Patricia Canning
Full name: Mary Patricia Canning
Nickname: Toddy, Pat
Alias: Mrs R.B.Todd
Mrs Richard Bradburn Todd
Nickname: Toddy, Pat
Alias: Mrs R.B.Todd
Mrs Richard Bradburn Todd
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| Bio | She had her best results just after World War II. In 1947 and 1948, she won a total of four Grand Slam championships: one in singles, two in women's doubles, and one in mixed doubles. She won these titles as a young mother. Though Pat was overshadowed by the "Big 4" (Betz, Brough, DuPont, and Hart) she beat them all in her career, not to mention wins over every other great player of the period, including Maureen Connolly. Pat was significant in other ways, continued to play after being married and even after motherhood; being the proud mom of 3. She was colourful, from her signature padded striped tops down to her outbursts against tennis officials. Todd and her partner lost seven times to Louise Brough and Margaret Osborne duPont in the women's doubles finals of Grand Slam tournaments. Todd's lone victory over the Brough-Osborne duPont partnership was in the final of the 1947 Wimbledon Championships when Todd teamed with Doris Hart. Todd and her partner lost twice to Brough and her partner in the mixed doubles finals of Grand Slam tournaments. Todd won the title at the 1947 French International Championships and reached the semifinals there in 1948. At the 1947 event, the fourth-seeded Todd played top-seeded Osborne duPont, the defending champion and the newly crowned Wimbledon champion, in a semifinal that took two days to complete. After Osborne duPont won the first set 6–2, thunderstorm stopped play for the remainder of the day. The next day, Todd, "producing magnificent backhand shots", won after being 1–3 down in the final set. The crowd was so vocal in backing Todd that a referee reversed a line call to give Todd match point. In the final, Hart played an attacking game and led 4–3 in the final set, but "she was against a great fighter who was content to retrieve, and on a slow court, defence overcame attack". At the 1948 event, Todd, who was the favourite and defending champion, was defaulted by French officials after she refused to move her scheduled centre court match to court 2. Todd had complained about being last on the centre court after having played there only one match previously. When requested to move, she refused because of the late hour and because a full set of linesmen would not be present. "They can scratch [default] me if they like. I am not going to play anywhere but on the centre court where my match is scheduled." The officials defaulted her, then changed their minds and gave her Landry's phone number to reschedule. When Landry could not be reached, the default stood. She returned to the French International Championships in 1950, after a one-year absence, and reached the final where she lost to Hart. Todd went to the hospital after the final for blood poisoning. During her Grand Slam singles career, Todd was 2–0 versus Shirley Fry, 1–0 versus Katherine Stammers, 1–1 versus Hart, 0–1 versus Nancye Wynne Bolton, 0–1 versus Pauline Betz, 1–3 versus Osborne duPont, 0–2 versus Dorothy Bundy Cheney, and 1–6 versus Brough. As for tournaments that were not Grand Slam events, Todd won the singles and mixed doubles titles at the South American championships in 1947 and 1948. In 1942 and 1948, she won the U. S. Indoor National Championships. In 1950, she was the singles and doubles titlist at the Asian Championships and the Championships of India. She won both the singles and doubles titles at the Tri-Cities Championships in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1951. She also won singles titles at the U. S. Hardcourt Championships in 1950 and 1951 and was the women's doubles champion there in 1950, 1955, 1956, and 1957. According to John Olliff and Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Todd was ranked in the world top ten from 1946 through 1952 (no rankings issued from 1940 through 1945), reaching a career-high of world no. 4 in those rankings in 1950. Todd was included in the year-end top ten rankings issued by the United States Lawn Tennis Association in 1942 and from 1944 through 1952, reaching a career-high ranking of no. 4 in 1947 and 1949. She unsuccessfully complained about her no. 6 rankings in 1948, especially the placement of Beverly Baker, Gertrude Moran, and Hart above her, accusing the USLTA of having no standard ranking rules and of punishing her for refusing to play her semifinal match against Landry in Paris. Todd played doubles on the U. S. Wightman Cup team from 1947 to 1951, compiling a 4–1 win-loss record. Todd had a London clothes maker that outfitted her. Immaculately tailored and fashionable, Pat was adored by the English public. Todd was nominated for induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005, but she was not selected. She was inducted into the San Diego Tennis Hall of Fame in 2010. Todd was inducted to the Southern California Tennis Association Hall of Fame, 2011. |
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