 to dedicate a biography to her, “Suzanne Lenglen. La Divine” (Rochevignes), which was only released in Italy in 2002: a declaration of love to what was, for the Italian journalist, the most desired woman in Paris between 1920 and 1927 (the years in which she won six times the Wimbledon Tournament and as many the Internationals of France), even more than Sarah Bernhardt and Joséphine Baker. “She Light on the tip of her espadrilles like a dancer, her opponents suddenly found her at the net, and fought alone thinking that a simple lob was enough to overcome her modest stature. Suzanne, capable of jumping the net with even feet, hovered very lightly upwards, and she didn’t miss a single dunk ”, Clerici says.

Born in Paris in 1899, Suzanne spent her childhood in Picardy, in the family estate of Marest-sur-Matz. She played golf, horse riding, swimming, dancing, gymnastics, but it is in lawn-tennis, the modern version of the Jeu de Paume imported by some English tourists in France around 1878, that she shows an uncommon talent. Her father, Charles Lenglen, an assiduous sportsman, offered her her first racket at the age of eleven and subjected her to frantic training rhythms: she was the first father-coach in the history of tennis, and her results were not long in coming . In 1914, at the age of just 15, little Suzanne, agile and graceful on the courts like a danseuse at the Opéra de Paris, reached the final at the World Clay Courts, the forerunner of Roland Garros. yielding slightly to compatriot Marguerite Broquedis. Then, in 1919, he won his first Wimbledon in an anthology final against the English Dorothea Lambert-Chambers, in front of King George V and his bride. It was the beginning of glory.

The following year, she returned to the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club as champion and, in addition to reconfirming herself as winner, revolutionized the fashion of women’s tennis. Thanks to a collaboration with her stylist friend Jean Patou, Suzanne showed up in London with a pleated skirt that reached the knee and a sleeveless tank top, accompanied by a simple band to wear on the hair: a dress considered scandalous at the time (all of the other tennis players played in nearly full-length dresses, with corsets and wide-brimmed hats). To confirm Suzanne’s rebellious and jaunty character there was also her habit, between one set and another, of sipping brandy, cognac or armagnac depending on her wishes, and of smiling mischievously at the audience in the front rows . Suzanne Lenglen thus became the archetype of the modern, sporty, audacious and avant-garde woman, who wears make-up and dresses in colorful clothing, freeing women’s sport from bourgeois rigidities and establishing herself as a feminist. Her style of play was also revolutionary for its time. She used to serve from above and hit very accurate balls, and she came to the net consistently, displaying exceptional co-ordination on volleys.

In 1926, Suzanne starred in the so-called “Match of the Century” at the Carlton Club tournament in Cannes against three-time reigning US National Championships champion Helen Wills Moody. All three thousand seats in the main field were sold at 300 francs each, together with standing room, until space was exhausted, at 100 francs apiece. The owners of the sumptuous villas adjacent to the field sold fictitious tickets to numerous fans to follow the clash from the roof. And those who could not find even that note, decided to climb trees. The outcome of the match was one-sided for Lenglen: victory in two partials, 6-3 8-6. In her career, the “Divine” won 241 singles and doubles titles, including 13 grand slams and 3 Olympic medals, with a winning percentage hovering around 98 percent. Two French journalists wrote one day: “In the beginning, there was nobody. God first created Adam, then Eve, and finally Suzanne Lenglen.” The Divine.