title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens began 2014 at the Hopman Cup with John Isner. The two Americans finished the round-robin in third place in their group, with only one rubber win against Spain. Stephens also withdrew from her last match with a wrist injury. She was able to recover in time to open her WTA season at the Australian Open. A year after her breakthrough, she reached the fourth round and was again defeated by world No. 2, Victoria Azarenka, for the second consecutive year. Her next successful tournament came in March at the Indian Wells Open. Here, Stephens upset No. 13 Ana Ivanovic in the third round and went on to reach her first quarterfinal at a Premier Mandatory event.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens returned to the United States Fed Cup team in April for their home playoff tie against France. She played two singles matches and the decisive doubles rubber. After losing to an up-and-coming Caroline Garcia and picking up a win against Virginie Razzano, Stephens and her partner Madison Keys lost to the two of them in the final doubles match to relegate the United States into World Group II the following year. Once again, Stephens did not have a good clay-court season, winning multiple matches in just two out of six tournaments. Nonetheless, her best result of the season came at the French Open, where she lost to No. 4 Simona Halep in the fourth round. In the grass-court season, Stephens was seeded 18th at Wimbledon, but suffered a first round loss to world No. 109, Maria Kirilenko. This loss snapped her streak of reaching the second week of every major since a third-round loss at the 2012 US Open.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens did not do well at the US Open either, losing in the second round to world No. 96, Johanna Larsson, while committing 63 unforced errors. After playing in one more tournament in September, she ended her season early to recover from a wrist injury. By the end of the year, she fell to No. 37 in the world.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens returned from injury to start the season at the Auckland Open and the Hobart International, but lost in the second round at both tournaments. She entered the Australian Open unseeded and faced a difficult draw against Victoria Azarenka in the first round. Azarenka eliminated Stephens for the third consecutive year. Her first two successful tournaments of the year came at the Premier Mandatory events in March. She reached the fourth round at Indian Wells, where she lost a three-set match to world No. 1, Serena Williams, who was returning from her long boycott of the tournament. Stephens then improved on that result with a quarterfinal appearance at the Miami Open, which included a win over rival Madison Keys in their first encounter.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Despite these good results, Stephens got off to a slow start in the clay-court season. She did not return to form until late May when she reached her second semifinal at Strasbourg. Having struggled at the last three Grand Slam events, Stephens managed to upset world No. 15, Venus Williams, in the first round of the French Open in their first ever meeting. Serena then defeated her in the fourth round, which turned out to be Stephens's best Grand Slam tournament result of the year. In her only grass-court tune-up, Stephens made it to the semifinals at the Eastbourne International. She notably defeated world No. 9, Carla Suárez Navarro, in the second round for her first top-ten victory in almost two years. Stephens closed the European season with a third-round appearance at Wimbledon.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens did not play again until the Washington Open in August. She won the tournament without dropping a set for her first career WTA title. She defeated No. 21 Sam Stosur in the semifinals and won the final against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova while only dropping three games. The title brought Stephens back into the top 30. At the US Open, she was seeded at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time that year but lost in the first round to compatriot CoCo Vandeweghe. She maintained a steady ranking all year, dropping no lower than No. 45 while rising no higher than No. 28, finishing the season at No. 30 in the world.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: In the off-season, Stephens hired Kamau Murray to be her new coach. Their partnership proved successful immediately. At the Auckland Open, Stephens won her first tournament with the two of them together. Due to a rain suspension, she was forced to play the end of her semifinal match against No. 17, Caroline Wozniacki, as well as the entire final against Julia Görges on the same day to claim the title. Stephens would win two more WTA titles during the season. Her second title of the year also came on hardcourt at the Mexican Open. Her third and last title of the year came on clay at the higher-level Charleston Open, a low-level Premier event. During the semifinals of this tournament, she defeated No. 2 Angelique Kerber, who needed to retire in the second set due to an illness. Part of her prize in Charleston included a car from the title sponsor Volvo, which Stephens was unaware of until after the tournament.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: In contrast to previous years where Stephens struggled at smaller tournaments while still doing well at bigger tournaments, she struggled at the Grand Slam tournaments and high-level Premier events in 2016. Her best Grand Slam tournament results of the year came at the French Open and Wimbledon, where she reached the third round at both events. She also lost in the first round of the Australian Open for the second consecutive year, this time to a qualifier. Her last tournament of the year was the 2016 Rio Olympics, which ended with a first round loss to Eugenie Bouchard. After the Olympics, Stephens revealed she had been hindered by a left foot injury for most of the year, for which doctors recommended time off to recover. She finally did end her season upon being diagnosed with a stress fracture. Although she was initially expected to only miss several months, it was later discovered that she would need surgery that would keep her out for the first half of 2017 as well. At the time of her last WTA event of the year at the end of July, Stephens was ranked No. 22 in the world.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: She had foot surgery in January and could not walk again without a boot until the middle of April. While unable to play on the tour, Stephens was granted the opportunity to be a broadcaster for the Tennis Channel. She attended several WTA events in the United States including Indian Wells, the Miami, and Charleston, where she interviewed fellow tennis players and also provided analysis. Stephens returned to the WTA Tour in July for Wimbledon, about eleven months after her last match and with her ranking having dropped to No. 336. She lost her first two matches back, one to compatriot Alison Riske at Wimbledon, and the other to No. 2, Simona Halep, at the Washington Open. However, she showed some signs of improvement by reaching the doubles final at Washington with Eugenie Bouchard.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: By August, Stephens's ranking had continued to fall to as low as No. 957. But she was able to reach the semifinals of both Premier 5 tournaments that month, the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open. During each tournament, she defeated four top 50 players including Lucie Šafářová and 14th-seed Petra Kvitová at both events, and also No. 3 Angelique Kerber. Stephens was defeated by a top ten player in both semifinals, No. 6 Caroline Wozniacki in Canada, and No. 2 Halep again in Cincinnati. Stephens had entered the month having never reached a semifinal at a high-level Premier tournament. With these results, Stephens climbed back into the top 100 of the WTA rankings.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens entered the US Open at No. 83 in the world, and still needed to use a protected ranking to be accepted into the main draw due to the entry deadline being over a month before the event. Her first upset of the tournament came in the second round over No. 10 Dominika Cibulková. In the fourth round, she defeated No. 33 Julia Görges to advance to her first US Open quarterfinal and her first major quarterfinal since Wimbledon in 2013. She then defeated No. 17 Anastasija Sevastova to set up the first all-American semifinals at a major since Wimbledon in 1985, and the first at the US Open since 1981. Her semifinal was against No. 9 Venus Williams. After two lopsided split sets, Stephens won a tight third set to reach her first Grand Slam singles final. Madison Keys won the other semifinal against CoCo Vandeweghe. Stephens closed out the tournament by defeating Keys in straight sets to win her first Grand Slam tournament title. She became the first American woman other than the Williams sisters to win a major title since Jennifer Capriati won the Australian Open in 2002 and the first to win the US Open since Lindsay Davenport in 1998. She also became the lowest-ranked US Open champion ever, and the fifth-lowest at any Grand Slam tournament.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: After the US Open, Stephens did not win another match the rest of the season. This stretch notably included two matches at the year-end Elite Trophy as well as two singles rubbers in the Fed Cup final against Belarus. Nonetheless, the United States won the tie 3–2 to give Stephens her first Fed Cup crown. This was the first title for the United States since 2000. Stephens finished the season ranked No. 13 and was named WTA Comeback Player of the Year.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens extended her losing streak to eight matches at the Australian Open. She dismissed concerns about her form from the media, saying, "Everything's good. Just relax, everybody. It'll be okay, don't worry." In the coming months, she would prove to be correct, first by snapping her losing streak at her next tournament in Acapulco. In March, Stephens returned to form and won the Miami Open, her first Premier Mandatory title. She defeated three top-ten players at the event, including No. 3 Garbiñe Muguruza, and No. 10 Angelique Kerber in the fourth round and quarterfinals, and No. 5 Jeļena Ostapenko in the final. With this performance, she also cracked the top 10 for the first time.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Despite winning the second biggest title of her career, Stephens was unable to make the quarterfinals in any of her French Open preparation tournaments. The highlight of her clay-court season in the lead up to the French Open was the Fed Cup semifinals on the road against France, where she won both of her singles rubbers over Pauline Parmentier and Kristina Mladenovic to lead the United States to a 3–2 victory. Stephens entered the French Open having never reached the quarterfinals. However, she was able to produce her best result at the tournament, making it to the final. In the semifinals, Stephens won a rematch of the 2017 US Open final against Madison Keys, the first all-American semifinal there since 2002. Despite going up a set and a break, Stephens lost the final to world No. 1, Simona Halep, her first loss in a WTA singles final. Nonetheless, this run catapulted her to a career-high ranking of No. 4 in the world, making her the first American woman other than the Williams sisters to be ranked in the top 5 in singles since Lindsay Davenport in 2006.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens did not carry any momentum into the grass-court season, losing at Wimbledon in the first round in her only event. Nonetheless, she moved up to No. 3 in the singles rankings after the tournament. With a higher seed, Stephens had a strong US Open series for the second consecutive year. She finished runner-up at the Canadian Open to Halep, her second high-level Premier final of the year. At the US Open, Stephens was unable to defend her title, losing to Anastasija Sevastova in the quarterfinals in a rematch of last year's meeting at this tournament in the same round.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: For the second straight year, Stephens began the Asian hardcourt season with multiple losses. However, unlike the previous year, Stephens was able to win two matches on the continent at the China Open. She then closed out the season by participating in her first WTA Finals in Singapore. In the round robin stage, Stephens swept her group of Naomi Osaka, Kiki Bertens, and Angelique Kerber to advance to the knockout stage. After a dismal start in the semifinals where she lost the first eight games of the match against Karolína Plíšková, she recovered and won the match in three sets. In her final match of the season, Stephens was able to win the first set against Elina Svitolina, but ultimately lost the match. She finished the season ranked No. 6 in the world, her best year-end ranking to date.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens struggled throughout the 2019 season. Although she remained in the top 10 for the majority of the year in large part due to ranking points she was defending from the previous year's WTA Finals, she could not match her best performances at the Grand Slam tournaments or other higher-level events. Two of her biggest improvements came at two Grand Slam events. Stephens reached the fourth round at the Australian Open, securing her first match wins at the tournament since 2014. She also reached the third round at Wimbledon, despite having lost her previous two opening round matches there. Her best Grand Slam performance was a quarterfinal loss to Johanna Konta at the French Open, where she could not defend her runner-up finish from the previous season. Konta also defeated her at Wimbledon. Stephens ended her Grand Slam season with an opening-round loss at the US Open to qualifier Anna Kalinskaya.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Outside of the majors, Stephens best performance also came on clay at the Madrid Open, a Premier Mandatory event. During the tournament, she reached the semifinals, where she lost to No. 7 Kiki Bertens. Aside from this tournament and the French Open, the only other event where she reached the quarterfinals was the Charleston Open at the start of the clay court season. Stephens fell out of the top 10 shortly before the US Open, and again afterwards. She fell out of the top 20 upon losing her 2018 WTA Finals rankings points near the end of the season.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens started her 2020 season at the Brisbane International. She lost in the first round to qualifier Liudmila Samsonova in three sets. At the first edition of the Adelaide International, she was defeated in the first round in straight sets by world No. 201, Arina Rodionova. This was her first loss to a player outside the top 200 since 2011. Seeded 24th at the Australian Open, she was eliminated in the first round by Zhang Shuai, despite serving for the match in the second set.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: As the top seed in Acapulco, Stephens was beaten in the first round by world No. 270, Renata Zarazúa. Seeded fifth at the Monterrey Open, she got her first victory of the year by beating compatriot, Emma Navarro, in the first round. She fell in the second round to Leylah Fernandez. After Monterrey, the WTA tour was suspended from the rest of March through July due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: When the WTA Tour resumed tournament play in August, Stephens competed at the first edition of the Top Seed Open. Seeded seventh, she lost in the first round to qualifier Leylah Fernandez. At the Cincinnati Open, she was defeated in the first round by Caroline Garcia. This loss brought her record for the year to 1-7. She showed an improvement in form at the US Open. Seeded 26th, she won her opening two matches in straight sets before losing in the third round to third seed and six-time champion Serena Williams. This match garnered a lot of praise from tennis experts.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: After the US Open, Stephens competed at the Italian Open. She was eliminated in the first round by ninth seed Garbiñe Muguruza. Seeded eighth in Strasbourg, she was beaten in the first round by Nao Hibino. Seeded 29th at the French Open, she lost in the second round to Paula Badosa.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens started her season at the first edition of the Grampians Trophy. She lost in the first round to Leylah Fernandez. At the Australian Open, she was defeated in the first round by 26th seed and world No. 28, Yulia Putintseva. Seeded ninth at the first edition of the Phillip Island Trophy, she suffered a first round loss at the hands of Varvara Gracheva.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens losing streak continued at the Monterrey Open. As the top seed, she was eliminated in the first round by lucky loser and world No. 151, Kristína Kučová. In Miami, she earned her first win of the season by defeating qualifier, Océane Dodin, in the first round. She was beaten in her second-round match by 28th seed and compatriot, Amanda Anisimova.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens began her clay-court season at the Charleston Open. She upset eighth seed, world No. 24, and 2019 champion, Madison Keys, in the second round. She ended up losing in the quarterfinals to 15th seed and eventual champion, Veronika Kudermetova. In Madrid, she was defeated in the second round by Ons Jabeur. At the Italian Open, she fell in the final round of qualifying to Tamara Zidanšek. However, she got a lucky loser spot into the main draw. She was eliminated in the first round by Madison Keys in three sets. At the first edition of the Emilia-Romagna Open, she reached the semifinals where she was beaten by sixth seed Wang Qiang. Ranked 59 at the French Open, she stunned ninth seed and world No. 10, Karolína Plíšková, in the second round. She lost in her fourth-round match to eventual champion Barbora Krejčíková.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Ranked 73 at Wimbledon, Stephens upset tenth seed and two-time champion, Petra Kvitová, in the first round. She was defeated in the third round by Liudmila Samsonova in three sets.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: In August, Stephens played at the Silicon Valley Classic. She was eliminated in the second round by compatriot, seventh seed, and eventual champion, Danielle Collins. In Montreal, she was beaten in the second round by top seed and world No. 3, Aryna Sabalenka. At the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, she lost in the first round to qualifier Caroline Garcia. Ranked 66 at the US Open, she won a tight three-set first-round match over 2017 finalist Madison Keys. She was defeated in the third round by 16th seed and 2016 champion, Angelique Kerber.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: At the first edition of the Chicago Fall Classic, Stephens was eliminated in the first round by 13th seed Tamara Zidanšek. In Indian Wells, she was beaten in the second round by 19th seed and compatriot, Jessica Pegula. In November, she played for the U.S. team at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals. In the first tie, Slovakia beat the USA 2–1. She beat Nuria Párrizas Díaz during the tie against Spain. The USA won the tie over Spain 2-1 to advance to the semifinals. In the semifinals tie against Russia, she lost her match to Liudmila Samsonova. In the end, Russia beat the USA 2–1 to advance to the final.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens started her 2022 season at the Australian Open. Ranked 67, she lost in the first round to 17th seed and world No. 18, Emma Raducanu, in three sets.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: In February, Stephens competed at the Abierto Zapopan in Guadalajara, Mexico. Seeded sixth, she won her seventh WTA singles title by beating Marie Bouzková in the final. This was her first final and title since 2018. Next, she was supposed to play against Egypt's Mayar Sherif in the Monterrey first round; however, she withdrew from the tournament. At the Indian Wells Masters, she fell in the first round to 2018 champion Naomi Osaka. In Miami, she lost in the second round to 16th seed and world No. 21, Jessica Pegula.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens started her clay-court season at the Charleston Open. Seeded 13th, she lost in the first round to Zheng Qinwen. At the Madrid Open, she was defeated in the first round by Anhelina Kalinina. In Rome, she was eliminated in the first round by Ekaterina Alexandrova. Seeded sixth at the Internationaux de Strasbourg, she was stunned in the first round by world No. 306 and lucky loser, Nefisa Berberović, in three sets. Ranked 64 at the French Open, she upset 26th seed, Sorana Cîrstea, in the second round. She reached the quarterfinals for the first time since 2018 by defeating 23rd seed and world No. 24, Jil Teichmann, in the fourth round. She was defeated in the quarterfinals by 18th seed, world No. 23, compatriot, and eventual finalist, Coco Gauff. Due to her quarterfinal result at Roland Garros, her ranking improved from 64 to 47.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: At the Bad Homburg Open, her first grass-court tournament of the season, Stephens was beaten in the first round by British qualifier Katie Swan. At Wimbledon, she lost in the first round to Zheng Qinwen.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens started her US Open series at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. She lost in the first round to Ajla Tomljanović. This was her first loss to Tomljanović, having led their Head to Head 6-0. In Toronto, she was defeated in the second round by third seed and world No. 4, Maria Sakkari. At the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, she lost in the second round to world No. 1 Iga Świątek. Ranked 51 at the US Open, she lost again in the second round to world No. 1 and eventual champion, Iga Świątek.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Two weeks after the US Open, Stephens played at the Emilia-Romagna Open. Seeded fourth, she overcame a bee sting to beat Magdalena Fręch in the first round. She lost in the second round to Danka Kovinić in three sets.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens has played five seasons with World TeamTennis starting in 2009 when she debuted in the league with the New York Buzz, followed by a season each with the Washington Kastles in 2014, the Philadelphia Freedoms in 2017 and 2018, and the New York Empire in 2019. It was announced that she will joining the Chicago Smash for their debut season, during the 2020 WTT season set to begin July 12 at The Greenbrier.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens played singles for the Smash throughout the season, helping them to earn a No. 2 seed in the WTT Playoffs. Chicago defeated the Orlando Storm to earn a spot in the final, but ultimately fell to the New York Empire in a supertiebreaker.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens's biggest rivalry is with her close friend and compatriot Madison Keys. Keys has said, "Sloane and I, since we were 12 and 14, have constantly been compared to each other." Both players have been ranked in the top 10 by the WTA. They have also both been labelled as leaders of the next generation of American women's tennis. In spite of their rivalry, the two have looked forward to their matchups, with Stephens saying, "Every time I get to play Maddy is great. Another opportunity for the both of us." Keys has said, "I always want to see Sloane do well. I'd love for both of us to be able to be in the position to play each other multiple times. ... I'm always cheering for her."


