Darlene Hard

 I learned via a belated obit. in the i newspaper of the death last month of Darlene Hard. If I had been in the pin-up habit as a young man, she would have been one of my first. Buxom and aggressive, she was a contrast to the other Americans who dominated women's tennis after the war. People like Doris Hart, Louise Brough and later Maureen Connolly were stereotypical baseliners as I recall, and boring. Hard was a refreshing change; ironically, her best chances of winning the singles title at Wimbledon were thwarted by two other players who broke the mould: Althea Gibson and Maria Bueno. 

Summers came and went, along with the opportunity to watch Wimbledon on TV, and other players made an impact. So the later career of Hard rather passed me by (though she was a key member of the US's dominant Wightman Cup team for several years) until I read an obituary of Bueno which observed how Hard had taken her on as a doubles partner and also saw Bueno through her various illnesses and injuries. There was clearly a strong personal bond between the two women, but one feels that Hard's one enduring love was with the game of tennis itself. Not as privileged as some of her compatriots, able to maintain their amateur status without much effort, she financed one grand slam campaign by working as a waitress. When the opportunity came to turn professional - even though the circuit did not yet include the major tournaments - she took it, along with Bueno as a doubles partner as well as a fellow contestant. The major sponsorships of the women's circuit came too late for her, as did the acceptance of a non-conventional personal life-style. After retiring from competition, she became a coach. 

So, thank you, Darlene Hard, not just for brightening the life of a young Wimbledon watcher, but also for inspiring hundreds of young women to play tennis both for fun and for profit.