Bjurstedt, "Molla" (Anna M.; (Mrs. Mallory)
Tennis
b. 1893?, Oslo, Norway
d. Nov. 21, 1959
After winning eight Norwegian national championships, Bjurstedt visited the U. S. in 1914 and liked it so much that she decided to stay. She went on to win a record eight national singles championships here, as well.
An unusually hard hitter for a woman player in her era, Bjurstedt once said, "I believe in always hitting the ball with all my might." She attacked constantly. When she beat Hazel Wightman for her first U. S. championship in 1915, one sportswriter described her as "a panther stalking her prey." She also won titles from 1916 through 1918, from 1920 through 1922, and in 1926.
She was indoor singles champion in 1915, 1916, 1918, 1921, and 1922. She won women's outdoor doubles championships with Eleanora Sears in 1916 and 1917 and teamed with Marie Wagner to win the indoor doubles title in 1916. Bjurstedt and Bill Tilden won indoor mixed doubles championships in 1921 and 1922 and the outdoors doubles titles in 1922 and 1923. She also won the 1917 outdoor mixed doubles title with Irving C. Wright.
The highlight of her career was probably a famous match against French champion Suzanne Lenglen in the 1921 national tournament. Bjurstedt won the first set 6-2. Lenglen walked off the court, pleading illness, after losing the first three points of the second set on her own serve.
Bjurstedt, who married Franklin Mallory, a wealthy stockbroker, retired from serious competition after losing to young Helen Wills in the 1923 national finals.