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens has a 5-2 record against Madison Keys, winning their first three matches in straight sets. After their first meeting in the second round of the 2015 Miami Open, their next two encounters were both two of the most important matches of their careers. In 2017, Stephens defeated Keys in the final of the US Open to win her first major title. She then won their next meeting in the semifinals of the 2018 French Open to reach her second Grand Slam singles final. Keys defeated Stephens for the first time in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Charleston Open. Stephens avenged her Charleston Open defeat in 2021, beating Keys in straight sets in the 2nd round. But Keys prevailed at the 2021 Italian Open a month later. They played for a third time in 2021 at the US Open and Sloane prevailed in a third set tiebreak.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens had frequently been regarded as a potential successor to Serena Williams to become the next top American women's tennis player, if not the best in the world. She grew up as a fan of the Williams sisters, but had lost some of her interest in them after they did not sign autographs at a Fed Cup tie that Stephens attended at age 12. She considered them to be friends when she was starting out on the pro tour, but described Serena as simply a colleague in early 2015. Her relationship with Serena became strained after their match at the 2013 Australian Open. After Stephens's victory against her at the tournament, Serena commented, "I made you," in a tweet believed to be directed at Stephens and did not speak to her younger compatriot until at least May. Nonetheless, Stephens has said the two of them still had a good relationship.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens has a 1–6 record against Serena Williams, with three of their matches coming in 2013, other three in 2015 and one in 2020. Her only victory against Serena came at the 2013 Australian Open when she was still relatively unknown as a 19-year-old. The match win and her run into a Grand Slam singles semifinal garnered international attention and put her on the cusp of cracking the top 10 of the WTA rankings later in the season. With Serena entering the match in excellent form and also having defeated her much younger opponent earlier that month, Stephens was listed as high as a 16-to-1 underdog. All of their matches since have been contested at high-level Premier tournaments or Grand Slam tournaments. In 2015, Stephens won the first set of their encounters at the Indian Wells Open and the French Open, but ultimately lost in three sets in both instances.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens and Halep have built a rivalry centered around their highest profile matches in 2018. Because Halep has dominated their matches, Stephens has downplayed their rivalry, saying, "It's not a rivalry if you don't beat the person." International Tennis Hall of Famer Chris Evert has praised their rivalry, saying, "I liked [their match in the 2018 Canadian Open final] a lot, because that is a contrast in personalities and styles, in moods, in coaches. That is a definite contest."


