newmark401
Professional
By Mark Ryan
Part 1 of 2
Pénélope Julie “Diddie” Vlasto was born on 8 August 1903 in Marseilles, France. Her parents were Michel Vlasto, born 1874, originally from the Greek island of Chios, and Régine (née Lidoriki), born 1869, also from Greece. Diddie’s father studied in Marseilles and later settled and worked there for the Ralli Brothers company, a very successful expatriate Greek merchant business (Marseilles is France’s largest port and a major centre for trade and industry).
Michel Vlasto’s main hobby was archaeology, and he came to own a great collection of Greek vases, which were eventually donated to the National Museum of Athens where they are currently on show. He was also a renowned numismatist and extremely knowledgeable about Ancient Greek Tarantine coins. He assembled a priceless collection of these coins during his lifetime.
Diddie, as she was always called by family and friends (the origins of this name are uncertain – even Diddie’s children are unsure of how she came to be so named), grew up in Marseilles with her parents and brother, Pantaléon (known as Pandély), who was born in 1900. Diddie’s mother, Régine, had a keen interest in the arts, especially literature, and in later life liked to surround herself with poets and writers and to have long exchanges of ideas and thoughts.
In those days it was unusual for girls from Diddie’s background to receive a formal education, and she was educated privately, at home, by tutors. There is some uncertainty as to exactly when Diddie first began to play tennis, but it may well just have been as a social activity or a form of exercise, at the local Tennis-Club de Marseille. Her brother, Pantaléon, did not play tennis.
Diddie would have grown up playing mainly on clay courts and it was on this surface that she was to enjoy her best results. Unfortunately for Diddie and her contemporaries, they often had to play against Suzanne Lenglen, possibly the greatest player of all time, and essentially invincible in singles anywhere from 1919 to 1926. Diddie and Suzanne played several times in singles. They were to form a successful doubles partnership and became very good friends.
In those days the Riviera tournaments, held in winter and spring, were very popular and Diddie had one of her most impressive initial singles victories there in 1923, at the age of 19, during the Championships of Cannes, when she beat Molla Mallory, then the United States Nationals champion, 8-6, 9-7. This victory provided evidence of Diddie’s potential. In June of 1923, Diddie made her Wimbledon debut, winning through to the fourth round of the singles before facing the invincible Suzanne Lenglen.
In 1924, Diddie continued to progress and won the biggest singles tournament of her career, the French National Championships, held at the Racing Club de France in Paris. Although Suzanne Lenglen was absent that year due to illness and the tournament was open only to French nationals and players licensed with French clubs, Diddie’s victory was impressive when it is considered that she was only 20 years of age at the time. She dropped just one set in four matches and beat Jeanne Vaussard in the final by a score of 6-2, 6-3.
In 1924, Diddie also won a silver medal in the singles event at the Olympic Games, which were held in Paris that year. Diddie lost the final to Helen Wills, 6-2, 6-2, but in the semi-final against the Wimbledon champion, Britain’s Kathleen McKane, Diddie had played one of the best matches of her career up to that point. Trailing 0-6, 0-3, and in a seemingly impossible position, Diddie showed great determination to stage a marvellous comeback in front of a partisan crowd. She eventually ran out the winner by a score of 0-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Kathleen Mc Kane gained her revenge over Diddie nearly a year later by beating her in the semi-finals of the French Championships at Saint Cloud, which in 1925 were open to foreign nationals for the first time. However, Diddie won the ladies’ doubles title with Suzanne Lenglen, beating Kathleen McKane and her fellow Briton Evelyn Colyer 6-1, 9-11, 6-2. (The following year Diddie and Suzanne retained their doubles title at the French Championships by beating the same British pair in the final, this time by a score of 6-1, 6-1. No ladies’ doubles team since then has managed to better this score in the final of the French Championships.)
Diddie also reached the final of the mixed doubles at the 1925 French Championships, with Henri Cochet, one of the famous Four Musketeers, where they lost to Suzanne Lenglen and Jacques Brugnon. Diddie always got on well with all four Musketeers, in particular with Cochet, whom she partnered in several mixed doubles events.
