Alice Marble Tennis Courts, 1200 Greenwich Street (northwest corner of Hyde and Greenwich) 

When Mary Ann returned to San Francisco in the fall of 2008 (Mary Ann in Autumn), she walked around her old neighborhood on Russian Hill.  After purchasing a sandwich at the Searchlight Market at the corner of Hyde and Union streets (see below in this tour), she walked up Hyde to the Alice Marble Tennis Courts to eat her sandwich.

Alice Marble Tennis Courts

The courts are named for Alice Marble (1913 – 1990), who grew up in San Francisco and was ranked the World No. 1 Tennis Champion in 1939.  She won 18 Grand Slam championships in the late 1930s.    

Her story doesn’t stop with tennis.  

For a brief time after she retired from tennis, she worked on the Editorial Advisory Board of DC Comics.

Tours of the Tales

If the courts are empty, walk through them for views of Cow Hollow, the Bay, and the Golden Gate.  If the courts are full or if you want to stop and relax (possibly to eat a turkey sandwich), at their western edge and below the courts is Phoebe’s Terrace.   Walking along the terrace (both the paved and dirt sections) will reward you with nice views of that part of the City.

She married a WWII pilot who was shot down over Germany.  Shortly before her husband was killed, she suffered a miscarriage as a result of an auto accident.  In 1945, she was recruited to spy on a former lover, a Swiss national, who was a banker and Nazi sympathizer.  A double agent shot her in the back but she was extracted from Switzerland and she recovered from her wounds.  The story of her service was revealed after her death.  

The above is just a snapshot of Alice Marble’s exceedingly remarkable life.  For more, read: "Alice Marble, the Queen of Swat".  Her autobiography, Courting Danger: My Adventures in World-Class Tennis, Golden Age Hollywood, and High-Stakes Spying, is available through Amazon.