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens has a 2–7 record against Halep. Halep won their first encounter in 2012 at the Barcelona Ladies Open. Stephens then won their next two meetings in early 2013, including a first round match at the Australian Open as part of her breakthrough semifinal run at the event. Both of these wins came before Halep entered the top ten in 2014. Since then, Halep has won all six of their encounters. Their two biggest matches came in 2018, both of which were three set finals. In the first such match, the French Open final, Halep came from a set down to defeat Stephens for her first Grand Slam title. This was only the fourth time in the previous 47 Grand Slam singles finals where the winner of the first set was unable to win the match. Their next big match, the final at the Canadian Open, was ranked as the match of the year by the WTA. Halep won the first set of the match after saving four set points, two while serving at 6–5 and two more in the tiebreak. After Stephens was able to push the match to three sets Halep was able to regroup and win the match. Prior to these finals, Stephens had never lost a final on the WTA Tour.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens is an all-court player, having reached the quarterfinals or better at all four majors. Her favorite surface is clay, on which she was a finalist at the French Open. However, most of her best results have come on hard courts, including her US Open and Miami Open titles, as well as six of her seven titles in total. She has never won a professional title on grass, and Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam event where she has not made it to at least the semifinals.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens often plays behind the baseline, relying on her athleticism to defend against her opponent's shots. She excels at countering powerfully-hit shots, and is capable of turning defense into offense. Stephens also is a proficient server: she can hit first serves as fast as 110–115 miles per hour and is capable of employing both first and second serves with a flat, sliced, or kick serve approach. Her game is commonly referred to as possessing "easy power" due to the seemingly casual nature in which she injects pace into her shots. She sometimes flattens out her shots, even on the run, and goes for stinging winners. Stephens has the ability to hit powerful winners as she takes large swings with her forehand. In contrast, she has a more compact swing with her two-handed backhand. She favors her forehand, and will run around her backhand at times to play her stronger groundstroke. Stephens excels in point construction, and varies patterns of hitting in order to confuse opponents.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens has an uncharacteristic style of play compared to her fellow top-ranked American contemporaries. Whereas the other leading Americans are some of the most aggressive players on the WTA Tour, Stephens has a more passive approach. According to the Aggression Score Metric, which measures a player's aggression based on how quickly they end points — either through a winner, an unforced error, or an opponent's forced error, Stephens has a score of 19.4% — which implies that 19.4% of her shots lead to one of those three outcomes. This score is average compared to other women's tennis players, and rates similarly to fellow Grand Slam tournament winners Justine Henin and Victoria Azarenka. In contrast, Venus Williams is amongst the top 20% of most aggressive players, while Serena Williams, Madison Keys, and CoCo Vandeweghe are all in the top 10% with aggression scores above 25%.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens has been perceived as having a nonchalant attitude towards losing matches and striving to meet expectations. Her former junior coach Chris Evert has questioned her motivation on multiple occasions and attributed stretches of inconsistency at various times in her career to her mentality. On the contrary, Stephens has also shown the ability to use her mindset of not worrying about disappointing outcomes to bounce back from injury and poor tournaments. She demonstrated this type of mindset after her early 2014 US Open loss, saying, "I'm not gonna dwell on this. I'm just gonna keep improving and getting better and looking forward to the next tournaments."


title: Sloane Stephens

text: When Stephens was just starting to play tennis at the Sierra Sport and Racquet Club, one of her first instructors was Francisco González, a retired professional tennis player once ranked in the top 50. Upon his recommendation, Stephens moved to Florida to train at an elite junior tennis academy. Although she started out at the Evert Tennis Academy for a year working with John and Chris Evert, she then moved to the Nick Saviano High Performance Tennis Academy, where she stayed for several years.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Roger Smith began coaching Stephens in early 2009 and worked with her for several years. With Smith as her coach, she became a top-ranked junior with three Grand Slam tournament doubles titles and also cracked the top 100 of the WTA rankings. In June 2012, Stephens switched coaches to David Nainkin in order to try to qualify for the 2012 Olympics. Although her ranking was high enough to qualify, she narrowly missed out on that goal as she was the fifth-highest ranked American with each country only being allotted at most four players in each draw. Nonetheless, under Nainkin, Stephens had her breakthrough tournament at the 2013 Australian Open and reached a career-best ranking of No. 11 in the world. She parted with him after the 2013 season in order to find a full-time coach. Nainkin had also been working with fellow American Sam Querrey that year. Stephens replaced him with Paul Annacone, who is better known for coaching two of the greatest players in tennis history in Pete Sampras and Roger Federer. She became the first woman to be coached by Annacone. Although the pair worked well together, Stephens split with Annacone in late 2014 after not matching the success from her previous year that season.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens briefly worked with Thomas Högstedt in late 2014. At the start of 2015, she returned to her longtime junior coach, Nick Saviano. While working with Saviano, Stephens won her first WTA title, but did not manage to ascend back up the WTA rankings. In the 2015 offseason, she replaced him with Kamau Murray. With Murray as her coach, Stephens established herself as one of the best players in women's tennis. She has since won five of her six titles, including three in 2016, her first major at the 2017 US Open, and her first Premier Mandatory title in 2018. She has also reached a new career-high ranking at No. 3 in the world. Stephens split with Murray during the 2018 offseason before reuniting with him in August 2019 shortly before the US Open. In Murray's absence, Stephens had worked with Sven Groeneveld for three months. She split with Murray in 2021 before the Miami Open and is working with ATP tennis player Darian King who is also her practice partner.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Her clothing sponsor from 2010 was Under Armour and in early 2018 she signed with Nike. At the 2021 French Open, she wore a striking all-black outfit, despite the heat.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: After her US Open victory, Stephens accrued several new sponsors, including Mercedes-Benz. She has appeared in television advertisements for Built with Chocolate Milk, a campaign to encourage chocolate milk as a recovery drink. Her other health-related endorsements include doTerra, Precision Nutrition, and Colgate. doTerra is a company that primarily sells essential oils, while Precision Nutrition provides coaching for diet and exercise. With Colgate, Stephens is a part of their Bright Smiles, Bright Futures campaign that focuses on educating children about oral hygiene.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens has previously signed a deal with the American Express credit card company and was formerly an endorser of the Listerine mouthwash product. She was also a brand ambassador for USANA, a nutrition company. Moreover, Stephens has worked with Time Warner Cable as part of their Connect a Million Minds campaign to motivate the importance of education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens credits her mother for supporting her career as a tennis player since she was very young. When she won the 2017 US Open, she recalled an instance at age 11 when her mother believed Stephens had high upside in spite of being told by an instructor at a junior tennis academy that she would be lucky to get a tennis scholarship to a Division II college. Stephens is of Trinidadian descent through her maternal grandfather Noel Smith, who came to the United States from Trinidad to pursue a career as a doctor. She has cited her grandfather as her hero and one of her biggest influences growing up.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Her favorite player growing up was Kim Clijsters, who congratulated Stephens in person after her 2017 US Open title. She was also a fan of the Williams sisters and kept a poster of Serena in her bedroom as a kid. Although she disliked that they were uninterested in signing autographs at a match she attended and has also commented that neither of them tried to serve as one of her mentors, Stephens has stated she developed a good relationship with the Williams sisters. She also noted that she has read Serena's autobiography and respects her strong personality.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens has worked with Soles4Souls, a charity that collects new and used shoes to give to children in poverty. She also started the Sloane Stephens Foundation, which helps build tennis courts and set up after-school tennis programs for underserved students in conjunction with supplemental tutoring. The foundation is run by Stephens, her mother, and her uncle Ronald Smith. They have organized programs in Compton, Fresno, and Fort Lauderdale.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens has been married to United States national soccer team player Jozy Altidore, who was also one of her childhood friends in Florida, since 1 January 2022. She had previously dated fellow American tennis player Jack Sock for over a year.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: In late 2017, Stephens graduated from Indiana University East with a bachelor's degree in communications studies. She finished her degree while recovering from foot surgery earlier in the year. She credits her time away from playing tennis that was spent on her studies and her job with the Tennis Channel for improving her perspective on being a professional tennis player.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel "Vanity Fair", a panoramic portrait of British society, and the 1844 novel "The Luck of Barry Lyndon", which was adapted for a 1975 film by Stanley Kubrick.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: Thackeray, an only child, was born in Calcutta, British India, where his father, Richmond Thackeray (1 September 1781 – 13 September 1815), was secretary to the Board of Revenue in the East India Company. His mother, Anne Becher (1792–1864), was the second daughter of Harriet Becher and John Harman Becher, who was also a secretary (writer) for the East India Company. His father was a grandson of Thomas Thackeray (1693–1760), headmaster of Harrow School.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: Richmond died in 1815, which caused Anne to send her son to England that same year, while she remained in India. The ship on which he travelled made a short stopover at Saint Helena, where the imprisoned Napoleon was pointed out to him. Once in England, he was educated at schools in Southampton and Chiswick, and then at Charterhouse School, where he became a close friend of John Leech. Thackeray disliked Charterhouse, and parodied it in his fiction as "Slaughterhouse". Nevertheless, Thackeray was honoured in the Charterhouse Chapel with a monument after his death. Illness in his last year there, during which he reportedly grew to his full height of six-foot three, postponed his matriculation at Trinity College, Cambridge, until February 1829. Never too keen on academic studies, Thackeray left Cambridge in 1830, but some of his earliest published writing appeared in two university periodicals, "The Snob" and "The Gownsman".


