Editing Suzanne Lenglen (section)

==Early life and background==
Suzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen was born in the [[16th arrondissement of Paris|16th arrondissement]] of Paris on 24 May 1899 to Charles and Anaïs Lenglen (née Dhainault).{{sfn|Little|2007|p=1}}{{sfn|Engelmann|1988|p=7}}<ref>{{cite news |last1=Laporte |first1=Jean |title=Autour du Championnat International de Tennis: Dans l'Intimité de la Championne | trans-title = Around the International Tennis Championship: In the Intimacy of the Champion |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6564637d/f16.image |access-date=22 July 2019 |work=[[Femina (France)|Femina]] |date=1 July 1914|page=380}}</ref> She had a younger brother who did not live past the age of three. Lenglen's father was a pharmacist who became wealthy by inheriting a [[horse-drawn omnibus]] company from his father. Several years after Suzanne was born, her father sold the omnibus business, after which he relocated the family to [[Marest-sur-Matz]] near [[Compiègne]] in northern France in 1904. They spent their winters in [[Nice]] on the [[French Riviera]] in a villa across the street from the [[Nice Lawn Tennis Club]]. By the time Lenglen was eight, she excelled at a variety of sports, including swimming and cycling. In particular, she enjoyed [[diabolo]], a game involving balancing a spinning top on a string with two attached sticks. During the winter, Lenglen performed diabolo routines in front of large crowds on the [[Promenade des Anglais]] in Nice. Her father credited her confidence to play tennis in large stadiums to her experience as a diabolo performer.{{sfn|Little|2007|pp=1–3}}{{sfn|Engelmann|1988|pp=7–8}}
[[File:Lenglen's father (noir) - 1.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.72|Lenglen's father|alt=Lenglen's father standing behind a table tennis table]]

Lenglen's father attended tennis tournaments on the [[French Riviera circuit|Riviera circuit]], where the world's best players competed in the first half of the year. Having played the sport recreationally, he bought Lenglen a racket from a toy shop in June 1910 shortly after she had turned 11 years old, and set up a makeshift court on the lawn of their house. She quickly showed enough skill to convince her father to get her a proper racket from a tennis manufacturer within a month. He then developed training exercises and played against his daughter. Three months later, Lenglen travelled to Paris to play on a proper clay court owned by her father's friend, Dr. Cizelly. At Cizelly's recommendation, she entered a local high-level tournament in [[Chantilly, Oise|Chantilly]]. In the singles [[Tennis scoring system#Handicap scoring|handicap]] event, Lenglen won four rounds and finished in second place.{{efn|name=handicap|Handicap results are not counted towards Lenglen's overall records in singles, doubles, or mixed doubles.}}{{sfn|Little|2007|pp=3–4}}{{sfn|Engelmann|1988|pp=8–9}}

Lenglen's success at the Chantilly tournament prompted her father to train her more seriously. He studied the leading male and female players and decided to teach Lenglen the tactics from the men's game, which were more aggressive than the women's style of slowly constructing points from the baseline. When the family returned to Nice towards the end of autumn, her father arranged for her to play twice a week at the Nice Lawn Tennis Club even though children had never been allowed on the courts, and had her practise with leading male players at the club. Lenglen began training with [[Joseph Negro]], the club's teaching professional. Negro had a wide variety of shots in his repertoire and trained Lenglen to play the same way. As Lenglen's primary coach, her father employed harsh and rigorous methods, saying, "I was a hard taskmaster, and although my advice was always well intentioned, my criticisms were at times severe, and occasionally intemperate."{{sfn|King|Starr|1988|p=27}} Lenglen's parents watched her matches and discussed her minute errors between themselves throughout, showing restraint in their criticisms only when she was sick. As a result, Lenglen became comfortable with appearing ill, which made it difficult for others to tell if she was sick.{{sfn|Little|2007|p=3}}{{sfn|Engelmann|1988|pp=9–11}}