Molla Bjurstedt Mallory
- Residence: USA
- DOB: March 6, 1884
- Birthplace: Norway
Biography
Anna 'Molla' Bjurstedt Mallory lived from March 6, 1884 – November 22, 1959 and was a Norwegian-born American tennis player.
Although she had won a bronze medal in singles for Norway at the 1912 Olympic games in Stockholm, and was the many-time champion of her homeland, Mallory was relatively unknown when she arrived in New York City to begin work as a masseuse in 1915. She entered the U.S. Indoor Championships that year unheralded and beat three-time defending champion Marie Wagner 6–4, 6–4, which was the first of her five singles titles at that tournament. She also won the title in Cincinnati in 1912.
Mallory won the singles title at the U.S. Championships a record eight times in fifteen attempts, with the last of her titles occurring at age 42 in 1926. Her worst finish there was a quarterfinal loss in 1927 at age 43. In 1926, Mallory hit one of the heights of her career when she came back from 0–4 in the third set of the final against Elizabeth Ryan, saving a match point in winning her eighth championship. Her farewell to the U.S. Championships was as a 45-year-old semifinalist in 1929, losing to Helen Wills Moody 6–0, 6–0. Mallory is the only woman other than Chris Evert to have won the U.S. Championships four consecutive times.
