Kea Bouman

Who was Kea Bouman?

Kornelia "Kea" Bouman was a female tennis player from the Netherlands. She won the singles title at the 1927 French Championships, beating Irene Bowder Peacock of South Africa in the final. Bouman was the first, and is so far the only, Dutch woman to win a Grand Slam singles tournament.

In 1923, 1924, 1925 and 1926 she won the singles title at the Dutch Championships.

Born in Almelo, Bouman teamed with Hendrik Timmer to win a bronze medal in mixed doubles at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.

In October 1927 Bouman won the singles title of the Pacific Southwest Tennis Championship, defeating Molla Mallory in the final in three sets. In 1929, Bouman teamed with Spain's Lili de Alvarez to win the women's doubles title at the French Championships.

According to A. Wallis Myers of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Bouman was ranked in the world top ten in 1927 and 1928, reaching a career high of World No. 8 in those rankings in 1928.

Bouman also was successful in other sports. She was a Dutch champion in golf and played for the national field hockey team. She died in Delden.