Beverly Baker Fleitz

Baker Fleitz, circa 1949
Full name	Beverly Joyce Baker Fleitz
Country (sports)	United States
Born	(1930-03-13)March 13, 1930 Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
Died	April 29, 2014(2014-04-29) (aged 84) Long Beach, California, U.S.
Plays	Right and left-handed forehand
Prize money	Amateur
Singles
Highest ranking	World No. 3 (1954, 1955, 1958)
Grand Slam singles results
French Open	SF (1955)
Wimbledon	F (1955)
US Open	SF (1950,1958)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
French Open	W (1955)
Wimbledon	F (1959)
US Open	QF (1949, 1950)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
French Open	QF (1951)
Wimbledon	4R (1959)
US Open	QF (1948, 1951, 1958)

Beverly Joyce Fleitz (nee Baker; March 13, 1930 – April 29, 2014) was an Americantennis player from the United States who was active in the late 1940s and during the 1950s. According toJohn Olliff andLance Tingay ofThe Daily Telegraph and theDaily Mail, Fleitz was ranked in the world top 10 in 1951, 1954, 1955, 1958, and 1959, reaching a career high of World No. 3 in those rankings in 1954, 1955, and 1958.^[1] Fleitz was included in the year-end top 10 rankings issued by theUnited States Lawn Tennis Association from 1948 through 1951 and in 1954, 1955, 1958, and 1959. She was the top-ranked U.S. player in 1959.^[2] She wasambidextrous and played with two forehands.

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Fleitz began playing tennis at age 11 and played mostly on public courts in Lincoln Park inSanta Monica, California. Her father, Frank Baker, was her only coach and was the assistant director of recreation for the city of Santa Monica.

During 11 of the 12 weeks following June 19, 1950, Fleitz competed in tournaments across the U.S. In singles, she won three titles, was the runner-up three times, and was a semifinalist at both theU.S. National Championships and theU.S. Women's Clay Court Championships. Her six losses during this period were toDoris Hart (twice),Margaret Osborne duPont (twice),Maureen Connolly, andMagda Berescu Rurac. She recorded wins overLouise Brough, Connolly, Berescu Rurac,Patricia Canning Todd, andDorothy Bundy Cheney. In women's doubles, she was a quarterfinalist at the U.S. National Doubles Championships.

At the U.S. National Championships, Fleitz reached the semifinals twice and the quarterfinals in four of her six other attempts. She playedGrand Slam singles tournaments outside the U.S. only six times. At the1951 Wimbledon Championships, she defeatedAlthea Gibson in the third round and Margaret Osborne duPont in the quarterfinals before falling to Doris Hart in the semifinals. Fleitz was the top seed at the1955 French International Championships, but she was upset by fourth-seededDorothy Head Knode in the semifinals.

At the1955 Wimbledon Championships, third-seeded Fleitz defeated top-seeded Hart in the semifinals in two sets, which was the last Wimbledon singles match of Hart's career. Fleitz then played second-seeded Louise Brough in the final. Fleitz was the first mother to play in a Wimbledon singles final sinceDorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers in 1920. Fleitz had won the last four matches with Brough since the beginning of 1954, but Brough prevailed on this day in straight sets in 1 hour, 32 minutes. The veteran BBC tennis broadcasterMax Robertson observed "Louise was always prone to tighten up at important points, but [she] had a greater breadth of stroke and experience at her command, which just saw her through a keenly fought struggle. In the sixth game of the second set, for example, it was only after nine deuces and five [game points for] ... Fleitz that [on the game's 24th point] Louise wrong-footed her ... [nearly] exhausted opponent with a backhand slice down the line to lead 4-2. That was the turning point, and Louise went on to win her fourth [Wimbledon] singles [title]...."^[3]

Afterward, Fleitz said "I've no excuses for my defeat. Louise was just marvelous today. She played as well as I've ever seen her play and well deserved her victory."^[4]

At the1956 Wimbledon Championships, Fleitz reached the quarterfinals, then she was forced to withdraw from the tournament because of a pregnancy-related illness. She last playedWimbledon in 1959 as the third-seeded player. UnseededEdda Buding from West Germany defeated her in the fourth round in three sets.

Fleitz never played contemporariesAngela Mortimer,Ann Haydon,Christine Truman,Darlene Hard, Maureen Connolly, orShirley Fry in a Grand Slam singles tournament. Her win–loss record against other top players at those tournaments was as follows: Althea Gibson 2–1, Doris Hart 1–2, Louise Brough 0–3, Margaret Osborne duPont 2–1, andMaria Bueno 1–0.

Her only Grand Slam title was in women's doubles at the 1955 French International Championships. In the final, she and partner Darlene Hard needed 50 games to defeat their opponents in the longest Grand Slam women's doubles final of all time.

Outside of the U.S., Fleitz won singles tournaments in Bermuda, England, Ireland, Mexico, and West Germany. She was the runner-up at tournaments in Cuba and England.

In the U.S., she was the runner-up at the 1949 U.S. Clay Court Championships, losing to former Romanian national champion Magda Berescu Rurac. Fleitz won theU.S. Hardcourt Championships three times, in 1954, 1957, and 1958. She defeated future Wimbledon singles championKaren Hantze in the 1958 final. In tournaments sponsored by sections (regions) of the United States Lawn Tennis Association, Fleitz was the singles champion of the Southern California section four times (1954, 1955, 1956, and 1958), the Pacific Northwest section once, and the Western section once.

In March 1954, Fleitz defeated Maureen Connolly 6–0, 6–4 at a tournament in La Jolla, California, which was the last time anyone defeated Connolly in a singles tournament and her only loss of 1954. Connolly had won the last seven Grand Slam singles tournaments she had played. Fleitz won four of their nine career singles matches.

Fleitz was a four-time singles champion at thePacific Southwest Championships in Los Angeles (1947, 1955, 1958, and 1959) and was the runner-up three times. She defeated Hard in the 1958 final and Bueno in the 1959 final. At theTri-State Championships in Cincinnati, Fleitz won the 1950 singles title and was the runner-up in 1949, with Berescu Rurac being her opponent in both finals.

Fleitz retired permanently from singles tennis in 1959 and was inducted into the Southern California Tennis Association Hall of Fame in 2005.^[5]

She married actorScotty Beckett on September 28, 1949 in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[6] Baker was granted a divorce in June 1950.^[7]

She married tennis player John Fleitz on October 6, 1951. They had five daughters together. John Fleitz died inLong Beach, California on November 14, 2011 at age 82.^{[citation needed]}

She can be heard as a contestant on the 7th November 1951 edition ofYou Bet Your Life.

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1955	Wimbledon Championships	Grass	Louise Brough	5–7, 6–8

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1955	French Championships	Clay	Darlene Hard	Shirley Bloomer Patricia Ward	7–5, 6–8, 13–11
Loss	1959	Wimbledon Championships	Grass	Christine Truman	Jeanne Arth Darlene Hard	6–2, 2–6, 3–6

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¹In 1947, the French International Championships were held after the Wimbledon Championships.

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