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Sarah Palfrey Cooke

For the American novelist, see Sarah Hammond Palfrey

Sarah Hammond Palfrey Danzig (née Palfrey; September 18, 1912 – February 27, 1996) was an American tennis player whose adult amateur career spanned 19 years, from June 1926 until September 1945. She won two singles, nine women's doubles, and four mixed doubles titles at the U.S. National Championships.

Sarah Palfrey
Palfrey (then Fabyan) at Wimbledon in 1939
Full nameSarah Hammond Palfrey Danzig
Country (sports) United States
Born(1912-09-18)September 18, 1912
Sharon, Massachusetts, US
DiedFebruary 27, 1996(1996-02-27) (aged 83)
New York City, US
Height5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
Turned pro1947
PlaysRight-handed
Int. Tennis HoF1963 (member page)
Singles
Career record419–116, 78.32%
Career titles36
Highest rankingNo. 4 (1934)
Grand Slam singles results
French OpenQF (1939)
WimbledonSF (1939)
US OpenW (1941, 1945)
Doubles
Career record0–0
Grand Slam doubles results
French OpenF (1934)
WimbledonW (1938, 1939)
US OpenW (1930, 1932, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
French OpenW (1939)
WimbledonF (1936, 1938)
US OpenW (1932, 1935, 1937, 1941)

Career

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"Five Sisters in Boston Who Know Their Tennis" The Messenger (April 6, 1927); a newspaper feature about the Palfrey sisters

Palfrey and her siblings, including John Palfrey, Polly Palfrey Woodrow and Mianne Palfrey, competed in tennis at the national level.[1][2]

She was 32 years old, married to Elwood Cooke, and a mother in 1945 when she won her second singles title at the U.S. National Championships. Pauline Betz was her opponent in the final. Since she lost to Cooke in the 1941 final, Betz had won three consecutive titles and 19 consecutive matches at these championships. In 1945, Cooke lost the first set and squandered her 5–2 lead in the second set before recovering to win it 8–6. In the third set, Betz got close to winning yet another title when she served for a 5–3 lead. Cooke, however, broke her serve and then won the next two games to win the tournament. She became only the second mother to win this title, with Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman being the first.[3]

Cooke is one of the few women, if not the sole woman, to appear on a top-level male championship honor roll. Because of the manpower crisis during World War II, she and husband Elwood were permitted to enter the men's doubles at the 1945 Tri-State Championships in Cincinnati. They lost in the final to Hal Surface and Bill Talbert.[3]

Palfrey won 16 Grand Slam championships in women's doubles (11) and mixed doubles (5). She teamed with Betty Nuthall to win the 1930 U. S. National Championships and with Helen Jacobs to win the 1932, 1934, and 1935 championships. Palfrey and Alice Marble won the U. S. National Championships from 1937 through 1940. At the Wimbledon Championships, Palfrey and Marble won the 1938 and 1939 women's doubles titles. Palfrey's last U.S. women's doubles championship was in 1941 with Margaret Osborne. In mixed doubles, Palfrey teamed with four different partners to win the U.S. National Championships: Fred Perry (1932), Enrique Maier (1935), Don Budge (1937), and Jack Kramer (1941). Palfrey also won the mixed doubles title at the 1939 French International Championships, teaming with future husband Elwood Cooke.

Palfrey and Marble were undefeated in doubles from 1937 until Marble turned professional at the end of 1940.[4]

 
Sarah Palfrey on the cover of the Argentine magazine El Gráfico in 1940.

In 1947, Cooke and Betz went on a "barnstorming" tour of mostly one-night stands in the U.S. and Europe, with each earning about US$10,000. They had been stripped of their amateur status by the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) in early 1947 because Elwood Cooke had written letters to several tournament organizers about creating a professional tour.[5]

According to A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph and John Olliff of the Daily Mail, Palfrey was one of the 10 highest ranked women in the world from 1933 through 1936 and in 1938 and 1939. Her career high was fourth in 1934. (No world rankings were issued from 1940 through 1945.) [6]

Palfrey was included in 13 year-end top 10 rankings issued by the USLTA: 1929–1931, 1933–1941, and 1945. She was the top-ranked U.S. player in 1941 and 1945.[7]

Palfrey and Marble lobbied the USLTA to remove the color bar and allow Althea Gibson to play at heretofore whites-only tournaments beginning in 1950. "She [Palfrey] was calmly persuasive, had clout as an ex-champ, and got Althea into the U. S. [National] Championships in 1950," said Gladys Heldman, founder of the women's professional tennis tour in 1970.[8]

Palfrey once said, "Tennis is the best game there is. It combines mental and physical qualities and is the sport for a lifetime. And there are many living examples at the age of 80 to prove it. So it is enough for us to know that tennis will remain, under whatever conditions, whether amateur or pro, the finest game there is for us, for our children, and our children's children."[5]

Palfrey was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1963.

