About Maureen Connolly
Maureen Catherine Connolly-Brinker, known as "Little Mo", was an American tennis player, the winner of nine major singles titles in the early 1950s. In 1953, she became the first woman to win a Grand Slam. She is also the only player in history to win a title without losing a set at all four major championships. The following year, in July 1954, a horseback riding accident seriously injured her right leg and ended her competitive tennis career at age 19. She died of ovarian cancer at the age of 34. Championships, Connolly at age 16 defeated Shirley Fry to become, at that time, the youngest ever to win America's most prestigious tennis tournament. In 1953, she became the first woman to win a Grand Slam (all four major tournaments during the same calendar year). Her first coach, Wilbur Folsom, encouraged her to switch from a left-handed grip to a right-handed one, and she soon became a baseline specialist with tremendous power and accuracy.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.