– I hope you write about it, because often it is the case that old players and especially women are forgotten, Billie Jean King says to news. – We should talk more about Mallory, especially now with Ruud, King says. The American tennis legend – now 78 years old – is present in Paris and devotes half an hour to the press to share her thoughts on the sport she loved. With her twelve Grand Slam titles in singles, 16 in doubles and eleven in mixed doubles, she is one of the best players in history. But she has also spent her career fighting for equality. HONORED: Billie Jean King was honored by French President Emmanuel Macron with the Legion of Honor on Friday. Photo: POOL / Reuters Now she says that large parts of her new biography are dedicated to a Norwegian woman. – I have just written my biography. And she’s a big part of that since I’m interested in history, says King, who thinks it’s a shame they never got to meet. Limited knowledge Very few have heard of Anna Margrethe Bjurstedt, who was the name Molla Mallory bore when she was born in Mosvik, best known as Petter Northug’s hometown. – I have no idea who he is, but I know who she is, says Racquet Magazine journalist Ben Rothenberg to news. He has written for the New York Times and The Guardian, among others, and is one of the most recognized names in tennis journalism. For several of the experienced press people at Roland Garros, a bell rings when they hear the name. But even here, knowledge is limited about the woman who was a celebrity in New York. – I do not really know, says Roland Garros finalist Ulrikke Eikeri to news, when she gets questions about Mallory. FINAL: Ulrikke Eikeri (left) and her Belgian partner, Joran Vliegen, played the final in mixed doubles in this year’s Roland Garros tournament. It is the first Norwegian participation in a Grand Slam final in 96 years. Photo: THOMAS SAMSON / AFP Mallory dominated in an era when tennis was still reserved for the few and wealthy. She has won the US Championship eight times, the predecessor to the US Open. Won Grand Slam title as 42-year-old Mallory took four of the victories with a Norwegian passport, four with an American. The last came after she married the stockbroker Franklin Mallory in 1919. – She was one of the first big American games, but I think we still think of her as Norwegian and that is what is shown in the results lists. She was out very early. Suzanne Lenglen was the first superstar for both sexes. Bjurstedt was before that, says Rothenberg. Molla Bjurstedt Mallory Photo: Underwood & Underwood / Corbis Results Olympics: Bronze medal in Stockholm in 1912, ladies singles Fourth place in Paris in 1924, ladies singles Grand slam, US-open: Victories in ladies singles: 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1920 , 1921, 1922 and 1926 Second places in ladies singles: 1923 and 1924. Wins in ladies doubles: 1916 and 1917 Second places in ladies doubles: 1918 and 1922 Wins in mixed doubles: 1917, 1922 and 1923 Second places in mixed doubles: 1915, 1918, 1920, 1921 and 1924. Wimbledon: Second place against French legend Suzanne Lenglen in the final in 1922. Included in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1958. Included in the US Open Court of Champions in 2008, along with Pete Sampras. Mallory, along with Chris Evert, is the only player to have won four championships in a row. She did this during the years with a Norwegian passport, from 1915 to 1918. Her last title came when she was 42 years old – in 1926. Norway’s first Olympic medal Mallory was the first Norwegian woman to participate in an Olympics – and consequently the first to take medal when it won bronze in Stockholm in 1912. The championship marked the start of a tennis career that gained momentum in the years before and during World War I. 30-year-old Bjurstedt moved to the United States in 1914. She changed her last name and citizenship after getting married. POWERFUL BEATS: The ball should go fast over the net, not just loosen over. – She behaved like a tough guy when she was on the field and hit. She walked around in a way that radiated that either you should take care or she will strangle you. She was a fighter, said Bob Kelleher, who was a ball boy when Mallory ravaged competitors and later president of the United States Tennis Association. Star meeting in 1921 Mallory became a pioneer and changed the sport with his attitude. She was critical of those who did not give their all on the field and is described as a competitive person. – I do not think girls hit the ball as hard as they should. I believe in always hitting the ball with full force, but it seems that many of those I have played against their attitude are to “just get it over”. It’s not tennis, Mallory said. Billie Jean King believes that modern tennis’ first big star was Suzanne Lenglen, the woman who has given her name to the second largest facility on Roland Garros. She dominated in the 1920s. The superstar won Wimbledon eight times and lost only one match after World War I. STAR: Suzanne Lenglen. Lenglen went to the United States to prove that she was the world’s best tennis player. As many as 8,000 people had turned up to see her play in New York. But they had to go home in disappointment. She broke the battle in the second set, after losing the first. The opponent? Molla Mallory. She took her sixth title in the American Championship that same year. It is difficult to compare Sports historian Matti Goksøyr thinks it is challenging to compare the achievements of Mallory and Ruud. – The sport has developed and spread somewhat violently, so it is not the same sport. It was first and foremost well-to-do people from Europe and North America who played at that time, says Goksøyr to news. – Tennis was called an elite sport. It was not the people’s sport at the time and has probably struggled with that image for a while. That’s another thing in common. Photo: Morten Holm / NTB Goksøyr says that there was rarely anything that stole the headlines at home in Norway, even though it got a column here and there. He mainly thinks there are two reasons why she has gone a little into the Norwegian oblivion book. – Firstly, it is a long time ago. That’s over 100 years ago. She traveled to the United States and married an American. Then she disappeared from the Norwegian public. Anna Margrethe Bjurstedt Mallory was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1958. She died on November 22, 1959 in Stockholm, aged 75.
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