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: Thackeray then travelled for some time on the continent, visiting Paris and Weimar, where he met Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. He returned to England and began to study law at the Middle Temple, but soon gave that up. On reaching the age of 21, he came into his inheritance from his father, but he squandered much of it on gambling and on funding two unsuccessful newspapers, "The National Standard" and "The Constitutional", for which he had hoped to write. He also lost a good part of his fortune in the collapse of two Indian banks. Forced to consider a profession to support himself, he turned first to art, which he studied in Paris, but did not pursue it, except in later years as the illustrator of some of his own novels and other writings.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: Thackeray's years of semi-idleness ended after he married, on 20 August 1836, Isabella Gethin Shawe (1816–1894), second daughter of Isabella Creagh Shawe and Matthew Shawe, a colonel who had died after distinguished service, primarily in India. The Thackerays had three children, all girls: Anne Isabella (1837–1919), Jane (who died at eight months old) and Harriet Marian (1840–1875), who married Sir Leslie Stephen, editor, biographer and philosopher.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: Thackeray now began "writing for his life", as he put it, turning to journalism in an effort to support his young family. He primarily worked for "Fraser's Magazine", a sharp-witted and sharp-tongued conservative publication for which he produced art criticism, short fictional sketches, and two longer fictional works, "Catherine" and "The Luck of Barry Lyndon". Between 1837 and 1840, he also reviewed books for "The Times". He was also a regular contributor to "The Morning Chronicle" and "The Foreign Quarterly Review". Later, through his connection to the illustrator John Leech, he began writing for the newly created magazine "Punch", in which he published "The Snob Papers", later collected as "The Book of Snobs". This work popularised the modern meaning of the word "snob". Thackeray was a regular contributor to "Punch" between 1843 and 1854.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: Tragedy struck in Thackeray's personal life as his wife, Isabella, succumbed to depression after the birth of their third child, in 1840. Finding that he could get no work done at home, he spent more and more time away, until September 1840, when he realised how grave his wife's condition was. Struck by guilt, he set out with his wife to Ireland. During the crossing, she threw herself from a water-closet into the sea, but she was pulled from the waters. They fled back home after a four-week battle with her mother. From November 1840 to February 1842, Isabella was in and out of professional care, as her condition waxed and waned.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: She eventually deteriorated into a permanent state of detachment from reality. Thackeray desperately sought cures for her, but nothing worked, and she ended up in two different asylums in or near Paris until 1845, after which Thackeray took her back to England, where he installed her with a Mrs. Bakewell at Camberwell. Isabella outlived her husband by 30 years, in the end being cared for by a family named Thompson in Leigh-on-Sea at Southend, until her death in 1894. After his wife's illness, Thackeray became a "de facto" widower, never establishing another permanent relationship. He did pursue other women, however, in particular Mrs. Jane Brookfield and Sally Baxter. In 1851, Mr. Brookfield barred Thackeray from further visits or correspondence with Jane. Baxter, an American twenty years Thackeray's junior whom he met during a lecture tour in New York City in 1852, married another man in 1855.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: In the early 1840s, Thackeray had some success with two travel books, "The Paris Sketch Book" and "The Irish Sketch Book", the latter marked by its hostility towards Irish Catholics. However, as the book appealed to anti-Irish sentiment in Britain at the time, Thackeray was given the job of being "Punch"s Irish expert, often under the pseudonym Hibernis Hibernior ("more Irish than the Irish"). Thackeray became responsible for creating "Punch"s notoriously hostile and negative depictions of the Irish during the Great Irish Famine of 1845 to 1851.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: Thackeray achieved more recognition with his "Snob Papers" (serialised 1846/7, published in book form in 1848), but the work that really established his fame was the novel "Vanity Fair", which first appeared in serialised instalments beginning in January 1847. Even before "Vanity Fair" completed its serial run, Thackeray had become a celebrity, sought after by the very lords and ladies whom he satirised. They hailed him as the equal of Charles Dickens.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: He remained "at the top of the tree", as he put it, for the rest of his life, during which he produced several large novels, notably "Pendennis", "The Newcomes" and "The History of Henry Esmond", despite various illnesses, including a near-fatal one that struck him in 1849 in the middle of writing "Pendennis". He twice visited the United States on lecture tours during this period. Thackeray also gave lectures in London on the English humorists of the eighteenth century, and on the first four Hanoverian monarchs. The latter series was published in book form as "The Four Georges".


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: In July 1857, Thackeray stood unsuccessfully as a Liberal for the city of Oxford in Parliament. Although not the most fiery agitator, Thackeray was always a decided liberal in his politics, and he promised to vote for the ballot in extension of the suffrage and was ready to accept triennial parliaments. He was narrowly beaten by Cardwell, who received 1,070 votes, as against 1,005 for Thackeray.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: In 1860, Thackeray became editor of the newly established "Cornhill Magazine", but he was never comfortable in the role, preferring to contribute to the magazine as the writer of a column called "Roundabout Papers".


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: Thackeray's health worsened during the 1850s, and he was plagued by a recurring stricture of the urethra that laid him up for days at a time. He also felt that he had lost much of his creative impetus. He worsened matters by excessive eating and drinking and avoiding exercise, though he enjoyed riding (he kept a horse). He has been described as "the greatest literary glutton who ever lived". His main activity apart from writing was "gutting and gorging". He could not break his addiction to spicy peppers, further ruining his digestion.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: On 23 December 1863, after returning from dining out and before dressing for bed, he suffered a stroke. He was found dead in his bed the following morning. His death at the age of fifty-two was unexpected and shocked his family, his friends and the reading public. An estimated 7,000 people attended his funeral at Kensington Gardens. He was buried on 29 December at Kensal Green Cemetery, and a memorial bust sculpted by Marochetti can be found in Westminster Abbey.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: Thackeray began as a satirist and parodist, writing works that displayed a sneaking fondness for roguish upstarts, such as Becky Sharp in "Vanity Fair" and the title characters of "The Luck of Barry Lyndon" and "Catherine". In his earliest works, written under such pseudonyms as Charles James Yellowplush, Michael Angelo Titmarsh and George Savage Fitz-Boodle, he tended towards savagery in his attacks on high society, military prowess, the institution of marriage and hypocrisy.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: One of his earliest works, "Timbuctoo" (1829), contains a burlesque upon the subject set for the Cambridge Chancellor's Medal for English Verse. (The contest was won by Tennyson with a poem of the same title, "Timbuctoo"). Thackeray's writing career really began with a series of satirical sketches now usually known as "The Yellowplush Papers", which appeared in "Fraser's Magazine" beginning in 1837. These were adapted for BBC Radio 4 in 2009, with Adam Buxton playing Charles Yellowplush.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: Between May 1839 and February 1840 "Fraser's" published the work sometimes considered Thackeray's first novel, "Catherine". Originally intended as a satire of the Newgate school of crime fiction, it ended up being more of a picaresque tale. He also began work, never finished, on the novel later published as "A Shabby Genteel Story".


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: Along with "The Luck of Barry Lyndon", Thackeray is probably best known now for "Vanity Fair". Literary theorist Kornelije Kvas wrote that "the meteoric rise of the heroine of "Vanity Fair" Rebecca Sharp is a satirical presentation of the striving for profit, power and social recognition of the new middle class. Old and new members of the middle class strive to emulate the lifestyle of the higher class (noblemen and landowners), and thereby to increase their material possessions and to own luxury objects. In "Vanity Fair", one can observe a greater degree of violation of moral values among members of the new middle class, for the decline of morality is proportionate to the degree of closeness of the individual to the market and its laws." In contrast, his large novels from the period after "Vanity Fair", which were once described by Henry James as examples of "loose baggy monsters", have largely faded from view, perhaps because they reflect a mellowing in Thackeray, who had become so successful with his satires on society that he seemed to lose his zest for attacking it. These later works include "Pendennis", a Bildungsroman depicting the coming of age of Arthur Pendennis, an alter ego of Thackeray, who also features as the narrator of two later novels, "The Newcomes" and "The Adventures of Philip". "The Newcomes" is noteworthy for its critical portrayal of the "marriage market", while "Philip" is known for its semi-autobiographical depiction of Thackeray's early life, in which he partially regains some of his early satirical power.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: Also notable among the later novels is "The History of Henry Esmond", in which Thackeray tried to write a novel in the style of the eighteenth century, a period that held great appeal for him. About this novel, there have been found evident analogies—in the fundamental structure of the plot; in the psychological outlines of the main characters; in frequent episodes; and in the use of metaphors—to Ippolito Nievo's "Confessions of an Italian". Nievo wrote his novel during his stay in Milan where, in the "Ambrosiana" library, "The History of Henry Esmond" was available, just published.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: Not only "Esmond" but also "Barry Lyndon" and "Catherine" are set in that period, as is the sequel to "Esmond", "The Virginians", which is set partially in North America and includes George Washington as a character who nearly kills one of the protagonists in a duel.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: Thackeray's father, Richmond Thackeray, was born at South Mimms and went to India in 1798 at age sixteen as a writer (civil servant) with the East India Company. Richmond's father's name was also William Makepeace Thackeray. Richmond fathered a daughter, Sarah Redfield, in 1804 with Charlotte Sophia Rudd, his possibly Eurasian mistress, and both mother and daughter were named in his will. Such liaisons were common among gentlemen of the East India Company, and it formed no bar to his later courting and marrying William's mother.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: Thackeray's mother, Anne Becher (born 1792), was "one of the reigning beauties of the day" and a daughter of John Harmon Becher, Collector of the South 24 Parganas district (d. Calcutta, 1800), of an old Bengal civilian family "noted for the tenderness of its women". Anne Becher, her sister Harriet and their widowed mother, also Harriet, had been sent back to India by her authoritarian guardian grandmother, Ann Becher, in 1809 on the "Earl Howe". Anne's grandmother had told her that the man she loved, Henry Carmichael-Smyth, an ensign in the Bengal Engineers whom she met at an Assembly Ball in 1807 in Bath, had died, while he was told that Anne was no longer interested in him. Neither of these assertions was true. Though Carmichael-Smyth was from a distinguished Scottish military family, Anne's grandmother went to extreme lengths to prevent their marriage. Surviving family letters state that she wanted a better match for her granddaughter.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: Anne Becher and Richmond Thackeray were married in Calcutta on 13 October 1810. Their only child, William, was born on 18 July 1811. There is a fine miniature portrait of Anne Becher Thackeray and William Makepeace Thackeray, aged about two, done in Madras by George Chinnery c. 1813.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: Anne's family's deception was unexpectedly revealed in 1812, when Richmond Thackeray unwittingly invited the supposedly dead Carmichael-Smyth to dinner. Five years later, after Richmond had died of a fever on 13 September 1815, Anne married Henry Carmichael-Smyth, on 13 March 1817. The couple moved to England in 1820, after having sent William off to school there more than three years earlier. The separation from his mother had a traumatic effect on the young Thackeray, which he discussed in his essay "On Letts's Diary" in "The Roundabout Papers".