Palfrey and Marty Glickman covered the home games of the 1946-47 New York Knicks on WHN radio. Glickman handled play-by-play duties while Palfrey provided the color commentary. The New York Times stated "in what is said to be the first time that an outstanding woman sports figure has been assigned to such a chore, Sarah Palfrey Cooke, tennis champion, will provide the 'color' accounts of the games." [9]

Personal life

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She had two children and was married three times: to Marshal Fabyan, Elwood Cooke, and Jerome Alan Danzig.[10] She married Fabyan on October 6, 1934, but divorced him in Reno, Nevada on July 20, 1940.[11][12] She married Cooke on October 2, 1940, and their daughter was born in December 1942.[13][14] She divorced him on April 29, 1949, on grounds of cruelty.[15] She married Danzig on April 27, 1951,[16][17][18] and remained married to him until her death of lung cancer in 1996. Their son was born in December 1952.[19]

Her brother John Palfrey, also an excellent tennis player and an expert on atomic energy, married Belle "Clochette" Roosevelt Palfrey, a granddaughter of Theodore Roosevelt and a daughter of Kermit Roosevelt.

She also had four sisters, Joanna, Lee, Mianne and Polly, who were all fine tennis players.[20]

Grand Slam finals

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Singles (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)

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Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1934 U.S. National Championships Grass   Helen Jacobs 1–6, 4–6
Loss 1935 U.S. National Championships Grass   Helen Jacobs 2–6, 4–6
Win 1941 U.S. National Championships Grass   Pauline Betz 7–5, 6–2
Win 1945 U.S. National Championships Grass   Pauline Betz 3–6, 8–6, 6–4

Doubles (11 titles, 3 runner-ups)

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Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1930 U.S. National Championships Grass   Betty Nuthall   Edith Cross
  Anna McCune Harper		 3–6, 6–3, 7–5
Win 1932 U.S. National Championships Grass   Helen Jacobs   Alice Marble
  Marjorie Morrill		 8–6, 6–1
Loss 1934 French Championships Clay   Helen Jacobs   Simonne Mathieu
  Elizabeth Ryan		 6–3, 4–6, 2–6
Win 1934 U.S. National Championships Grass   Helen Jacobs   Carolin Babcock
  Dorothy Andrus		 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win 1935 U.S. National Championships Grass   Helen Jacobs   Carolin Babcock
  Dorothy Andrus		 6–4, 6–2
Loss 1936 Wimbledon Championships Grass   Helen Jacobs   Kay Stammers
  Freda James		 2–6, 1–6
Loss 1936 U.S. National Championships Grass   Helen Jacobs   Marjorie Gladman Van Ryn
  Carolin Babcock		 7–9, 6–2, 4–6
Win 1937 U.S. National Championships Grass   Alice Marble   Marjorie Gladman Van Ryn
  Carolin Babcock		 7–5, 6–4
Win 1938 Wimbledon Championships Grass   Alice Marble   Simonne Mathieu
  Billie Yorke		 6–2, 6–3
Win 1938 U.S. National Championships Grass   Alice Marble   Simonne Mathieu
  Jadwiga Jędrzejowska		 6–8, 6–4, 6–3
Win 1939 Wimbledon Championships Grass   Alice Marble   Helen Jacobs
  Billie Yorke		 6–1, 6–0
Win 1939 U.S. National Championships Grass   Alice Marble   Kay Stammers
  Freda James Hammersley		 7–5, 8–6
Win 1940 U.S. National Championships Grass   Alice Marble   Dorothy Bundy
  Marjorie Gladman Van Ryn		 6–4, 6–3
Win 1941 U.S. National Championships Grass   Margaret Osborne   Dorothy Bundy
  Pauline Betz		 3–6, 6–1, 6–4

Mixed doubles (5 titles, 5 runner-ups)

