Obituary: Shirley Fry Irvin
Shirley Fry Irvin, a former world No. 1 and 17-time Grand Slam champion across singles, doubles and mixed doubles, sadly passed away on 13 July. She was 94 years old.
Fry Irvin, who competed under the name Shirley Fry, won all four singles titles at the Grand Slams in the 1950s, beginning with Roland Garros in 1951, followed by three straight triumphs six years later – at both Wimbledon and the US Championships in 1956, and then the Australian Championships in 1957.
She remains one of only 10 women to have won the singles title at each Grand Slam tournament, and was the third to do so after Maureen Connolly and Doris Hart, who completed the feat in 1953 and 1954, respectively.
Her remarkable run of three straight Grand Slam triumphs almost didn’t happen. Given tennis’ status as an amateur sport at the time, there were few opportunities to make a sustainable living from the game. As a result, in early 1956 at the age of 28, Fry retired from the tour and took a job at the St. Petersburg Times.
Her career was re-started by an invite to travel Europe and represent the United States in the Wightman Cup team event, which was held at the All England Club a few weeks before Wimbledon.
Fry helped lead the Americans to the title – her fifth Wightman Cup triumph with her nation – and hung around at the All England Club to secure another victory over a Brit several weeks later, defeating Angela Buxton in the Wimbledon final.
On her return home to St. Petersburg, Fry given a car, flowers and a key to the city. She went on to defeat compatriot Althea Gibson in the final at each of the next two Grand Slams.
As well as her singles triumphs, Fry also achieved 12 Grand Slam titles in doubles, 11 of which came alongside fellow American Hart. The pair won both Roland Garros and the US Open on four separate occasions, as well as Wimbledon three times. Fry won her final title at the 1957 Australian Championships with Gibson, who she had defeated in the singles final.
She was also a mixed doubles champion, winning the title in 1956 alongside Vic Seixas.
Fry married umpire and advertising executive Karl Irvin shortly after the 1957 Australian Championships, and promptly retired from the sport. They had four children together and remained married until his death in 1976.
Fry was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1970.