Maria Bueno, legendary Brazilian tennis player, dies aged 78

Maria Bueno, who won three Wimbledon singles titles and four at the US Open, has died aged 78 after battling mouth cancer.

Bueno was admitted to a hospital in Sao Paulo on Tuesday and on Friday the hospital released a statement confirming her death. It declined to provide more details out of respect for her family.

Nicknamed "The Tennis Ballerina" because of her graceful style, Bueno spent most of her career on the court before the professional era. She won 19 Grand Slam titles overall, seven in singles, 11 in doubles and one in mixed doubles, between 1959 and 1966. She also reached the singles final at both the Australian Open and the French Open.

Bueno was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1978 and was more recently contributing regularly to Brazilian television at Wimbledon, the US Open and other major tennis events.

Bueno was ranked No 1 in the world in 1959, 1960, 1964 and 1966. She was the first non-American woman to win Wimbledon and the US Open in same season.

Billie Jean King, who beat Bueno in the 1966 Wimbledon final and later helped start a women's professional tennis tour, said the Brazilian was one of the players that made tennis less of a men's game.

"Maria was a big star who caught the interest of the fans at a time when the men took centre stage. She helped lay the groundwork for what was to come," King told Bueno's website in 2009. "She deserves to be recognised."

From 1957-67, a decade in which she was dominating on the tennis court, Bueno won 65 singles tournaments, 90 doubles titles and 15 in mixed doubles. She was runner-up in 45 other competitions.