Memories Of Maria Bueno, Brazilian Tennis Great

Sad to see that one of the most balletic and bold tennis players to ever grace the court, Maria Bueno, died last Friday. Bueno won a total of nineteen major titles, including three Wimbledons and four US Nationals. She was just 17 when she won her first Wimbledon in 1959 and followed that up with a win in the US Nationals later that summer. In 1964, she lost in the finals of the Australian and the French and then went on to win Wimbledon and the US Nationals, coming that close to winning the Grand Slam.

Bueno had already completed the Grand Slam in women’s doubles in 1960 and added another seven women’s doubles and one mixed doubles major titles during the course of here career. She reached the quarter-finals of every major in her first 26 attempts and was a top ten player for a decade, from 1958 to 1968, ranking #1 in singles four of those years. Incredibly, she entered 35 majors in her career and walked away with at least one major title in 19 of those entries, winning at least one title of some kind over half the time.

But beyond her wins, it was Bueno’s graceful but attacking play that made her so enjoyable to those who were lucky enough to see her. Balletic, stylish, panache – those were just some of the words used to describe her play. Nicknamed the “Sao Paolo Swallow” and the “Tennis Ballerina” because of her ability to swiftly but effortlessly cover the court, Bueno backed up that elegance with remarkable but also effortless power for her petite 5 foot-6 frame and a penchant for hitting winners. If you think of the way Federer seemed to just float around the court and always be in perfect position during his heyday a decade ago, then imagine that style in a tiny but incredibly modest young Brazilian woman who had no formal training in tennis.

Bueno was stylish in other ways, wearing a Ted Tinling designed white dress with matching pink underskirt and underwear at the ever-conservative Wimbledon in 1962. That brazen act of fashion sense forced Wimbledon to institute the “predominantly white attire only” rule that still exists today.

Sadly for Bueno, injuries forced her out of the game just before the big money of the Open Era began. But, as someone who was lucky enough to see her glide around the grass courts at Forest Hills many times, her elegance, speed, and effortless style will not be forgotten.