Ryan, Elizabeth (1892–1979)

American tennis player. Name variations: Bunny Ryan. Born in Los Angeles, California, in 1892; died of a stroke while at Wimbledon, England, in July 1979; daughter of a British immigrant to America; never married.

Won the Russian championship (1914); won 19 doubles titles and 7 mixed-doubles titles at Wimbledon; won 4 mixed-doubles titles in France and 2 in the United States.

Though she played in two Wimbledon singles finals, Elizabeth "Bunny" Ryan was known as the best player of her era who never won a major singles title. Born into a wealthy household in Los Angeles, she learned to play tennis with her elder sister Alice Ryan . In 1904, the 12-year-old Ryan moved with her mother to England where she would continue to live for most of her life.

Until her death in 1979, Ryan held the record for the greatest number of Wimbledon wins, most of them in doubles while partnering some of the best players in tennis, including Suzanne Lenglen. Between 1912 and 1934, she won an incredible 659 titles. Dubbed "Miss Chop and Drop," Ryan was a strong volleyer with a malevolent chopped forehand and a lethal drop shot; ground strokes were not her strong suit.

In 1979, Billie Jean King was looking for her 20th Wimbledon doubles title and a chance to break the long-held Ryan record of 19. But when King and Martina Navratilova took the match from Betty Stove and Wendy Turnbull in three sets, King had no interest in rejoicing, because she "could not stop thinking of Elizabeth." After suffering a stroke the day before at the All England Club, Wimbledon, the 88-year-old Ryan had died en route to the hospital.