Maureen Catherine Connolly Brinker, affectionately called “Little Mo”, was born on September 17, 1934 in San Diego, California. She began playing tennis at age 9 in 1945 on the public courts of the Balboa Tennis Club in San Diego.

Although her career spanned three years, many premier sports writers consider her to be the finest of all female players. In 1953 at the age of 18, she was the first woman to win the "Grand Slam" of tennis by claiming all four major events in one calendar year (Australian, French, Wimbledon, and U.S.). She lost only one set in the process. She is still the only American woman and the youngest to have accomplished this magnificent feat. To put the significance of her “Grand Slam” achievement into perspective, only five players in the history of tennis have won the "Grand Slam" of singles championships.

Nicknamed “Little Mo” for her powerful, accurate ground strokes (a comparison to "Big Mo”, the U.S. Battleship Missouri), Maureen was devastating from the baseline and seldom needed to go to the net. A small and compact right-hander (5-foot-4, 120 pounds), she won her major singles championships as a teenager: three successive Wimbledon titles (1952-54) and three consecutive U.S. Championships at Forest Hills (1951-53).

Maureen was the #1 junior girl in the nation in 1949 and 1950, winning the 18 and under singles and doubles titles at the National Jr. Championships. In 1951, 1952 and 1953, Connolly was the undisputed world champion. She was voted “Woman Athlete of the Year” by the Associated Press those three consecutive years.

A cheerful and sporting competitor, Maureen crushed the opposition, never losing an important match, only occasionally losing a set. She helped the U.S. beat Britain in the Wightman Cup matches of 1951-54 by winning all seven of her singles. Nobody has measured up to her perfect record in the majors. She sailed through nine successive majors (three U.S. titles, three Wimbledon titles, two French titles, one Australian titles), unbeaten in 50 matches.

In July 1954, Maureen’s playing career ended with heartbreaking suddenness when she was involved in a horseback riding accident. After winning her third consecutive Wimbledon title, she was riding her beloved Tennessee Walker, Colonel Merry Boy, in San Diego with a friend on a private dirt road. A cement truck unexpectedly rounded the corner, sideswiped her horse, caught her leg, and slashed it to the bone.

"I knew immediately I'd never play again," Maureen said later.

Although she was unable to compete any longer at her elite championship level, Maureen’s love of the sport continued. She dedicated herself to the promotion of the game of tennis, conducting clinics throughout the nation and becoming one of the game's outstanding teachers. Maureen married Norman Brinker in 1955 and had two daughters, Cindy and Brenda. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1968. In 1969, she lost her valiant battle with cancer and died at the young age of 34.

This remarkable champion is memorialized through her namesake Maureen Connolly Brinker Tennis Foundation that is dedicated to the promotion and support of junior tennis development worldwide. Maureen’s dream of establishing a foundation was based on her desire to give back to the game she loved so much. She was raised by a single mother and due to financial constraints, she was unable to travel to many national tournaments. There were a few organizations in California that helped her with travel grants to cover expenses. Maureen thought at that time if she was ever in a position where she could help pay the way for some young girls to travel to tournaments in order to improve their rankings, she would do it. This was the seed that was planted forty-five years ago in forming the foundation.

"Whenever a great player comes along you have to ask yourself, ‘Could she have beaten Maureen?’” says Lance Tingay of the Daily Telegraph of London. "In every case, the answer is, ‘I think not’."