Sarah Palfrey Cooke

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

Career

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Personal life

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

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

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

She was a member of the Junior League of New York City, NY.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)

ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScore Loss 1934U.S. National Championships Grass Helen Jacobs 1–6, 4–6 Loss 1935 U.S. National Championships Grass Helen Jacobs2–6, 4–6 Win 1941 U.S. National Championships Grass Pauline Betz 7–5, 6–2 Win 1945 U.S. National Championships Grass Pauline Betz 3–6, 8–6, 6–4

Doubles (11 titles, 3 runner-ups)

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

Mixed doubles (5 titles, 5 runner-ups)

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

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

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