Dorothy Head Knode Biography

Dorothy Head Knode (ne Head; born July 4, 1925) is a former tennis player from the United States who reached the women's singles final of the French Championships in 1955 (losing to Angela Mortimer Barrett in three sets) and 1957 (losing to Shirley Bloomer Brasher in straight sets). She reached the semifinals of six other Grand Slam singles tournaments from 1952 through 1957.

In 1948 she won the singles title at the Cincinnati Championships after defeating Mercedes Madden Lewis in the final in two straight sets. Knode won the singles title at the German Championships in 1950, 1952, and 1953. She also won the singles title at the U.S. Women's Clay Court Championships in 1951, 1955, 1958, and 1960 and the bronze medal at the 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago. She and her partner Darlene Hard were the runners-up in women's doubles at the 1956 French Championships, losing to the team of Althea Gibson and Angela Buxton 6-8, 8-6, 6-1.

According to Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Knode was ranked in the world top ten in 1952, 1953, 1955, 1957, and 1958 (no rankings issued from 1940 through 1945), reaching a career high of World No. 5 in those rankings in 1955 and 1957. Knode was included in the year-end top ten rankings issued by the United States Lawn Tennis Association in 1943, 1944, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1951, and 1956 through 1959. She was the third-ranked United States player in 1957 and 1959.

As of October 2008, Knode is still active in international and national senior events, winning the 80-and-over Super-Seniors World Individual Championships in Antalya, Turkey in 2005.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: (2 runners-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1955	French Championships	Clay	Angela Mortimer	6-2, 5-7, 8-10
Runner-up	1957	French Championships	Clay	Shirley Bloomer Brasher	1-6, 3-6

Doubles (1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1956	French Championships	Clay	Darlene Hard	Angela Buxton Althea Gibson	8-6, 6-8, 1-6

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Tournament	1943	1944	1945	19461	19471	1948	1949	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	Career SR
Australian Championships	NH	NH	NH	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 0
France	R	R	A	A	A	A	A	3R	A	SF	SF	A	F	3R	F	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	3R	1R	A	1R	0 / 10
Wimbledon	NH	NH	NH	A	A	A	A	4R	A	4R	SF	A	QF	2R	SF	2R	A	3R	A	A	3R	A	A	2R	1R	A	A	0 / 11
U.S. Championships	QF	2R	1R	QF	QF	3R	2R	A	3R	A	A	1R	SF	QF	SF	QF	QF	A	A	4R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 15
SR	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 2	0 / 1	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 1	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 0	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 0	0 / 1	0 / 36

R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under German occupation. SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

¹In 1946 and 1947, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.

See also

• Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final