NEW YORK: Former World No. 1 Margaret Osborne du Pont a 1940s and 1950s star who won six Grand Slam women’s singles crowns among 37 major titles, has died, US tennis officials said Thursday. She was 94.

She passed away in Texas on Wednesday.

DuPont’s Grand Slam championship total, which includes 21 women’s doubles and 10 mixed doubles trophies, ranks fourth on the all-time list despite never playing in the Australian Open.

DuPont, inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1967, was the year-end women’s world number one from 1947 through 1950 and spent 20 years in the US top five in a career that spanned from the 1930s to the 1960s.

“Margaret duPont was a giant in tennis and had a huge impact on my career,” US tennis icon Billie Jean King said. “She was one of my heroes. I hope today’s players and any boy or girl who dreams of a career in tennis will go to the history books and read about Margaret because her career wasn’t just about winning matches, it was also about mentoring others.”

Only Margaret Smith Court, Martina Navratilova and King own more career Grand Slam titles than DuPont, whose major singles titles came at Wimbledon in 1947, the French championship in 1946 and 1949 and the 1948, 1949 and 1950 US championship.

In all, 25 of DuPont’s 37 Grand Slam titles came at the US championships, including 13 women’s doubles crowns - 10 in a row from 1941 through 1950 - and nine mixed doubles titles. — AFP

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