AP Photos: Women’s champions from Wills Moody to Serena

Jun 26, 2015, 8:43 AM

FILE - In this July 6, 1935 file photo, Helen Wills Moody regains the women's singles championship when she defeated Helen Jacobs in the final at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London. Wills Moody won eight Wimbledon titles in an 11-year span, with her final victory coming in 1938. The California-born Wills Moody is considered to be one of the greatest female players in history with 31 Grand Slam titles in all forms. She also won two Olympic gold medals at the 1924 Paris Olympics, the last time tennis was an Olympic sport before being reintroduced at the 1988 Seoul Games. (AP Photo, File)

(AP Photo, File)

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON (AP) — At Wimbledon, Serena Williams is often at her best. And this year she has a chance to win a third major title of 2015, taking her ever closer to becoming the fourth woman to win a calendar Grand Slam.

Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court and Steffi Graf are the only three to achieve the feat in the same season.

Williams has won the Venus Rosewater Dish five times, but only once in the last four years. The famous shield was first presented in 1886, two years after Maud Watson became the first women’s singles champion.

The first foreign success came in 1905 when May Sutton of the United States defeated defending champion Dorothea Douglass.

Like the men, the tournament was very different after World War I. France enjoyed a grip on the women’s title with Suzanne Lenglen winning six out of seven from 1919-25. The baton then passed to Helen Wills — later Wills Moody — who won eight in an 11-year period through 1927-38.

After World War II, it was all about the Americans. Every finalist from 1946-55 was from the United States, with Connolly winning three straight from 1952-54. In 1953, “Little Mo” became the first woman to win all four majors in the same year.

In 1957, Althea Gibson became the first black woman to win Wimbledon, almost two decades before Arthur Ashe would achieve the same feat in the men’s tournament. Maria Bueno then internationalized women’s tennis when the elegant Brazilian won two straight titles in 1959-60.

Billie Jean King became a dominant force just before and after the Open era began in 1968, winning six titles from 1966-75. King was also a prominent campaigner for equal rights.

Since 1978, women’s tennis at Wimbledon can be divided into three eras of dominance. Martina Navratilova won nine titles from 1978-90, Graf won seven from 1988-96, and the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, have won five each since 2000.

The Associated Press has been covering Wimbledon for decades. Attached are some of the great Wimbledon champions as captured by photographers from the AP.

FILE - In this July 6, 2002 file photo, Serena Williams, left, holds her trophy after defeating her sister Venus, right, to win the Women's Singles final on the Centre Court at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London. Following wins at the Australian and French Opens, Serena can become the fourth woman to win the calendar Grand Slam this year. Serena goes to this year’s Wimbledon as the overwhelming favorite to win her sixth Wimbledon title and claim her 21st Grand Slam singles title, which would put her one behind Steffi Graf and three behind Margaret Court’s record of 24. Serena’s sister, Venus, has won five Wimbledon titles. (AP Photo/Ted S.Warren, File)

FILE - In this July 2, 1988 file photo, Germany's Steffi Graf holds up the Championship Plate, after beating defending champion Martina Navratilova at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London. Graf, who took over the dominance of women’s tennis from Martina Navratilova, won seven Wimbledon singles titles among her 22 majors. In 1988, she became the third woman to win the calendar Grand Slam of all four majors. She made it a golden one when she won the gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, which marked tennis’ return after a 64-year absence. Graf retired in 1999 and married Andre Agassi two years later. (AP Photo/John Redman, File)

FILE - In this July 7, 1990 file photo, Martina Navratilova celebrates during the Ladies Singles Championship match with fellow American, Zina Carrison at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London. Navratilova, a Czech-born left-hander who became a U.S. citizen in 1981, won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, including nine Wimbledon crowns between 1978 and 1990. Navratilova was named The Associated Press’s “Female Athlete of the Year” on two occasions in the 1980s. While on the comeback trail in 2003, she won the mixed doubles at the age of 46 to claim her 20th Wimbledon title, equaling Billie Jean King’s record. (AP Photo/Dave Caulkin, File)

FILE - In this 1971 file photo, Australia's Evonne Goolagong shown in action during the All-England Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, England. Just weeks after her victory in the 1971 French Open, Goolagong became the first indigenous Australian to win Wimbledon when she defeated Margaret Court. The Associated Press would name her “Female Athlete of the Year” that year. In total, she won seven Grand Slam singles titles, adding a second Wimbledon crown in 1980 when she beat Chris Evert. She was the first mother to win Wimbledon since World War I. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this July 4, 1975 file photo, U.S. tennis star Billie Jean King holds up the trophy after winning her sixth singles final at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London. California’s tradition of being the birthplace of great tennis champions continued in the form of King, who won three straight Wimbledon singles titles from 1966-68. She would go on to win a further three in the 1970s as she amassed 12 major titles. In total, the two-time Associated Press “Female Athlete of the Year” won 39 Grand Slam titles in all forms. King, who founded the women’s professional tennis tour, remains a pioneering advocate of sexual equality. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this 1970 file photo Margaret Court of Australia holds her trophy aloft after winning the women's singles, at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London. In 1963, Court, then known as Margaret Smith became the first Australian woman to win Wimbledon. She won two more in her career, and finished with 24 Grand Slam singles titles. In 1970, Court became only the second woman after Maureen Connolly to win all four Grand Slam singles titles in the same year. Court is now a pastor in her hometown of Perth. (AP Photo/Laurence Harris, File)

FILE - In this July 2, 1960 file photo, Brazil's Maria Bueno tosses her racquet high in the air and rushes the net to shake hands with her opponent after winning her second straight singles tennis title at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London. Bueno has been credited with spreading women’s tennis around the world. The Brazilian was the first woman from outside the U.S. and Western Europe to win Wimbledon when she triumphed in 1959. Later that year, she became the first non-U.S. woman to win both Wimbledon and the U.S. national championships. The Associated Press named her “Female Athlete of the Year” in 1959. She would go on to win another two Wimbledon titles. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this July 6, 1957 file photo, Althea Gibson of New York city, holding the large gold plate presented to her as the winner of the Women's Singles Tennis title at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, is kissed by her opponent, Darlene Hard. Gibson became the first black player, male or female, to win Wimbledon when she defeated fellow American Hard in the final. She ended up with five Grand Slam singles titles, including two Wimbledon crowns, and was twice named The Associated Press’ “Female Athlete of the Year.” Her pioneering didn’t end with tennis. In 1964, Gibson became the first black woman to play in the Ladies Professional Golf Association. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this July 5, 1952 file photo, Maureen "Little Mo" Connolly, of San Diego, Ca., smiles as she holds her trophy after winning the final in the women's singles at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London. In the early 1950s, Connolly dominated the world of tennis in much the same way as Helen Wills Moody did in the years before World War II. “Little Mo” won three straight Wimbledon titles from 1952-54, and in 1953 the Californian became the first woman to win the Grand Slam _ all four majors in the same year. The Associated Press named her “Female Athlete of the Year” for three years in a row in the early 1950s. Connolly died in 1969 at 34 after a long battle with cancer. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this July 6, 1935 file photo, Helen Wills Moody regains the women's singles championship when she defeated Helen Jacobs in the final at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London. Wills Moody won eight Wimbledon titles in an 11-year span, with her final victory coming in 1938. The California-born Wills Moody is considered to be one of the greatest female players in history with 31 Grand Slam titles in all forms. She also won two Olympic gold medals at the 1924 Paris Olympics, the last time tennis was an Olympic sport before being reintroduced at the 1988 Seoul Games. (AP Photo, File)

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