Diddie enjoyed continued success on the Riviera circuit in 1926 at a time when both Suzanne Lenglen and Helen Wills were present there. Diddie was runner-up to Helen Wills at the tournament held at the Métropole Club in Cannes, where she pushed the American to 6-3, 7-5; and Diddie led 4-1 in the second set of her semi-final match against the American at the Carlton Club, also in Cannes, before losing 6-1, 6-4. It was at this tournament that Lenglen and Wills had their only meeting in singles, with Suzanne winning the final 6-3, 8-6. In the doubles final at the same tournament Diddie and Suzanne beat Helen Wills and Hélène Contostavlos, of Greek origin and a distant cousin of Diddie, 6-4, 8-6. Diddie’s excellent form in the doubles final was noted by many observers.
Diddie had a poor showing in the singles at the French Championships in June 1926, but made up for it a few weeks later by going all the way to the semi-finals of the singles event at Wimbledon. (At that point only one other Frenchwoman – the incomparable Suzanne Lenglen – had ever gone so far in the ladies’ singles at the world’s most prestigious tournament.) In her semi-final against Kathleen Godfree (formerly McKane), Diddie put up a good fight in the first set but then faded.
In the doubles at the same tournament, partnered with Suzanne Lenglen, Diddie lost in the second round to the Americans Elizabeth Ryan and Mary K. Browne, the eventual champions. In a curious match played on a rainy day Diddie and Suzanne won the first set 6-3 and had three match points at 7-6 in the second set, but the American pair saved them all and eventually won by a score of 3-6, 9-7, 6-2.
Wimbledon 1926 was Suzanne Lenglen’s last tournament as an amateur. After a controversial misunderstanding with officials over her schedule she scratched half-way through what was turning out to be a traumatic tournament for her. Fortunately Diddie and some of the other French players were able to offer Suzanne support during this difficult time. Diddie and Suzanne remained friends, and when Suzanne died in July 1938 at the age of only 39, her mother, Anaise, gave Diddie a Cartier art deco powder compact originally owned by Suzanne. This object was subsequently donated to the Wimbledon museum by one of Diddie’s daughters.
Part 1 of 2
Pénélope Julie “Diddie” Vlasto was born on 8 August 1903 in Marseilles, France. Her parents were Michel Vlasto, born 1874, originally from the Greek island of Chios, and Régine (née Lidoriki), born 1869, also from Greece. Diddie’s father studied in Marseilles and later settled and worked there for the Ralli Brothers company, a very successful expatriate Greek merchant business (Marseilles is France’s largest port and a major centre for trade and industry).
Michel Vlasto’s main hobby was archaeology, and he came to own a great collection of Greek vases, which were eventually donated to the National Museum of Athens where they are currently on show. He was also a renowned numismatist and extremely knowledgeable about Ancient Greek Tarantine coins. He assembled a priceless collection of these coins during his lifetime.
Diddie, as she was always called by family and friends (the origins of this name are uncertain – even Diddie’s children are unsure of how she came to be so named), grew up in Marseilles with her parents and brother, Pantaléon (known as Pandély), who was born in 1900. Diddie’s mother, Régine, had a keen interest in the arts, especially literature, and in later life liked to surround herself with poets and writers and to have long exchanges of ideas and thoughts.
In those days it was unusual for girls from Diddie’s background to receive a formal education, and she was educated privately, at home, by tutors. There is some uncertainty as to exactly when Diddie first began to play tennis, but it may well just have been as a social activity or a form of exercise, at the local Tennis-Club de Marseille. Her brother, Pantaléon, did not play tennis.
Diddie would have grown up playing mainly on clay courts and it was on this surface that she was to enjoy her best results. Unfortunately for Diddie and her contemporaries, they often had to play against Suzanne Lenglen, possibly the greatest player of all time, and essentially invincible in singles anywhere from 1919 to 1926. Diddie and Suzanne played several times in singles. They were to form a successful doubles partnership and became very good friends.
