HELEN JACOBS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 222, 19 September 1936, Page 4

HELEN JACOBS

INTENDS TO STAY YET NO INTENTION OF RETIRING HOSPITABLE WIMBLEDON Although beaten in uefencc or her 1 i United States tennis singles title at Forest Hills the other day by Miss Marble, Helen Hull Jacobd is still as ’unshaken in her intention to remain ' in the game for some years yet. When ’ I she arrived home from Wimbledon, • j back in August last, she declared that ’ | she had no intention of following I Helen Wills-Moody into retirement [.just yet. ’ | “I have’nt had enough tennis yet ■land I intend to go on playing for 'some years yet,” she declared. J “My two chief interests in life,” ‘she said happily as the big liner icoursed its way up the Hudson River, ■ “are tennis and writing. They go I marvellously well together, so I think I shall continue playing as long as I I can do it well enough to suit Helen i Jacobs. i “Yes, lam sorry Helen (Helen Wills I Moody) quit, but I can appreciate her i point of view. She played tennis for many years and now has turned to other interests. I'll admit I am sorry, that I couldn't meet her in one more national.” “Do you think you could beat her?” i "Well, what do you think? It certainly is a rainy day, isn't it?” Thrill . . . Miss Jacobs dressed conservatively in white and blue, has enjoyed her share of thrills and suffered many disappointments, but she said probably her greatest thrill was her victory at Wimbledon.

“It was a most glorious feeling,” she beamed, "when at last, after eight attemps, I knew 1 had won. I wanted to laugh and cry at once. The final against Mrs. Sperling (Hilda Krahwinkel Sperling of Denmark and Germany) was the hardest match of my career. She's the best defensive player in the world. My, but she was hard to beat.' Her exceptionally long reach just about breaks your heart on the tennis court.” Queen Helen, five pounds lighter than when she left her home in Berkeley, California, said that she never realised how many kind people there were in the world until just before and after she had won at Wimbledon. “Why,” she mused soberly, “I received such wonderful and touching messages that I felt like a queen. And the best part was that most of the messages were anonymous. I received one from an English woman, who said she was 86 years old and pulling hard for me. \ou know, most people are very sweet.”

As she gazed at the pelting rain, a big smile crinkled over her face. "But my greatest kick, I suppose, is that I no longer can be called the ‘greatest tennis player who never won the Wimbledon championship.' ” Queen Helen left the boat immediately for Forest Hills where she rested and practised for tho next ten days . . . Next to writing books (she’s written an autobiograhy) and articles, 1 her favourite hobby next to tennis is (horseback riding. Her sister is an accomplished horsewoman but hates tennis ... In England, Helen joined several fox hunting parties but admitted she never shot a foz. In fact, she didn’t even see anyone shoot a fox . . . She uses about one dozen tennis rackets a year . . . She gave up swimming because, she said, it makes the shoulder muscles stiff. Horseback riding helps her game, she said, "unless I fall off the horse.” . . . She bought a new dog, a border terrier she named ‘Scrap,’ in England . . . She answers all fan mail and gets plenty of it . . . She hasn’t had any offers |to turn profesional, she guaranteed, and wouldn’t be interested "for one moment.”