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: Thackeray is an ancestor of the British financier Ryan Williams, and is the great-great-great-grandfather of the British comedian Al Murray and author Joanna Nadin.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: During the Victorian era Thackeray was ranked second only to Charles Dickens, but he is now much less widely read and is known almost exclusively for "Vanity Fair", which has become a fixture in university courses, and has been repeatedly adapted for the cinema and television.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: In Thackeray's own day some commentators, such as Anthony Trollope, ranked his "History of Henry Esmond" as his greatest work, perhaps because it expressed Victorian values of duty and earnestness, as did some of his other later novels. It is perhaps for this reason that they have not survived as well as "Vanity Fair", which satirises those values.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: Thackeray saw himself as writing in the realistic tradition, and distinguished his work from the exaggerations and sentimentality of Dickens. Some later commentators have accepted this self-evaluation and seen him as a realist, but others note his inclination to use eighteenth-century narrative techniques, such as digressions and direct addresses to the reader, and argue that through them he frequently disrupts the illusion of reality. The school of Henry James, with its emphasis on maintaining that illusion, marked a break with Thackeray's techniques.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: Indian popular Marathi politician Bal Thackeray's father Keshav Sitaram Thackeray was an admirer of William, the India-born British writer; Keshav later changed his surname from Panvelkar to "Thackeray".


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: In 1887 the Royal Society of Arts unveiled a blue plaque to commemorate Thackeray at the house at 2 Palace Green, London, that had been built for him in the 1860s. It is now the location of the Israeli Embassy.


title: William Makepeace Thackeray

text: Thackeray wrote and illustrated five Christmas books as "by Mr M. A. Titmarsh". They were collected under the pseudonymous title and his real name no later than 1868 by Smith, Elder & Co.


title: Bert Lahr

text: Irving Lahrheim (August 13, 1895 – December 4, 1967), known professionally as Bert Lahr, was an American actor. He was best known for his role as the Cowardly Lion, as well as his counterpart Kansas farmworker "Zeke", in the MGM adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz" (1939). He was well known for his quick-witted humor and his work in burlesque and vaudeville and on Broadway.


title: Bert Lahr

text: Lahr was born as Irving Lahrheim on August 13, 1895, at First Avenue and 81st Street, in the Yorkville section of Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City. He was the son of Augusta (1871–1932) and Jacob Lahrheim (1870–1947), an upholsterer. His parents were German-Jewish immigrants.


title: Bert Lahr

text: Lahr began performing in minor parts on vaudeville stages at age 14. He quit school at age 15 to join a juvenile vaudeville act. He eventually received top billing, working for the Columbia Amusement Company. In 1927, he debuted on Broadway in "Harry Delmar's Revels" on November 28, 1927. He played to packed houses, performing classic routines such as "The Song of the Woodman" (which he reprised in the film "Merry-Go-Round of 1938"). Lahr's first major success in a stage musical was playing the prizefighter hero of "Hold Everything!" (1928–29). Other musicals followed, notably "Flying High" (1930), Florenz Ziegfeld's "Hot-Cha!" (1932) and "The Show is On" (1936) in which he co-starred with Beatrice Lillie. In 1939, he co-starred as Louis Blore alongside Ethel Merman in the Broadway production of "DuBarry Was a Lady", receiving acclaim.


title: Bert Lahr

text: Later performances included "Hotel Paradiso" on Broadway and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" with a touring company in the 1950s. In 1962, he performed on Broadway again, in S. J. Perelman's "The Beauty Part"


title: Bert Lahr

text: Lahr made his feature film debut in 1931's "Flying High", playing the oddball aviator he had played on stage. He signed with New York-based Educational Pictures for a series of two-reel comedies. When that series ended, he went to Hollywood to work in feature films. Aside from "The Wizard of Oz" (1939), his movie career was limited. In the 1944 patriotic film "Meet the People", Lahr uttered the phrase "Heavens to Murgatroyd!" later popularized by cartoon character Snagglepuss.


title: Bert Lahr

text: Lahr's most famous role was that of the Cowardly Lion in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's 1939 adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz". Lahr was signed to play the role on July 25, 1938. Lahr's lion costume was composed of lion fur and, under the high-intensity lighting required for Oz's Technicolor scenes, the costume was unbearably hot. Lahr contributed ad-lib comedic lines for his character. Many of Lahr's scenes took several takes because other cast members, especially Garland, couldn't complete the scenes without laughing. The Cowardly Lion is the only character who sings two solo song numbers-"If I Only Had the Nerve", performed after the initial meeting with Dorothy, The Scarecrow, and The Tin Man in the forest, and "If I Were King of the Forest", performed while he and the others are awaiting their audience with the Wizard.


title: Bert Lahr

text: "The Wizard of Oz" was Lahr's 17th movie. When warned that Hollywood had a habit of typecasting actors, Lahr replied, "Yeah, but how many parts are there for lions?"


title: Bert Lahr

text: An original Cowardly Lion costume worn by Lahr in "The Wizard of Oz" is in the holdings of The Comisar Collection, which is also the largest collection of television artifacts and memorabilia in the world.


title: Bert Lahr

text: In June 2013, Lahr's original reading script for "The Wizard of Oz", bequeathed to his great-grandson, was appraised with an insurance value of $150,000 on PBS's "Antiques Roadshow" in an episode filmed in Detroit, Michigan.


title: Bert Lahr

text: Lahr later made the transition to straight theater. He got a script of "Waiting for Godot", and was greatly impressed but unsure of how the revolutionary play would be received in the United States. It was performed in Europe to great acclaim but was somewhat obscure and intellectual. He co-starred in the US premiere of "Waiting for Godot" in 1956 at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami, Florida, playing Estragon to Tom Ewell's Vladimir. The performance bombed, with audience members walking out in large numbers, and the critics did not treat it kindly. In his book "Notes on a Cowardly Lion", Bert's son John Lahr states that the problems were caused partly by the choices of the director, including the decision to limit Bert's movement on stage; filling the stage with platforms; and a misguided description of the play as a light comedy, along with other difficulties.


title: Bert Lahr

text: Lahr reprised his role in a short-lived Broadway run, co-starring with E. G. Marshall as Vladimir. This time, it was with a new director, Herbert Berghof, who had met with Samuel Beckett, the playwright, in Europe and discussed the play. The set was cleared, and Bert was allowed more freedom in his performance. Advertisements were taken out urging intellectuals to support the play, which was a success and received enthusiastic ovations from the audience. Bert was praised and though he claimed he did not understand the play, others would disagree and say he understood it a great deal.


title: Bert Lahr

text: Lahr occasionally appeared on television, including NBC's live version of the Cole Porter musical "Let's Face It" (1954), the 1964 Hallmark Hall of Fame production of "The Fantasticks", and occasional appearances as the mystery guest on "What's My Line?" (for example, December 30, 1956).


title: Bert Lahr

text: He performed in commercials, including a memorable series for Lay's potato chips during its long-running "Betcha can't eat just one" campaign with Lahr appearing in different costumes. He performed in classical works on television adaptations of "Androcles and the Lion" and the "School for Wives" (1956). He played Moonface Martin in a television version of "Anything Goes", with Ethel Merman reprising her role as Reno Sweeney and Frank Sinatra as Billy Crocker. In 1959, he played Mr. O'Malley in an adaptation of "Barnaby" for the anthology series "General Electric Theater". In 1963, he appeared as Go-Go Garrity in the episode "Is Mr. Martian Coming Back" on NBC's medical drama "The Eleventh Hour".


title: Bert Lahr

text: Among his numerous Broadway roles, Lahr starred as Skid in the Broadway revival of "Burlesque" from 1946 to 1948 and played several roles, including Queen Victoria, in the original Broadway musical "Two on the Aisle" from 1951 to 1952. In the late 1950s, he supplied the voice of a bloodhound in "Old Whiff," a short cartoon produced by Mike Todd which featured the olfactory Smell-O-Vision process developed for Todd's feature film "Scent of Mystery" (1960).


title: Bert Lahr

text: In 1964, he won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his role in the musical "Foxy". At the American Shakespeare Festival he played Bottom in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1960), for which he received the Best Shakespearean Actor of the Year Award.


title: Bert Lahr

text: "Laughter is never too far away from tears," he reflected on his comedy. Lahr said: "You will cry at a pedlar much easier than you would cry at a woman dressed in ermine who had just lost her whole family."


title: Bert Lahr

text: Lahr's first wife, Mercedes Delpino, developed mental health problems that left her hospitalized. This complicated his relationship with his second wife, Mildred Schroeder, as he had legal problems with getting a divorce in New York. She grew tired of waiting, became involved with another man and married him. Lahr was heartbroken, but eventually won her back. Lahr had three children: a son, Herbert (1929–2002), with Delpino, and a son John (born 1941) and daughter Jane (born 1943) with Schroeder. John Lahr is a London-based drama critic who married the actress and comedian turned psychotherapist Connie Booth ("Fawlty Towers") in 2000; she was previously married to British actor/comedian John Cleese. Jane Lahr is an author and literary editor who was married to drama critic Martin Gottfried.


