A trip to the last century

1926: Suzanne Lenglen

Long before Serena and Venus Williams soared to international fame there was Suzanne Lenglen, a French tennis player who captivated the world in the 1920s with her controversial habits that included wearing red lipstick, drinking alcohol, cursing, exposing her bare arms, and donning skirts above the calves. The bold tennis star, who’s been called the "most polarizing women’s tennis player of her generation,” was the first to shirk the bulky tennis undergarments of the time. From age 15 onwards, Lenglen won 250 championships over her 12-year career. She is pictured here at Wimbledon in this photo from the Hulton Archive.