Sporting Highlights for 1939
Here are some of the sporting highlights in the world of sport for 1939.
Belgian Sylvère Maes won the Tour de France for the second time. He also finished first in the king of mountains classification and finished first in two race stages.
In men's tennis, the year belonged to first timers. John Bromwich won the Australian Open, Don McNeill won the French Open and Bobby Riggs won Wimbledon, each for their first career grand slam title. Bobby Riggs doubled up his success by also winning the US Open title this year. All three players won one more title each in the following years to finish their careers as multiple slam title winners. Bobby Riggs, gained far more fame in 1973 at the age of 55 by challenge matches against two of the top female players in the world - matches which became known as "The Battle of the Sexes".
Tennis player Alice Marble, already a two-time slam winner coming into the year, added two more titles to her name by winning back-to-back tournaments, Wimbledon and US Open.
Golfers Ralph Guldahl, Byron Nelson, Dick Burton, Henry Picard won the Masters Tournament, U.S. Open, The Open Championship and PGA Championship respectively. It was the final major win for Guldahl and Picard. Nelson though, went on to win three more majors in the future.
Bobby Riggs winner of Wimbledon in 1939 Patty Berg, the women golfer with the most number of major wins, won the Titleholders Championship for the third year in a row, the first three years after the inception of the event.
A record crowd attendance of 76,962 was set old Old Trafford, in an FA Cup Semi Final between Wolves & Grimsby. The record still stands today.
The first NCAA basketball tournament (now commonly called March Madness) was held, involving eight schools. Oregon won the title with a 46–33 victory in the final game over Ohio State. Oregon would not make another Final Four until 2017.
Below is a timeline of some significant results in the world of sport for the year 1939.
| Date | Results |
|---|---|
| Jan | Tennis Australia Open won by Jack Bromwich and Emily Westacott |
| March 17-27 | Oregon won the first NCAA basketball tournament |
| April | Golf Masters won by Ralph Guldahl |
| May | Tennis French Open won by Don McNeill and Simone Mathieu |
| June | Golf US Open won by Byron Nelson |
| Jun 26 - Jul 8 | Tennis Wimbledon won by Bobby Riggs (men) and Alice Marble (women) |
| July | the Cycling Tour de France won by Sylvère Maes |
| July | Golf The Open Championship won by Richard Burton |
| Aug | Golf US PGA was won by Henry Picard |
| Sep | Tennis US National Championship won by Bobby Riggs and Alice Marble |
| Oct | The Baseball World Series won by New York Yankees |
Please note that the dates for past events are not always known, and are sometimes just placed in the month that the current event is held. If no exact date is listed, then it is just an estimated month that it was held.
If you have a correction or know of events that should be included here, please let me know.
Related Pages
- Timeline (all years) in the world of sport
- For future sporting events, see the Calendar of Major Sporting Events
- More about the World of Sport
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
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