Until Betty Kay Nuthall came along from England, no one in the 20th century had taken the women's championship out of the U.S. It was a far less widespread and organized game when Irishwoman Mabel Cahill won at Philadelphia in 1891-92. In 1927, the 16-year-old Nuthall, a prodigy who had won the British Hard Court title in the spring (a quarterfinalist there at 14), was not only threatening a long-lived American monopoly at Forest Hills but a record of Bessie Moore, the 16-year-old finalist to Cahill in 1892.

Still serving underhanded, as she had all her life--a habit she would soon change--Betty might have been the youngest of all U.S. champs. But Helen Wills took care of that in the U.S. final, 6-1, 6-4. Nevertheless, Nuthall, exactly the same age, to the day, as Moore had been, shared the "youngest finalist" record with her until Pam Shriver, a younger 16, displaced both of them in 1978.

Three years later, 1930, and still a teenager, Nuthall did get the U.S. title, beating in succession the second-first seeds, Midge Morrill and Mrs. Anna McCune Harper, 6-1, 6-4. Defending the title, she reached the 1931 semis, losing, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, to Wightman Cup teammate Eileen Bennett Whitingstall. Nuthall again was a semifinalist in 1933, startling onlookers by pushing the champ, Helen Wills Moody, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. As the youngest to play for Britain when she joined the team in 1927, she was a Wightman Cupper eight years, beating the redoubtable Helen Jacobs in her debut.

She had a fine French in 1931, beating Jacobs before having to contend with the Germans who would clash for the Wimbledon title weeks later. Betty beat Hilde Krahwinkel in the semis to prevent a preview of Wimbledon's all-German final, but lost the title match to the tiny woman who ruled Paris and London, 5-footer Cilly Aussem, 8-6, 6-1. But she took the doubles with Whitingstall.

The main strength of Betty's game was her forehand. Holding the racket out with extended right arm, she used it as a flail, and hit with great power. Speed was the essence of her game; there was no temporizing. She hit with length and discernment, and was resourceful and wise in tactics.

Born May 23, 1911, in Surbiton, Surrey, she took up the game at seven with her father's guidance. She accomplished little in 1928 after her success the previous year, which included a beating of reigning U.S. champion Molla Mallory at Wimbledon to gain the quarters. It was not until she was bypassed for the Wightman Cup team in 1930 that she decided to take matters into her own hands and campaign alone. Packing her trunk, and accompanied by her brother, Jimmy (the English junior champ), she sailed for the U.S., and her perseverance, initiative and faith in herself were rewarded. This time, serving over handed, she came through, the only Brit to rule Forest Hills until Virginia Wade in 1968, thus establishing herself as one of her country's most distinguished performers, ranking in the World Top Ten, 1927, 1929, 1930, 1931 and 1933.

Selected for the Hall of Fame in 1977, she died November 8, 1983, in New York, where she had been a resident, as Mrs. Franklin Shoemaker.