Silvana Lazzarino
Nickname: Minnie
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| Bio | She is a former female tennis player from Italy. She was one of the greatest Italian players after World War II. She was a semifinalist at the 1954 French Internationals and twice a semifinalist at the Italy Internationals (1954 and 1957). At the Foro Italico she finished four more times in the top eight, in singles and reached the final five times in doubles, paired with Lea Pericoli. She was champion of Italy eleven times (7 times in singles, twice in doubles with Lea Pericoli and twice in mixed doubles with Giorgio Fachini and Orlando Sirola). Lazzarino has played eight Fed Cup matches since 1963, winning 5 of them, including 1 (lost) in singles and 7 in doubles with only two losses. She reached the semifinals at 1954 French Championships. In doubles, she reached the French semifinals in 1953, 1957 and 1964. Her best results at Wimbledon was reaching the third round in singles in 1960 and the quarterfinals in doubles in 1954 and 1960. She and partner Lea Pericoli reached five women's doubles finals in six years (1962-1965, 1967) at the Italian International Championships. Silvana Lazzarino was born in Rome and approaches sport in the Rome Gymnastics Society, in Via del Muro Torto, where her father is an instructor. She begins playing tennis by shooting against the Aurelian Walls; she then enrolled at the Parioli Tennis Club. Already revealed in the youth activity in the third category championships of 1947, she won the second championships in 1951 and four consecutive absolute junior titles from 1948 to 1951. In 1951 she was a finalist at the Wimbledon junior tournament. In 1952 she was the absolute champion of Italy in singles and mixed, with Giorgio Fachini. The following year she reached the quarterfinals at the Internazionali d'Italia. In Paris, at the Internationals of France she is seeded no. 14 and she confirmed herself among the first sixteen, reaching the round of 16. In doubles, paired with Nicla Migliori, she is seeded no. 4 and reaches the semifinals. In mixed, with Marcello Del Bello you stop in the second round. At the end of the year, she is the singles champion of Italy. 1954 is, perhaps, her best year. At only twenty-one, she wins the Monte Carlo Tournament, beating the French Jacqueline Kermina. She reached the semifinals in singles at the Internazionali d'Italia and was admitted as top seed. 4 at the French Internationals. She is also a semifinalist in Paris, surrendering only to the American champion Maureen Connolly, unbeaten in seven Grand Slam tournaments and the first woman to win the Grand Slam, the previous year. Connolly will also win that tournament. With this feat, Lazzarino is one of the few Italian tennis players to have reached a semifinal in a Grand Slam tournament, after Maud Rosenbaum (U.S. National Championships 1930) and Annalisa Bossi (International of France 1949). Francesca Schiavone, in 2010, managed to equal and then improve this feat only after fifty-six years, winning the Paris tournament; Flavia Pennetta and Roberta Vinci will repeat the feat at the US Open 2014. In the same 1954, in doubles, Lazzarino stops in the first round, paired with Nicla Migliori. In the mixed, with Mario Belardinelli, in third place. The double Lazzarino-Migliori is based on the grass of Wimbledon, entering the top eight. Lazzarino was champion of Italy, in singles, both in 1954 and in 1956. In 1957 she reached the semifinals again at the Internationals of Italy. She is her No. 1 seed. 7 at the French Internationals but she stops in the second round; in doubles, she reaches the semifinal with Annelies Ullstein Bellani. She is confirmed as the champion of Italy in the singles. The following year she entered the top eight at the Internazionali d'Italia. She is her No. 1 seed. 11 at the Internationals of France and stops in the second round. In Paris, the double Pericoli-Lazzarino debuts and reaches the quarterfinals. In 1959, Lazzarino reached the quarterfinals at the Internazionali d'Italia. She is her No. 1 seed. 14 at the French Internationals and she lost to the Brazilian Maria Bueno, after entering the first sixteen. In doubles, she reaches the third round with Lucia Bassi. She is the Italian champion in singles and mixed, with Orlando Sirola. In 1960, she once again reached the quarterfinals at the Internazionali d'Italia, finishing in the top eight at this tournament for the sixth time in seven years. She is seeded no. 11, at the French Internationals and she confirms herself among the top sixteen players in the world, on clay, reaching the round of 16, when she, leading 5-4 in the third set, retires against Doris Hart, who then wins the tournament. In doubles, you reach the quarterfinals with Lucia Bassi. At the Wimbledon tournament, she reaches the quarterfinals in the women's doubles, paired with Lea Pericoli, who becomes her regular partner. She is the Italian champion in singles and, with Lea Pericoli, also in doubles. Lazzarino does not play in Rome, in 1961. In Paris she loses in the third round against Ann Haydon-Jones who then wins the tournament. She also reaches the third round in doubles, paired with Lucia Bassi. At Wimbledon, she reached the third round in doubles, paired with Lea Pericoli. The following year, she took part in the Internationals of Italy and reached her first final in the doubles, with Lea Pericoli; the two Italians are defeated by Maria Bueno and Darlene Hard. In Paris, Lazzarino stops in the round of 32; in doubles, with Pericoli (I'm seeded No. 4), she reaches the quarterfinals. At Wimbledon, she stops in the third round, in doubles, again with Pericoli. In October she graduated as Italian champion, in the "absolute" doubles (sixth title), with Pericoli. At the 1963 Internationals of Italy, Silvana Lazzarino disputed another final in the women's doubles, paired with Lea Pericoli (again defeat against Margaret Smith Court and Robyn Ebbern). In Paris, in singles, she is seeded no. 16 at the French Internationals and reaches the second round, always paired with Lea Pericoli. In March 1964, the double Pericoli-Lazzarino wins the Monte Carlo Tournament and then disputes another unfortunate final, at the Internazionali d'Italia, against two champions such as Margaret Court and Lesley Turner. At Roland Garros, she stops in the round of 32, again against Margaret Court who then wins the tournament. The double Pericoli-Lazzarino yields only in the semifinal, but also in this case against the future winners Margaret Court and Lesley Turner. New victory at the 1965 Monte Carlo Tournament, however, for the double Pericoli-Lazzarino and fourth consecutive final loss, at the Internazionali d'Italia, by the South Africans Schacht-Van Zyl but, this time, only 12-10 in the third set. At Wimbledon, in doubles, Pericoli-Lazzarino are eliminated in the second round. In April 1966, the double Pericoli-Lazzarino wins the Monte Carlo Tournament for the third consecutive time. At Wimbledon, they are defeated in the first round. They make up for it by winning the absolute championships. In Monte Carlo, in 1967, after three consecutive victories, the double Pericoli-Lazzarino was defeated in the final. Same result at the Internazionali d'Italia, where he reached the final for the fifth time. Subsequently, Silvana Lazzarino reduces her competitive activity, which she definitively leaves at the age of thirty-seven, in 1970, after another unfortunate final in the doubles at the Monte Carlo Tournament. In an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport, Lazzarino defines himself as "a scugnizza" in a tennis where natural gifts and pure talent still prevailed; while the interviewer defined her as "all peppery and with an aggressive game". In doubles, her athletic skills and speed in moving were absolutely complementary to Lea Pericoli's ability to play in front of the net. |
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