title: Bert Lahr

text: Lahr was an avid golfer. He was considered a serious personality offstage, prone to melancholy and, like his mother, hypochondria. Lahr's son John has written, "While we were growing up, there was not one Oz image or memento of any kind in the apartment". He also describes his father as living in "habitual solitude" and plagued by "morbid worry", "moroseness" and "the thick fog of some ontological anxiety, which seemed to have settled permanently around [him] and was palpable, impenetrable".


title: Bert Lahr

text: Lahr died on December 4, 1967, at the age of 72. Around the time of his death, he was filming "The Night They Raided Minsky's" The official cause of death was listed as pneumonia. Lahr had been hospitalized on November 21 for what was reported as a back ailment. However, his son John Lahr explained that although two weeks earlier, Bert "had returned home at 2 a.m., chilled and feverish, from the damp studio where "The Night They Raided Minsky's" was being filmed," and although "newspapers reported the cause of death as pneumonia...he succumbed to cancer, a disease he feared but never knew he had." (Bert Lahr's father had also died of cancer.) Official cause of death was reported as being massive intestinal hemorrhage.


title: Bert Lahr

text: At the time, most of Lahr's scenes had already been shot. "All in the Family" creator/producer Norman Lear told "The New York Times" that "through judicious editing, we will be able to shoot the rest of the film so that his wonderful performance will remain intact." The producers used test footage of Lahr, plus an uncredited voice double and a body double, burlesque actor Joey Faye, to complete Lahr's role.


title: Amanda Waller

text: Amanda Blake Waller (née White), also known as "the Wall", is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in "Legends" #1 in 1986 and was created by John Ostrander, Len Wein, and John Byrne. Amanda Waller is an antagonist and occasional ally to the superheroes of the DC Universe, occasionally described as a supervillain.


title: Amanda Waller

text: She is the director for the deadly missions of the Suicide Squad and a specialist who oversees research into people with powers. Although she lacks superpowers herself, the character is a ruthless, high-ranking government official who uses guile, political connections, and sheer intimidation to achieve her goals, often in the name of national security. Waller is commonly associated with the fictional government agencies Checkmate and A.R.G.U.S.


title: Amanda Waller

text: In recent years, the character has been substantially adapted into animated and live-action media. Several actresses have voiced or portrayed the character: C. C. H. Pounder for various animated projects; Pam Grier on the live-action series "Smallville"; Angela Bassett in the live-action film "Green Lantern"; Sheryl Lee Ralph in the animated series "Young Justice"; Cynthia Addai-Robinson in the live-action series "Arrow"; Yvette Nicole Brown in the franchise "DC Super Hero Girls"; and Viola Davis in the DC Extended Universe films "Suicide Squad", "The Suicide Squad", and "Black Adam", as well as the HBO Max series "Peacemaker".


title: Amanda Waller

text: The people most responsible for shaping the character in her earliest appearances were John Ostrander and Kim Yale, in the pages of the "Suicide Squad" series in the late 1980s.


title: Amanda Waller

text: Nicknamed "the Wall", she is a former congressional aide and government agent often placed in charge of the Suicide Squad, a semi-secret government-run group of former supervillains working in return for amnesty. She later served as Secretary of Metahuman Affairs under President Lex Luthor, before being arrested in the wake of Luthor's public fall from grace. Waller was reassigned to the leadership of Checkmate as White Queen, but was forced to resign because of her involvement in Operation Salvation Run.


title: Amanda Waller

text: Amanda Waller has been established as a widow who escaped Chicago's Cabrini–Green housing projects with her surviving family after one of her sons, one of her daughters and her husband were murdered. Waller excelled in political science and became a congressional aide. During that time, she discovered the existence of the first two incarnations of the Squad. Taking elements from both of these, she proposed the development of its third incarnation to the White House and was placed in charge upon its approval.


title: Amanda Waller

text: The Agency was formed by Amanda Waller to serve as a small, quasi-independent branch of Task Force X. Valentina Vostok brought former NYPD Lieutenant Harry Stein into the Agency as an operative. Amanda Waller later promoted Stein to the command position and demoted Vostok. Harry Stein would later reorganize the Agency and name it Checkmate.


title: Amanda Waller

text: Waller's tenure as the official in charge of the third Suicide Squad was tumultuous and controversial. Despite many successes, she developed a habit of defying her superiors in Washington in order to achieve goals both legitimate and personal on more than one occasion. The earliest conflict between her and her superiors revolved around the leadership of the Suicide Squad. Although she proposed the Bronze Tiger, the man she had helped out of his brainwashing, lead the team he was instead relegated to second-in-command, and Rick Flag Jr. was made the leader. Waller resentfully presumed the situation to be racially charged, related to not only her own status as a black woman, but also Bronze Tiger's own skin tone, although the Tiger himself did not believe this was a factor, instead believing this was a result of mistrust due to the brainwashing imposed upon him by the League of Assassins.


title: Amanda Waller

text: Her relationship with the Squad itself was one of mutual dislike. Most of the team's criminal members did not really take to Waller's methods (most notably Captain Boomerang), and even the team's heroes were often at odds with Waller. Waller's inability to deal and compromise with her troops led to Nemesis's departure from the team and the death of a US senator, which indirectly caused the death of Rick Flag Jr. Those type of conflicts, however, were not only limited to her superiors and her team, but also extended to Batman, who opposed the forming of the Suicide Squad (although he would later help to reform it). Nonetheless, the team remained loyal to her, often choosing to side with her instead of the government.


title: Amanda Waller

text: It was ultimately revealed the reason Amanda Waller kept the heroes such as Nightshade around, was in order for them to act as her conscience. Over the course of her first run with the Suicide Squad, her actions became increasingly erratic as she fought to retain control of the Squad. This was heightened by the public revelation of the Suicide Squad, and her being officially replaced, although her 'replacement' was in fact an actor, and Waller remained the team's director.


title: Amanda Waller

text: Even that secret would eventually be revealed and Amanda Waller would be put on trial. During this time, the Squad also became involved in an interagency conflict in a crossover between the "Checkmate" and "Suicide Squad" titles called the Janus Directive.


title: Amanda Waller

text: One of the field missions is against her will, as many members of the Squad, Waller included, are forcibly kidnapped and taken to Apokolips. This is because team member Duchess remembered her past as Lashina of the Female Furies, instead of being amnesiac as she pretended, and wished to return home with suitable sacrifices. The Squad suffers fatalities battling Apokolips' forces, with Waller personally confronting Granny Goodness. However, the confrontation ended with the deaths of Dr. Light and one of Waller's own nieces, and Count Vertigo near-fatally wounded.


title: Amanda Waller

text: She eventually found herself serving prison time for her pursuit of an organized crime cartel based in New Orleans called the LOA and killing its leadership, using Squad operatives Ravan, Poison Ivy and Deadshot in the process.


title: Amanda Waller

text: Waller is eventually pardoned and released a year later to reorganize the Suicide Squad as a freelance mercenary group at the behest of Sarge Steel to deal with a crisis in Vlatava, Count Vertigo's home country; Waller allowed herself to enter prison because she knew two things perfectly well: one, by confronting the LOA with Squad operatives, she had crossed the line, and two, she would return to her position quite easily if she was ever needed again. Afterwards, the Suicide Squad performs a variety of missions, often treading dangerous political terrain when dealing with Soviet and Israeli interests. Most notably, the Squad help destroy the plans of a shadow organization to throw Qurac, Israel and the US into political disarray.


title: Amanda Waller

text: During the course of her renewed tenure with this team, Amanda became closer to her operatives, even accompanying them on their field missions. This allows for her and her team to bond more effectively, although she retains her dominant and threatening personality.


title: Amanda Waller

text: Waller quits after a later field mission, in which she personally takes down the seemingly immortal dictator of a small, South American island nation. As it turned out, he wasn't immortal, but had an immense amount of psychic power, and by tricking him, Waller merely provided a form of assisted suicide.


title: Amanda Waller

text: Soon after, Amanda Waller organizes the Shadow Fighters to confront the villain Eclipso. Again, she would confront Sarge Steel. Her first attempt at a team, formed with the assistance of Bruce Gordon and his wife Mona, did not go well. Most of the team are brutally murdered infiltrating Eclipso's stronghold. Her second attempt with a much larger team has much more success.


title: Amanda Waller

text: During the Bloodlines debacle, the President sends Guy Gardner to fetch Waller from her island 'retirement'. She leads a multi-hero affair that results in the destruction of the alien parasites. She rejoins federal service, initially as Southeastern regional director for the Department of Extranormal Operations. She is promoted to Secretary of Metahuman Affairs as a member of the Lex Luthor Presidential Administration.


title: Amanda Waller

text: Lex Luthor's brief tenure in office leads to Amanda Waller being jailed. This does not last long. She is released by Luthor's successor Jonathan Vincent Horne, who orders her to take command of the secret agent organization Checkmate. The organization had been shaken up due to The OMAC Project debacle and the related murderous leadership of Maxwell Lord whom Waller has had previous history with. Waller takes the rank of Black King until the United States and United Nations decide what to do with that organization. In the latter issues of "52", Waller is shown commissioning the imprisoned Atom Smasher to organize a new Suicide Squad to attack Black Adam and his allies. This ends with the death of Squad member Persuader and the expected public relations turn against the Black Marvel family.


title: Amanda Waller

text: In the revamped "Checkmate" series set in the One Year Later continuity, Waller is shown to have been assigned by the UN to serve as Checkmate's White Queen, a member of its senior policy-making executive. Due to her previous activities, her appointment is contingent on her having no direct control over operations. Regardless, she continues to pursue her own agenda, secretly using the Suicide Squad to perform missions in favor of American interests and blackmailing Fire. It is also implied that she may have betrayed a mission team in an attempt to protect her secrets and facilitated an attack on Checkmate headquarters for her own gain.


