Jacobs, Helen Hull, 1908-1997

Helen Hull Jacobs (b. Aug. 6, 1908–d. June 2, 1997); born in Globe, Arizona, moved to San Francisco in 1914; tennis player; pursued her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Berkeley; inducted into the Cal Sports Hall of Fame; won five Grand Slam singles titles and was an eleven-time Grand Slam singles runner-up; rival was Helen Wills Moody; won three Grand Slam women's doubles titles and one in mixed doubles; won the singles and women's doubles titles at the Italian Championships in 1934; member of the U.S. Wightman Cup team from 1927 through 1937 and again in 1939;
In 1933, Jacobs became the first woman to break with tradition by wearing man-tailored shorts at Wimbledon; author of Modern Tennis (1933), Improve Your Tennis (1936), Storm Against the Wind (1944), Beyond the Game (1936), Gallery of Champions (1949); served as a commander in the U.S. Navy intelligence during World War II, one of only five women to achieve that rank in the Navy; died of heart failure in East Hampton, New York on June 2, 1997