Throwback Thursday: American champion Wills Moody is born

111 years ago today, 11x #Wimbledon champion Helen Wills was born.

Between 1927-33, she won 180 straight matches without dropping a set 😮 pic.twitter.com/qfCJYBkIiG
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) October 6, 2016

Helen Wills Moody (also known as Helen Wills) was born on October 6, 1905 in Fremont, Calif. She would go on to win 31 Grand Slam titles, including 19 in singles.

Widely regarded as the first American athlete to become a globally recognizable figure, and one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Wills Moody was No. 1 in the world for nine years from 1927–33 and in 1935 and 1938. During the 1927–33 stretch, she won 180 matches in a row without losing a set.

Her record of eight straight Wimbledon titles was surpassed by Martina Navratilova in 1990.

Wills died on January 1, 1998 at the age of 92.

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