title: Amanda Waller

text: She then is in charge of Operation Salvation Run, an initiative involving the mass deportation of supervillains to an alien world. When this was discovered by the rest of Checkmate, she was forced into resigning as White Queen in exchange for their delay in revealing what the US government was doing. She continues to run the Suicide Squad, and has been implanted with nanotechnology to allow her to directly control Chemo during missions.


title: Amanda Waller

text: During the Superman/Batman storyline "K", it is revealed that Waller has hoarded Kryptonite and used it to power an anti-Superman group called the Last Line, and a Doomsday-like creature codenamed "All-American Boy", who has Kryptonite shards growing out of his body. All-American Boy, (real name: Josh Walker) was deceived into an experiment to use Kryptonite to bond cell scrapings taken from Doomsday to a human host, battles Superman, devastating Smallville in the process. Batman, with the help of Brannon, the Last Line's leader, locate Josh's parents who convince him to stop. Waller is forced to pay towards repairing Smallville in return for her dealings in the AAB project to remain secret. 'Last Line' itself rebels against Waller because of her deceptions.


title: Amanda Waller

text: In the eight-issue series of "Suicide Squad: Raise the Flag", she is again seen leading the Suicide Squad at some point when the General returned to Earth after his exile, and was promptly drafted into the Squad with special explosive implants grafted into his arm and brain to make him compliant with Waller's demands. Here, she personally uses technology devised by Cliff Carmichael to gain a measure of control over Chemo, allowing her to use the toxic behemoth for the Squad's benefit. Rick Flag is revealed to have survived the events at Jotunheim and was returned to Waller, who revealed to him Rick Flag Jr. was never anything but an alias, and that he was in reality a brainwashed soldier remade into Flag to serve Eiling's ends.


title: Amanda Waller

text: She leads, as Chemo, an attack on a Dubai supercorp intending to release a deadly virus. However, Carmichael, with Eiling and part of her team, betrays her as part of Eiling's plan to benefit from the release of the virus, and she is nearly killed when Eiling orders a compliant Flag to use her pen, actually a transmitter, to detonate her own explosive implant. Instead, Flag, tricking him, detonates Eiling's own, releasing her and ultimately rejoining the Squad, refusing the chance of a normal life.


title: Amanda Waller

text: She later attempted to forcibly return several members of the Secret Six (Bane and Deadshot) into the Suicide Squad, and when her plan backfired due to the events of Blackest Night and the defiance of the Six, she was shot by Deadshot and privately revealed to King Faraday to be their new secret leader, Mockingbird. When Faraday questioned the need to be informed of the situation, and even the need to bring the Six under the banner of the Squad when she already controlled them, Amanda merely shrugged it off, stating "her left and right hand only knew what the other was thinking" in a strict need-to-know basis, implying Faraday will one day need that knowledge.


title: Amanda Waller

text: In The New 52 (a 2011 reboot of the DC Comics universe), Amanda Waller is shown to be in direct command of the Suicide Squad, choosing its members and having final say over when and if their implanted explosives are detonated. It is revealed she requested a command of a unit she could send to their deaths without regret after an operation she was involved in resulted in the death of all other squad members, including several she had personally recruited. She was also involved with Team 7 in some capacity while serving in the United States Army as a Captain, which led to her temporarily leaving the spy business. Also, this version of Amanda Waller is re-imagined as a young, thin woman in contrast with her original design.


title: Amanda Waller

text: Amanda Waller later formed the Justice League of America that is separate from the main Justice League where she is shown as the Director of A.R.G.U.S. She recruited James Gordon Jr. who was alive despite his apparent death at the hands of his sister Barbara while saving their mother. However, it is shown that James Jr. only agreed to join as he is in love with Waller.


title: Amanda Waller

text: During the "Forever Evil" storyline, Amanda Waller is shown at Belle Reve trying to get Black Manta to join the Suicide Squad at the time when Deathstorm and Power Ring infiltrate the prison. Amanda Waller later contacts Deadshot in order to get the Suicide Squad back together. Later clues point to an imposter Amanda Waller causing trouble behind the scenes.


title: Amanda Waller

text: Amanda Waller returns to her original design with the DC Rebirth initiative. When confronted by Barack Obama about Task Force X, she convinces him the Suicide Squad needs to exist to deal with threats neither the President or the Justice League can be aware of, while conceding to nominate a non-criminal field leader to carry out her directives during missions and keep the convicts in line. She visits Rick Flag in Guantanamo Bay, where he had been imprisoned for disobeying direct instructions in order to save his teammates, and tries to convince him to work alongside supervillains for a greater good; she succeeds, releases him and makes him the field leader of Task Force X.


title: Amanda Waller

text: In issue #11 of "Suicide Squad" (2016), as a part of DC Rebirth, Amanda Waller is shot and killed. Her death is confirmed in issue #12. However, it is revealed in issue #15 she faked her death with the help of Deadshot, who fired a bullet at her heart, and Enchantress, who magically moved the bullet to the most reparable part of the human heart. Because of this, she is able to use Deadshot against the villain Rustam and the international shadow organization known only as the People.


title: Amanda Waller

text: In the alternate timeline of the "Flashpoint" event, Amanda Waller is an advisor to the President of the United States who tells him Hal Jordan is insubordinate and irresponsible. However, the President tells her the world needs Hal as a hero.


title: Amanda Waller

text: Amanda Waller appears in the "Batman Beyond" comic series, set before the events of "Epilogue", where she was involved in the creation of Dick Grayson's clone to create a new Batman, reasoning that Grayson was more stable than his mentor, only for the clone to become the new Hush and start killing off Batman's old rogues' gallery, including retired villains such as Signalman and Calendar Man. Even after the clone's attempt to destroy Gotham is only narrowly averted by Terry McGinnis, the real Dick Grayson, and the new Catwoman, Waller is shown to still be working on further clones of the original Batman and his allies.


title: Amanda Waller

text: In "Arrow" tie-in comic, "Arrow: Season 2.5", Waller sends Suicide Squad to deal with situation in Kahndaq where a terrorist members and its leader Khem-Adam begin executing a lot of people due to Khem-Adam's desire to save a country from foreign influence. Her squad is successful in killing members of the group, except for Adam who is taken away by Nyssa al Ghul and Sara Lance in Nanda Parbat where he is executed by a member of the League of Assassins.


title: Amanda Waller

text: In "The Flash" tie-in comic, "Season Zero", Waller sends Suicide Squad (consisting of Cupid, Captain Boomerang and Floyd Lawton) to survey King Shark destroying an aquarium, then sends them to extract him. Waller takes Lamden to A.R.G.U.S. detention center to be chained up. She takes a woman to see him, before cutting him open to carefully dissect him. After dissection, Waller sends him across the other side of the country to begin as part of the Suicide Squad. Soon, Barry Allen comes to rescue him, but Waller sent some drones after him, created by General Wade Eiling. They eventually find where King Shark had been, but Barry is quickly captured and is told of what happened to Lamden.


title: Amanda Waller

text: In "DC Comics Bombshells", Commander Amanda Waller is the head of the "Bombshells" project during World War II. In "DC Comics Bombshells Annual 1", she is shown to also be Superintendent of the United States Military Academy.


title: Amanda Waller

text: In the prequel to "Injustice 2", Waller breaks into the Quiver (Green Arrow's hideout) to arrest Harley Quinn, believing Harley should still be punished for her crimes despite Harley's role in taking down Superman. After Deadshot aids her in capturing Harley, she forces Harley into the Suicide Squad. However immediately afterwards, she is killed by Jason Todd, who was going around as an impostor Batman.


title: Amanda Waller

text: In the world of "DC Comics Secret Hero Society", Amanda Waller is the guidance counselor, truancy officer, and head of detention at Justice Preparatory Academy.


title: Batangas

text: Batangas, officially the Province of Batangas ( ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region on Luzon. Its capital is the city of Batangas, and is bordered by the provinces of Cavite and Laguna to the north, and Quezon to the east. Across the Verde Island Passages to the south is the island of Mindoro and to the west lies the South China Sea. Poetically, Batangas is often referred to by its ancient name Kumintáng.


title: Batangas

text: Batangas is one of the most popular tourist destinations near Metro Manila. It is home to the well-known Taal Volcano, one of the Decade Volcanoes, and Taal Heritage town, a small town that has ancestral houses and structures dating back to the 19th century. The province also has numerous beaches and diving spots including Anilao in Mabini, Sombrero Island in Tingloy, Ligpo Island and Sampaguita Beach in Bauan, Matabungkay in Lian, Punta Fuego in Nasugbu, Calatagan and Laiya in San Juan. All of the marine waters of the province are part of the Verde Island Passage, the center of the center of world's marine biodiversity.


title: Batangas

text: Batangas City has the second largest international seaport in the Philippines after Metro Manila. The identification of the city as an industrial growth center in the region and being the focal point of the Calabarzon program is seen in the increasing number of business establishments in the city's Central Business District (CBD) as well as numerous industries operating in the province's industrial parks. Lipa City has passed Batangas city as the most populous city in the province.


title: Batangas

text: The first recorded name of the province was "Kumintáng", whose political center was the present-day municipality (town) of Taal, prior moving to the municipality of Balayan. Balayan was considered the most progressive town of the region. An eruption of Taal Volcano destroyed a significant portion of the town, causing residents to transfer to "Bonbon" (now Taal), the name eventually encompassing the bounds of the modern province.


title: Batangas

text: Long before the arrival of the Spaniards in the Philippines, large centers of population already thrived in Batangas. Native settlements lined the Pansipit River, a major waterway. Batangas was a major site for the Maritime Jade Road, one of the most extensive sea-based trade networks of a single geological material in the prehistoric world, operating for 3,000 years from 2000 BCE to 1000 CE. The province had been trading with the Chinese since Yuan Dynasty until the first phase of Ming Dynasty in the 13th and 15th century. Inhabitants of the province were also trading with Japan and India. The Philippines ancestors were Buddhists and Hindus, but far from India and intermixed with animistic beliefs.


title: Batangas

text: Archaeological findings show that before the settlement of the Spaniards in the country, the Tagalogs, ', had attained a semblance of high civilization. This was shown by certain jewelry, made from a chambered nautilus' shell, where tiny holes were created by a drill-like tool.


