Marie Wagner

An exceedingly generous woman who was interested in the growth and development of tennis as she was in a personal quest for success, Wagner was runner-up to Mary K. Browne at the 1914 U.S. Championships. The winner of six U.S. Indoor Singles titles and four more in Doubles, she was ranked among the top ten in the United States for nine years total, eight of them consecutively. Wagner found the right balance between the pursuit of her own interests and her larger goals for the game.

She began playing on public courts in Central Park and later played at the Hamilton Grange Lawn Tennis Club in Washington Heights, where she won the singles tourney in 1904. In 1907 she played in the first national indoor championship at the Seventh Regiment Armory here, losing to Elizabeth H. Moore, a former outdoor champion. The following year Miss Wagner defeated Miss Moore and Mrs. Frederic Schmitz to win her first,: national indoor championship. The same year she won second prize in the National Lawn Tennis Championship and first prize in the international tennis singles championship at Lake Niagara. In 1913, she was among the top 10 United States women's outdoor singles players, holding her place for eight of the years between 1913 and 1922. She ‘retained her indoor, title in 1913 by defeating Mrs. Charles Beard. In 1914, Miss Wagner challenged Mary K. Brown, the holder of the outdoor title, but lost a close match of three sets. In 1915 Miss Molly Bjurstedt defeated Miss Wagner for the indoor championship, but in 1917, she came back for her sixth and final win, defeating Eleanor Goss in straight sets.
She played tennis until she was well over 60 and maintained her interest in the sport throughout her life.
She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1967. Wagner died in 1975.