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            Remembering When ...

             May Sutton was an                   [Image]
             important winner
             of her time                    SLEEVES ROLLED UP,
             by David Mason               shorter skirt, and May
                                           Sutton gives it her
             "The plans for                 best, but loses to
             the April Tennis                     Hazel
             Tournament were              Hotchkiss-Wightman at
             discussed. After               "The Ojai" - 1910.
             considerable
             discussion, a
             secret ballot was
             taken as to what
             to charge for
             admission, and a                    [Image]
             large majority
             were found in                THE CROWDED GRANDSTAND
             favor of ten                  during the 1902 Ojai
             cents admission              Tennis Tournament when
             to the grounds              May Sutton thrilled the
             and an additional                    crowd.
             25 cents for
             either
             grandstand."
             - The Ojai, April
             2, 1898
                                                 [Image]
             One of the most
             important tennis             MAY SUTTON WINNING the
             players during               Ojai Tennis Tournament
             those early                 after reigning as Queen
             tournament years                of the Pasadena
             was the vivacious            Tournament of Roses -
             and                                  1908.
             young-spirited
             May Sutton.
             Sutton was born
             in 1886 in                          [Image]
             Plymouth,
             England, but by
             the time she was
             6, the family had                 [amazon.com]
             moved to the
             orange groves of
             one of
             California's most        [PC Mall Computer Superstore]
             popular towns,
             Pasadena. Once
             they were settled
             into their new                  [Logo - 120x40]
             home, the family
             built their own
             tennis court,
             hauling the clay
             from the nearby  [Cell phones and plans, pagers, satellite tv]
             mountains and
             rolling it smooth
             with a
             steamroller.                        [Image]
             Learning to play
             the game at an
             early age, gave
             Sutton the drive
             to succeed at
             being the best
             player she could.
             With such strong
             determination,
             and after her
             father had
             cemented her
             tennis court, she
             started on the
             road to many
             spectacular wins.
             At the early age
             of 12 she
             defeated her
             older sister
             Ethel in her
             first tournament.
             By the age of 13,
             she won the first
             of her many
             Pacific Southwest
             titles.
             In 1904, May
             Sutton won the
             U.S. title,
             becoming the
             nation's youngest
             women's champion
             and winning a
             gold watch and
             chain, linked
             with topaz
             stones. Wimbledon
             was then the
             young lady's
             goal.
             An American girl
             named Marion
             Jones had entered
             Wimbledon in
             1900, and had
             gone as far as
             the
             quarterfinals.
             She was the first
             American to enter
             this prestigious
             event which was
             held annually in
             Great Britain.
             Sutton's goal was
             to not only enter
             Wimbledon, but to
             be the first
             American to win.
             Her determination
             was so great that
             when she won, in
             1905, it caused
             the "soon-to-be"
             king, George V,
             to sit in the
             royal box and
             cry. Sutton, with
             her intimidating
             forehand, made a
             memorable
             appearance.
             She became the
             first overseas
             player to take
             the Wimbledon
             championship.
             This was in the
             year of the
             biggest invasion
             of foreigners. In
             1905 there were
             among the men,
             five Americans,
             two New
             Zealanders, three
             Australians,
             three Belgians,
             two Danes and a
             South African.
             British
             newspapers were
             not kind to the
             winner. Sutton
             was being
             referred to as
             the "Pasadena
             Washer Woman,"
             and the papers
             wrote, "May
             Sutton looks like
             she's taking in
             washing." The
             newspapers were
             appalled that a
             woman would think
             of playing the
             game of tennis
             with her sleeves
             rolled up, which
             Sutton had done.
             By the time
             Sutton had won at
             Wimbledon, she
             had already
             captured the
             Women's Singles
             Championship at
             "The Ojai"
             tournament. She
             had won here in
             1902, 1903, 1904,
             and in 1905, the
             same year as her
             English
             championship.
             In 1907, Sutton
             returned to
             England to win at
             Wimbledon one
             more time. She
             had shocked the
             English crowd by
             wearing a shorter
             skirt than most
             women players and
             she was even more
             shocking by
             showing her
             ankles.
             "The Ojai" tennis
             crowd didn't even
             seem to notice
             that she wore her
             skirts shorter or
             rolled up her
             sleeves, they
             were just
             delighted to have
             someone who
             thrilled the
             spectators and
             was in the
             process of
             filling record
