TennisForum.com > Misc. > Blast from the Past > Dorothy Bundy Cheney
post #61 of 68 (permalink) Old Dec 2nd, 2014, 05:21 PM
laschutz
Re: Dorothy Bundy Cheney
CURIOUS DOES ANYONE KNOW if cheney ever said who was the best player she ever played? i mean she played seemingly every single great player from the 30's to the 60's! what a span!....
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post #62 of 68 (permalink) Old Apr 27th, 2016, 01:13 AM
Moderator - BFTP
Dodo's New York Times obituary:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/26/sp...t-98.html?_r=0
Dodo Cheney, a Tennis Champion for Decades, Dies at 98
By FRANK LITSKYNOV. 25, 2014
Dodo Cheney, a daughter of tennis royalty who wore lace and pearls as she rolled through generations of competitors on the way to winning 391 tennis championships in the United States, most of them after she turned 55, died on Sunday in Escondido, Calif. She was 98.
The International Tennis Hall of Fame announced her death on Tuesday.
At her induction ceremony at the Hall, in Newport, R.I., in 2004, Cheney, who played competitively well into her 80s, chose John McEnroe to be her presenter, then hit balls back and forth with him afterward.
Cheney — who was born Dorothy Bundy and acquired the nickname Dodo in childhood — was the first American to win the Australian championships, now known as the Australian Open, a feat accomplished in 1938. She was runner-up three times in women's doubles at Grand Slam tournaments and four times in mixed doubles.
In singles, she reached four semifinals of the United States championships and one semifinal each at Wimbledon and the French championships. She was ranked third in the United States in 1937, 1938 and 1941. Her highest world ranking was No. 6 in 1946.
But it was on the senior circuit where she shined the brightest. After turning 55, she competed in two or three age groups in the same year and won titles into her late 80s. Gardnar Mulloy, a male doubles specialist who turned 100 last December, is second with at least 135 national titles.
For Cheney, tennis stardom was practically a birthright. Her mother, the former May Sutton, won the United States championships in 1904 and went on to become the first American to win the women's singles title at Wimbledon, in 1905. She won it again two years later. In 1912, she married Thomas Bundy, who won United States Nationals doubles titles from 1912 to 1914.
Dorothy Bundy was born on Sept. 1, 1916, in Santa Monica, Calif., and by 8 years old she was swinging a tennis racket with some authority. The next year, she won a Southern California junior title. Meanwhile, two younger brothers who couldn't pronounce Dorothy gave her the nickname that would one day appear in headlines.
She was not hypercompetitive at first. She was disqualified from a junior tournament for not showing up; she had met some teenage boys and gone fishing. In another junior tournament, she was leading, 5-2, in the second set and serving for the match when she began to feel sorry for her opponent and eased up. She lost the match.
"I gave her an inch, and she took a mile," Cheney said in an interview with The New York Times in 1999.
She seldom made that mistake again. "I wasn't that competitive as a youngster," she said years later. "Now, though, I'm quite a bit more fierce. As I've grown older, I've grown much more competitive. I really love to win."
At 5 feet 1 inch, Cheney never had a lot of power, but she would stay in the no-man's land between the net and the baseline and slice and chop every ball that came her way. "Dodo land," her opponents called it.
"She's very cagey," Patricia Yeomans, a frequent senior opponent, told The Times. "She doesn't move more than she has to, but she makes you move all over the place. She is just a relentless competitor."
A refined appearance was important to Cheney. She made her own tennis outfits: a lace dress with lace sleeves, lace socks, lace wristband. If she wore a knee bandage, it was lined with lace. When she played, she always wore a pearl necklace.
But she had a reputation for toughness. At 1 a.m. on a Sunday in 1999 at a hotel in Mahwah, N.J., her sleep was interrupted by a fire alarm (which turned out to be a false alarm).
"I walked down 15 flights," she said. "I was afraid my knees wouldn't make it."
Twelve hours later, she won the national women's-80 singles title, her 303rd national title.
"For the last 10 years or so, she's had arthritis in the knees," her daughter Christine Putnam told The Times in 2004, "and that's slowed her down a bit. She does whatever she has to in order to control the point: drop shot, slice, you name it. If her shoulder hurts and she can't serve overhand, she'll serve underhand."
Cheney's husband, Arthur Cheney, was a former pilot for Western Airlines who arranged a lifetime pass for his wife to accommodate her tennis travels.
She is survived by her daughters Christie Putnam and May Cheney; a son, Brian; eight grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
Cheney always kept her success in perspective. She loved telling the story of the time when she was 73 and played a 10-year-old prodigy in Los Angeles.
"She blitzed me," Cheney said. "She just wiped me off the court."
The 10-year-old was Venus Williams.
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At Wimbledon in 1946.
I had a rare treat when Alfajeffster and I got to interview Pauline Betz in August of 2004. Jeff, bless his heart, had the guts to suggest we dare to ask Mrs Addie.
Not only did she agree, "Bobbie" regaled us with stories and even played the piano!
One of my favorite stories told by Pauline involves her and Dodo.
During World War II Dodo helped raise money for the US War effort by playing exhibitions with Pauline Betz. According to Betz conditions were often primitive, but the girls were eager to please. Once the two ladies hit on an aircraft carrier. On another jaunt Betz and Bundy flew into a Central American jungle as night was falling. There was no tennis court and no lighting. No matter, these dames were game. The GI's tied rope between two trees and used the headlights from two jeeps. The girls were there to entertain, despite no real light, no court, and flying insects. Betz described Bundy as the perfect traveling companion, happy win or lose.
Bundy (on the grond) and Betz (standing on ladder)on their USO Tour
Wolbo likes this.
Last edited by Rollo; Apr 28th, 2016 at 08:15 PM.
The Argentine Championships has the biggest trophy around. Here is Dodo after her 1940 victory.
Grafiati
Location: Roving
I was in Newport in 2004 for the Tennis Hall of Fame inductions, and my recollection is that Dodo was bright, bubbly, and schmoozing with the tennis elite and attendees alike. I can only hope that plenty of people get to enjoy her longevity, success, and respect/love for tennis.
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Wolbo
Originally Posted by Rollo View Post
Betz described Bundy as the perfect traveling companion, happy win or lose.
These little videos show how true that is, what a sweetheart!
Dodo Cheney practicing at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club
Dodo's Story
Dorothy "DODO" Cheney
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post #68 of 68 (permalink) Old Jun 26th, 2019, 07:32 AM
Austimrunner1
Re: 1945 (age 28-29)
Originally Posted by austinrunner View Post
17-12 singles record for the year.
Week of January 8
Curacao, Netherlands Antilles
F: lost to Pauline Betz Addie (score unknown)
This was a one-off exhibition for the troops that should be deleted.
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