Lea Pericoli, an iconic woman of Italian women’s tennis, died at 89

Died at 89, Lea Pericoli, iconic woman of Italian women’s tennis

Italian sports and tennis are in mourning: è Lea Pericoli, one of the iconic women in the history of Italian tennis, died at the age of 89. &Eegrave; was certainly the first to popularize women’s tennis inItaly with her elegance, her outfits designed by Ted Tinling and her victories and è was also one of the first women to tell the story as a journalist and commentator on TV and in newspapers.

Born in Milan on March 22, 1935, she spent her childhood in Addis Ababa, where her father Philip moved after the Ethiopian War and then, after World War II, there’s a further move to Asmara. Lea then studied in Nairobi, Kenya, until, at age 17, she returned to Italy.

Her career è was endless: è lasted until she was over 40 years old, and for 14, from 1959 to 1976, è she was number one in Italy. She won a whopping 27 national titles, 10 in singles, 11 in doubles and 6 in mixed doubles. She won 13 tournaments, the most important of which were in the Porro Lambertenghia Lesa Cup in 1960 and 1962, in Palermo in 1962 and in Monte Carlo in 1963.

At the Internazionali d’Italia, paired with Silvana Lazzarino, è reached the finals from 1962 to 1965 and in 1967, while in singles as her best result she reached the semifinals in 1967. In Grand Slam tournaments, on the other hand è landed four times in the round of 16 at Roland Garros (1955, 1960, 1964 and 1971) and three times on the grass of Wimbledon (1965, 1967 and 1970). 

Already before retiring, Lea Pericoli began writing for “Il Giornale” in 1974 and for a thirty-year period è was a tennis commentator on TV, beginning on Telemontecarlo, where she also presented the here Paroliamo in 1977. She never failed until the last to attend the most important tournaments, especially in Rome.