Kathleen "Kitty" McKane Godfree was a British tennis and badminton player and the most decorated female British Olympian, joint with Katherine Grainger According to A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Godfree was ranked in the worldtop ten from 1921 through 1927, reaching a career high of World No. 2 in those rankings in 1923, 1924, and 1926. Godfree won five Olympic medals in tennis at the 1920 Antwerp and 1924 Paris games, the most Olympic medals ever won by a tennis player until Venus Williams matched this record at the 2016 Olympic Games. In 1923 she captured the title at the World Covered Court Championships. Godfree won the Wimbledon singles title twice. In the 1924 final, Godfree recovered from a set and 4–1 down against Helen Wills to win the title. This was the only defeat at Wimbledon for Wills who would go on to win eight titles. In the 1926 final, Godfree recovered from a 3–1 and game-point-against deficit in the third set to defeat Lili de Alvarez. The 1924 Wimbledon final was not Godfree's only victory over Wills. Godfree also defeated Wills during the 1924 Wightman Cup 6–2, 6–2. On at least two other occasions, Godfree pushed Wills to the limit. Wills won their quarterfinal in the 1923 U.S. Championships 2–6, 6–2, 7–5 after Godfree recovered to 5–5 in the third set after trailing 5–2. And in the final of the 1925 U.S. Championships, Wills won in three sets. In 1925, Godfree became the first person to have reached the singles finals of the French Championships, Wimbledon, and U.S. Championships during her career. In 1922, Kitty and her sister Margaret McKane Stocks were the only sisters to contest a Wimbledon doubles final, losing to Suzanne Lenglen and Elizabeth Ryan 6–0, 6–4. Godfree's lifetime record at Wimbledon was 38–11 in singles, 33–12 in women's doubles, and 40–12 in mixed doubles. Godfree received a Centenary medallion on Wimbledon's Centre Court in 1977. She presented the winner's trophy to Martina Navratilova in 1986, in honour of the centenary year of play at Wimbledon. Godfree was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1978. In badminton, Godfree won eight All England Open Badminton Championships from 1920 through 1925, considered the unofficial World Badminton Championships until 1977. She was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1988 when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews. Godfree died on 19 June 1992 at the age of 96.
1Through 1923, the French Championships were open only to French nationals. The World Hard Court Championships, actually played on clay in Paris or Brussels, began in 1912 and were open to all nationalities. The results from that tournament are shown here from 1920 through 1923. The Olympics replaced the WHCC in 1924, as the Olympics were held in Paris. Beginning in 1925, the French Championships were open to all nationalities, with the results shown here beginning with that year.
Husband
Kitty and her husband Leslie remain the only married couple ever to win the mixed doubles championship at Wimbledon, winning the title in 1926. Kitty has also been referred to as Mrs. L. A. Godfree on sportscards and in reference material.