             books with her
             many
             accomplishments.
             In writing about
             the tournament,
             the local
             newspaper said,
             "Racquet strings
             whistle through
             the patient
             atmosphere, and
             the dull thud of
             the ball is
             heard, reminding
             one of the sound
             of the o'er-ripe
             apple
             precipitated upon
             the somnolent
             head of him who
             invented the law
             of gravitation."
             Sutton continued
             to win at "The
             Ojai,"
             championships in
             1906,1907 and in
             1908, after she
             had become the
             first sports
             celebrity to be
             named Queen of
             the Tournament of
             Roses. There she
             rolled down her
             sleeves, carried
             a pink umbrella
             and won the
             hearts of
             everyone along
             the parade route.
             A defeat at the
             Ojai Tennis
             Tournament was
             recorded by The
             Ojai newspaper in
             1910; "The
             excitement was
             intense during
             the Miss
             Hotchkiss-Miss
             Sutton match.
             Everyone wanted
             Hazel to win, and
             yet no one wanted
             May to lose; it
             was a parlous
             state. Miss
             Sutton took her
             defeat in a true
             sportswomanlike
             manner, while
             Miss Hotchkiss
             bore her honors
             mildly."
             In 1912, Sutton
             won at Ojai and
             then married
             Thomas Clark
             Bundy, a one-time
             national doubles
             champion who
             would win twice
             more over the
             next two years.
             Bundy had won the
             Men's Open
             Doubles at "The
             Ojai" tournament
             in 1908.
             Eventually, he
             would set his
             racket aside and
             go into the real
             estate business.
             Bundy developed
             the La
             Brea-Wilshire
             section of Los
             Angeles. The
             Bundy name was
             even used on a
             now infamous
             Brentwood street.
             In 1915, just a
             few months after
             giving birth to
             her second child,
             Sutton Bundy
             returned to the
             courts to play
             against the
             National Woman's
             Champion, winning
             that match, and
             later in the year
             she won the
             Southern
             California title
             for the eighth
             time.
             In 1920, Thomas
             Bundy bought the
             corner of Melrose
             Avenue and Vine
             Street in the Los
             Angeles area to
             build a beautiful
             Spanish-style
             clubhouse for the
             Los Angeles
             Tennis Club. The
             proximity of the
             clubhouse to
             Hollywood allowed
             it to be used
             frequently by
             movie stars.
             Sutton Bundy
             found herself
             playing with such
             stars as Charlie
             Chaplin, Clark
             Gable, Joan
             Bennett, Jean
             Harlow and
             Marlene Dietrich.
             Sutton Bundy's
             marriage broke up
             in the 1920s, but
             they remained
             friends. Thomas
             Bundy even built
             his wife her own
             tennis court at
             their house in
             Santa Monica. Her
             court was the
             first to ever be
             painted green and
             it was
             complemented by
             her own personal
             clubhouse.
             The Ojai Tennis
             Tournament trophy
             went to Sutton
             Bundy again in
             1922, the local
             paper, The Ojai,
             wrote; "Mrs. May
             Sutton Bundy
             carried off the
             honors in the
             ladies' singles
             by defeating Miss
             Mary Browne in a
             very spirited
             contest, 8-6,
             6-2, thereby
             taking from the
             latter the Ojai
             title which she
             had held for the
             past three
             years." She
             continued to win
             "The Ojai" in
             1923, 1927 and
             1928.
             Hazel Hotchkiss
             (Wightman), to
             whom Sutton Bundy
             lost in 1910,
             while playing the
             Ojai Tennis
             Tournament,
             created the
             Wightman Cup, an
             idea she
             conceived as a
             women's
             competition
             equivalent to the
             Davis Cup. In
             1925, Sutton
             Bundy won the
             silver cup and
             played the
             Wightman Cup
             again in 1928.
             In 1938, along
             with political
             columnist Dorothy
             Thompson, actress
             Norma Shearer and
             aviator Amelia
             Earhart, Sutton
             Bundy was named
             as one of the
             nation's most
             influential
             feminists.
             In 1956, Sutton
             Bundy became the
             first woman
             inducted into the
             U.S. Lawn Tennis
             Association's
             Hall of Fame,
             being recognized
             for her
             half-century of
             achievements.
             She held the
             title of the
             nation's youngest
             women's champion
             for eight
             decades, until
             Tracy Austin took
             it away at the
             age of 16 years
             and 9 months. May
             Sutton Bundy has
             long been
             remembered by
             those who were
             fortunate enough
             to watch her
             games and her
             triumphs. The Los
             Angeles Times
             referred to the
             lady as "the most
             durable athlete
             of the century."

             © 2000 The Ojai
             Valley News

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