In those days the Riviera tournaments, held in winter and spring, were very popular and Diddie had one of her most impressive initial singles victories there in 1923, at the age of 19, during the Championships of Cannes, when she beat Molla Mallory, then the United States Nationals champion, 8-6, 9-7. This victory provided evidence of Diddie’s potential. In June of 1923, Diddie made her Wimbledon debut, winning through to the fourth round of the singles before facing the invincible Suzanne Lenglen.
In 1924, Diddie continued to progress and won the biggest singles tournament of her career, the French National Championships, held at the Racing Club de France in Paris. Although Suzanne Lenglen was absent that year due to illness and the tournament was open only to French nationals and players licensed with French clubs, Diddie’s victory was impressive when it is considered that she was only 20 years of age at the time. She dropped just one set in four matches and beat Jeanne Vaussard in the final by a score of 6-2, 6-3.
In 1924, Diddie also won a silver medal in the singles event at the Olympic Games, which were held in Paris that year. Diddie lost the final to Helen Wills, 6-2, 6-2, but in the semi-final against the Wimbledon champion, Britain’s Kathleen McKane, Diddie had played one of the best matches of her career up to that point. Trailing 0-6, 0-3, and in a seemingly impossible position, Diddie showed great determination to stage a marvellous comeback in front of a partisan crowd. She eventually ran out the winner by a score of 0-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Kathleen Mc Kane gained her revenge over Diddie nearly a year later by beating her in the semi-finals of the French Championships at Saint Cloud, which in 1925 were open to foreign nationals for the first time. However, Diddie won the ladies’ doubles title with Suzanne Lenglen, beating Kathleen McKane and her fellow Briton Evelyn Colyer 6-1, 9-11, 6-2. (The following year Diddie and Suzanne retained their doubles title at the French Championships by beating the same British pair in the final, this time by a score of 6-1, 6-1. No ladies’ doubles team since then has managed to better this score in the final of the French Championships.)
Diddie also reached the final of the mixed doubles at the 1925 French Championships, with Henri Cochet, one of the famous Four Musketeers, where they lost to Suzanne Lenglen and Jacques Brugnon. Diddie always got on well with all four Musketeers, in particular with Cochet, whom she partnered in several mixed doubles events.
Diddie enjoyed continued success on the Riviera circuit in 1926 at a time when both Suzanne Lenglen and Helen Wills were present there. Diddie was runner-up to Helen Wills at the tournament held at the Métropole Club in Cannes, where she pushed the American to 6-3, 7-5; and Diddie led 4-1 in the second set of her semi-final match against the American at the Carlton Club, also in Cannes, before losing 6-1, 6-4. It was at this tournament that Lenglen and Wills had their only meeting in singles, with Suzanne winning the final 6-3, 8-6. In the doubles final at the same tournament Diddie and Suzanne beat Helen Wills and Hélène Contostavlos, of Greek origin and a distant cousin of Diddie, 6-4, 8-6. Diddie’s excellent form in the doubles final was noted by many observers.
Diddie had a poor showing in the singles at the French Championships in June 1926, but made up for it a few weeks later by going all the way to the semi-finals of the singles event at Wimbledon. (At that point only one other Frenchwoman – the incomparable Suzanne Lenglen – had ever gone so far in the ladies’ singles at the world’s most prestigious tournament.) In her semi-final against Kathleen Godfree (formerly McKane), Diddie put up a good fight in the first set but then faded.
In the doubles at the same tournament, partnered with Suzanne Lenglen, Diddie lost in the second round to the Americans Elizabeth Ryan and Mary K. Browne, the eventual champions. In a curious match played on a rainy day Diddie and Suzanne won the first set 6-3 and had three match points at 7-6 in the second set, but the American pair saved them all and eventually won by a score of 3-6, 9-7, 6-2.
Wimbledon 1926 was Suzanne Lenglen’s last tournament as an amateur. After a controversial misunderstanding with officials over her schedule she scratched half-way through what was turning out to be a traumatic tournament for her. Fortunately Diddie and some of the other French players were able to offer Suzanne support during this difficult time. Diddie and Suzanne remained friends, and when Suzanne died in July 1938 at the age of only 39, her mother, Anaise, gave Diddie a Cartier art deco powder compact originally owned by Suzanne. This object was subsequently donated to the Wimbledon museum by one of Diddie’s daughters.