title: Batangas

text: The Ancient Batangueños were influenced by India as shown in the origin of most languages from Sanskrit and certain ancient potteries. A Buddhist image was reproduced in mould on a clay medallion in bas-relief from the municipality of Calatagan. According to experts, the image in the pot strongly resembles the iconographic portrayal of Buddha in Siam, India, and Nepal. The pot shows Buddha Amithaba in the tribhanga pose inside an oval nimbus. Scholars also noted that there is a strong Mahayanic orientation in the image, since the Boddhisattva Avalokitesvara was also depicted.


title: Batangas

text: One of the major archaeological finds was in January 1941, where two crude stone figures were found in Palapat in the municipality of Calatagan. They were later donated to the National Museum. One of them was destroyed during World War II.


title: Batangas

text: Eighteen years later, a grave was excavated in nearby Punta Buaya. Pieces of brain coral were carved behind the heads of the 12 remains that were found. The site was named "Likha" (meaning "Create"). The remains were accompanied by furniture that could be traced as early as the 14th century. Potteries, as well as bracelets, stoneware, and metal objects were also found in the area, suggesting that the people who lived there had extensive contact with people from as far as China.


title: Batangas

text: The presence of dining utensils such as plates or "chalices" found with the remains also suggest that prehistoric Batangueños believed in the idea of life-after-death. Thus, the Batangueños, like their neighbors in other parts of Asia, have similar customs of burying furniture with the dead.


title: Batangas

text: Like the nearby tribes, the Batangan or the early Batangueños were a non-aggressive people. Partly because most of the tribes in their immediate environment were related to them by blood. Some weapons Batangans used included the "bakyang" (bows and arrows), the "bangkaw" (spears), and the "suwan" (bolo).


title: Batangas

text: Being highly superstitious, the use of "agimat" (amulet or talisman) showed that these people believed in the presence of higher beings and other things unseen. The natives believed that forces of nature were a manifestation these higher beings.


title: Batangas

text: The term 'Tagalog' may have been derived from the word "taga-ilog" or "river dwellers" referring to the Pasig River located further up north of the region. However, Wang Teh-Ming in his writings on Sino-Filipino relations points out that Batangas was the real center of the Tagalog tribe, which he then identified as "Ma-yi" or "Ma-i". According to the Chinese Imperial Annals, Ma-yi had its center in the province and extends to as far as Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Quezon, Bataan, Bulacan, Mindoro, Marinduque, Nueva Ecija, some parts of Zambales, and Tarlac. However, many historians interchangeably use the term Tagalog and Batangueño.


title: Batangas

text: Henry Otley Beyer, an American archaeologist, also showed in his studies that the early Batangueños had a special affinity with the precious stone known as the jade. He named the Late Paleolithic Period of the Philippines as the "Batangas Period" in recognition of the multitude of jade found in the excavated caves in the province. Beyer identified that the jade-cult reached the province as early as 800 B.C. and lasted until 200 B.C.


title: Batangas

text: In 1570, Spanish generals Martin de Goiti and Juan de Salcedo explored the coast of Batangas on their way to Manila and came upon a Malay settlement at the mouth of Pansipit River. In 1572, the town of Taal was founded and its convent and stone church were constructed later.


title: Batangas

text: Officially, the "Province of Bonbon" was founded by Spain in 1578, through Fr. Estaban Ortiz and Fr. Juan de Porras. It was named after the name that was given to it by the Muslim natives who inhabited the area.


title: Batangas

text: In 1581, the Spanish government abolished Bonbon Province and created a new province which came to be known as Balayan Province. The new province was composed of the present provinces of Batangas, Mindoro, Marinduque, southeast Laguna, and Camarines. After the devastating eruption of Taal Volcano in 1754, the old town of "Taal", present day San Nicolas, was buried. The capital was eventually transferred to Batangas (now a city) for fear of further eruptions where it has remained to date.


title: Batangas

text: In the same years that de Goiti and Salcedo visited the province, the Franciscan missionaries came to Taal, which later became the first Spanish settlement in Batangas and one of the earliest in the Philippines. In 1572, the Augustinians founded Taal in the place of "Wawa", now San Nicolas, and from there began preaching in Balayan and in all the big settlements around the lake of "Bombon" (Taal). The Augustinians, who were the first missionaries in the diocese, remained until the revolution against Spain. Among the first missionaries were eminent men, which included Alfonso de Albuquerque, Diego Espinas, Juan de Montojo, and others.


title: Batangas

text: During the first ten years, the whole region around the Lake of Bombon was completely Christianized. It was done through the preaching of men who had learned the first rudiments of the language of the people. At the same time, they started writing manuals of devotion in Tagalog, such as novenas, and had written the first Tagalog grammar that served other missionaries who came.


title: Batangas

text: Foundation of important parishes followed throughout the years: 1572, the Taal Parish was founded by the Augustinians; 1581, the Batangas Parish under Fray Diego Mexica; 1596, Bauan Parish administered by the Augustinian missionaries; 1605, Lipa Parish under the Augustinian administration; 1774, Balayan Parish was founded; 1852, Nasugbu Parish; and 1868, Lemery Parish.


title: Batangas

text: The town of Nasugbu became an important centre of trade during the Spanish occupation of the country. It was the site of the first recorded battle between two European Forces in Asia in Fortune Island, Nasugbu, Batangas. In the late part of the 20th century, the inhabitants of Fortune Island discovered a sunken galleon that contained materials sold in the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade.


title: Batangas

text: Batangas was also among the first of the eight Philippine provinces to revolt against Spain and one of the provinces placed under Martial Law by Spanish Governor-General Ramon Blanco on August 30, 1896. This event was given distinction when Marcela Agoncillo, also a native of the province, made the Philippine Flag, which bears a sun with eight rays to represent these eight provinces.


title: Batangas

text: When the Americans forbade the Philippine flag from being flown anywhere in the country, Batangas was one of the places where the revolutionaries chose to propagate their propaganda. Many, especially the revolutionary artists, chose Batangas as the place to perform their plays. In an incident recorded by Amelia Bonifacio in her diary, the performance of "Tanikalang Ginto" in the province led not only to the arrest of the company but all of the audience. Later, the play was banned from being shown anywhere in the country.


title: Batangas

text: General Miguel Malvar is recognized as the last Filipino general to surrender to the United States in the Philippine–American War.


title: Batangas

text: After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Japanese sent their planes to attack the Philippines, launching major air raids throughout the country. The bombings resulted in the destruction of the Batangas Airport located in Batangas City, of which nothing remains today. Batangas was also a scene of heavy fighting between the Philippine Army Air Corps and the Japanese A6M Zero Fighter Planes. The most notable air combat battle took place at the height of 3,700 metres (12,000 ft) on December 12, 1941, when 6 Filipino fighters led by Capt. Jesús Villamor engaged the numerically superior enemy of 54 Japanese bombers and fighter escorts which raided the Batangas Airfield. Capt. Jesús Villamor won the battle, suffering only one casualty, Lt. César Basa who was able to bail out as his plane was shot down, only to be strafed by the Zeroes.


title: Batangas

text: When Gen. Douglas MacArthur ordered the overall retreat of the American-Filipino Forces to Bataan in 1942, the province was ultimately abandoned and later came under direct Japanese occupation. During this time, the Imperial Japanese Army committed many crimes against civilians including the massacre of 328 people in Bauan, 320 in Taal, 300 in Cuenca, 107 in San Jose, and 39 in Lucero.


title: Batangas

text: As part of the Philippines Campaign (1944–45), the province's liberation began on January 31, 1945, when elements of the 11th Airborne Division, part of the U.S. Eighth Army went ashore at Nasugbu, Batangas. However, Batangas was not the main objective of the invasion force. Instead, most of its units headed north to capture Manila, and by March 3, the capital was completely secured.


title: Batangas

text: Liberation of Batangas proper by American forces began in March 1945 by the 11th Airborne Division and the 158th Regimental Combat Team (RCT). The 158th, stationed in Nasugbu, was tasked to secure the shores and nearby towns of Balayan and Batangas. The 11th Airborne, from the Tagaytay Ridge, would attack the Japanese defenses north of Taal Lake and open the Lipa corridor. By March 11 the 158th RCT had reached Batangas City. In order to secure the two bays, the 158th needed to capture the entire Calumpang Peninsula near the town of Mabini, which was still held by some elements of the Japanese 2nd Surface Raiding Base Force. Fighting continued until March 16 when the whole peninsula was finally liberated.


title: Batangas

text: Afterwards, the 158th RCT turned northward to meet the Japanese Fuji Force defenses at Mt. Maculot in Cuenca on March 19. The 158th disengaged from the Japanese on March 23 and were relieved by the 11th Airborne's 187th Glider Infantry Regiment. Another 11th Airborne Division task force, the 188th Infantry was ordered to dispatch troops around Batangas City and its remaining frontiers. Meanwhile, the 11th Airborne's 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment had begun the opening of the Lipa corridor at Santo Tomas and Tanauan before being relieved by the 1st Cavalry Division and moving via Tagaytay to Bauan and San Jose.


title: Batangas

text: The last major offensive for the capture of the Lipa Corridor began when 188th Infantry Task Force from Batangas City left for Lipa on March 24. The same that day, the 187th Infantry Task Force launched an attack against the remaining Japanese positions in Mt. Maculot. Heavy fighting continued until April 17. The final capture of Mt. Maculot came by April 21.


title: Batangas

text: The 188th Infantry met stiff resistance from Fuji Force's 86th Airfield Battalion on March 26. To the north, the 1st Cavalry attacked the remaining Japanese defenses in the towns of Santo Tomas and Tanauan and succeeded in linking up with the advancing 187th and 188th task forces from the south. Lipa was captured by the 1st Cavalry on March 29. The final defeat of the Fuji Force came at Mt. Malepunyo at the hands of the 511th on May 2.


title: Batangas

text: With the capture of Lipa and Mt. Malepunyo, organized resistance ended in the province. Some elements of the 188th Infantry Task Force were left to clear the Batangas mountains located southeast of the province from the remaining Japanese.