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Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1932 U.S. National Championships Grass   Fred Perry   Helen Jacobs
  Ellsworth Vines		 6–3, 7–5
Loss 1933 U.S. National Championships Grass   George Lott   Elizabeth Ryan
  Ellsworth Vines		 9–11, 1–6
Win 1935 U.S. National Championships Grass   Enrique Maier   Kay Stammers
  Roderich Menzel		 6–4, 4–6, 6–3
Loss 1936 Wimbledon Championships Grass   Don Budge   Dorothy Round
  Fred Perry		 9–7, 5–7, 4–6
Loss 1936 U.S. National Championships Grass   Don Budge   Alice Marble
  Gene Mako		 3–6, 2–6
Win 1937 U.S. National Championships Grass   Don Budge   Sylvie Jung Henrotin
  Yvon Petra		 6–2, 8–10, 6–0
Loss 1938 Wimbledon Championships Grass   Henner Henkel   Alice Marble
  Don Budge		 1–6, 4–6
Win 1939 French Championships Clay   Elwood Cooke   Simonne Mathieu
  Franjo Kukuljević		 4–6, 6–1, 7–5
Loss 1939 U.S. National Championships Grass   Elwood Cooke   Alice Marble
  Harry Hopman		 7–9, 1–6
Win 1941 U.S. National Championships Grass   Jack Kramer   Pauline Betz
  Bobby Riggs		 4–6, 6–4, 6–4

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
Tournament 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 Career SR Win–loss
Australian National Championships A A A A A A A A A A A A A NH NH NH NH NH 0 / 0 0–0
French Championships A A A A A A 3R A A A A QF NH R R R R A 0 / 2 2–2
Wimbledon Championships A A 2R A 4R A QF A 2R A QF SF NH NH NH NH NH NH 0 / 6 16–6
U. S. National Championships 1R 3R 3R 3R 2R QF F F 1R 1R SF QF 3R W A QF A W 2 / 16 40–14
SR 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 1 0 / 3 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 3 0 / 1 1 / 1 0 / 0 0 / 1 0 / 0 1 / 1 2 / 24
Win–loss 0–1 2–1 3–2 2–1 2–2 3–1 10–3 5–1 0–2 0–1 8–2 9–3 2–1 5–0 0–0 2–1 0–0 5–0 58–22

R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under German occupation.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Johnston, Laurie (October 29, 1979). "John Palfrey Dies; Ex-Columbia Dean". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 19, 2024.
  2. ^ Collins, Bud; Hollander, Zander (1994). Bud Collins' Modern Encyclopedia of Tennis. Gale Research. p. 476. ISBN 978-0-8103-8988-5.
  3. ^ a b "Hall of Famers – Sarah Palfrey Danzig". International Tennis Hall of Fame. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  4. ^ "Alice Marble winner again at Manchester". Asbury Park Press. August 18, 1940. p. 8.
  5. ^ a b OBITUARY : Sarah Danzig
  6. ^ Bud Collins (2008). The Bud Collins History of Tennis: An Authoritative Encyclopedia and Record Book. New York City: New Chapter Press. pp. 695, 702. ISBN 978-0-942257-41-0.
  7. ^ United States Tennis Association (1988). 1988 Official USTA Tennis Yearbook. Lynn, Massachusetts: H.O. Zimman, Inc. pp. 260–1.
  8. ^ Bruce Schoenfeld (2004). The Match: Althea Gibson and Angela Buxton: how two outsiders--one Black, the other Jewish--forged a friendship and made sports history (1st ed.). New York City: Amistad. p. 65. ISBN 978-0060526528.
  9. ^ "New York Times p. X9. November 10, 1946".
  10. ^ New York Times obituary.
  11. ^ "Tennis Star in Suit". The Montreal Gazette. October 25, 1939. p. 16 – via Google News Archive.
  12. ^ "Decree to Sarah Fabyan; Tennis Player Obtains a Divorce in Reno". The New York Times. July 20, 1940.
  13. ^ "Court Romance". The Palm Beach Post. October 3, 1940 – via Google News Archive.
  14. ^ Daughter Is Born to Elwood Cookes
  15. ^ "Sarah Palfrey Cooke Granted Divorce". The Miami News. April 29, 1949 – via Google News Archive.
  16. ^ Tennis
  17. ^ "Mrs. Cooke Bride of Jerome Danzig; Former Sarah Palfrey, Tennis Star, Is Wed to Dartmouth Alumnus at the Carlyle Ralph--van Voorhees". The New York Times. April 1951.
  18. ^ Randolph, Nancy (April 16, 1951). "Sarah Palfrey Cooke to Marry Radio Man Jerome Danzig". New York Daily News.
  19. ^ Mrs. Jerome A. Danzig Has Son
  20. ^ "Palfrey sisters, Longwood courts - Polly, Sarah, Joanna, Lee, Mianne". Digital Commonwealth.
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