Lucia Valerio

Lucia Valerio (28 February 1905 – 26 September 1996) was an Italian female tennis player who was active from the late 1920s through 1940.

Valerio's father taught her to play tennis on the court at their home.

Before settling on tennis, she practiced fencing, horse riding, and skiing.

Her favorite strokes were forehand passing shots and her cut service.

From 1928 through 1938, she participated in seven Wimbledon Championships.

In 1930, Valerio played against Phyllis Satterthwaite in the final of the Bordighera Championship on the Italian Riviera.

Satterthwaite was a baseline player with a game based on safety and keeping the ball in play.

At match point, her determination not to make an error resulted in a rally lasting 450 strokes.

Satterthwaite won that point and the match.

She was the runner-up in singles at the inaugural 1930 Italian Championships and at the 1932, 1934, and 1935 editions.

At the French International Championships, she reached the quarterfinals in 1931, 1934 (losing to Simonne Mathieu), and 1935.

In 1931, Valerio won the singles title at the Italian Championships in Milan, defeating Dorothy Andrus in the three-set final.

She also won the mixed doubles title with Pat Hughes.

Valerio was part of the Italian team that toured India in 1932, and, during that trip, she won the singles title at the East and West of India Championships.

Her best result in singles was the quarterfinals of the 1933 Wimbledon Championships where she lost to second-seeded Dorothy Round, the eventual runner-up.

That same year, she partnered with Madzy Rollin Couquerque to reach the third round of the women's doubles competition.

In the 1935 mixed doubles competition, she and partner Don Turnbull lost in the quarterfinals to the top-seeded pair of Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling and Gottfried Von Cramm.

On her way to winning the 1935 title, Cilly Aussem defeated Valerio in straight sets.