Yola Ramírez

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Yola Ramírez
Full nameYolanda del Monte Carmelo Ramírez y Partida
Country (sports) Mexico
Born(1935-03-01)1 March 1935
Teziutlán, Puebla, Mexico
Died9 March 2025(2025-03-09) (aged 90)
PlaysRight–handed
Singles
Career record375-143 (72.4%)
Career titles51
Highest rankingNo. 6 (1961)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenSF (1962)
French OpenF (1960, 1961)
WimbledonQF (1959, 1961)
US OpenQF (1961, 1963)
Grand Slam doubles results
French OpenW (1958)
WimbledonSF (1957, 1958, 1959)
US OpenF (1961)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian OpenSF (1962)
French OpenW (1958)
WimbledonSF (1959)

Yolanda del Monte Carmelo Ramírez y Partida (1 March 1935 – 9 March 2025), known simply as Yola Ramírez, was a Mexican tennis player active in the 1950s and 1960s who was twice a singles finalist and once a women's doubles champion and mixed doubles champion at the French Open.

Biography

Ramírez was a singles finalist at the French Championships in 1960 and 1961. She lost the 1960 final to Darlene Hard and the 1961 final to Ann Haydon. She also was a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon in 1959 and 1961, a quarterfinalist at the 1961 and 1963 U.S. Championships, a semifinalist at the 1962 Australian Championships, a semifinalist at the 1959 Italian Championships, and a finalist in Monte Carlo in 1959. She won the German Championships in 1957 and was a finalist in 1961.

Ramirez teamed with Rosie Reyes to win the women's doubles title at the 1958 French Championships and to reach the final at the 1957 and 1959 French Championships. She teamed with Billy Knight to win the mixed doubles title at the 1959 French Championships. With Edda Buding, she reached the women's doubles final at the 1961 U.S. Championships. She also won the women's doubles titles at the Italian Championships and in Monte Carlo, both in 1960.

At the tournament in Cincinnati, Ramirez won the singles title in 1956 and the doubles title (with Sara Mae Turber) in 1955. She was a doubles finalist in 1956.

In 1959, she won the South of France Championships in Nice, France.

Ramírez won the singles titles at the 1960 Mexico National Championships and the 1961 Caribbean Lawn Tennis Championship.

During her career, Ramírez had wins over Billie Jean King (in the second round of Wimbledon in 1961, which was King's first appearance at the tournament), Jones, and Christine Truman.

According to Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Ramírez was ranked in the world top 10 in 1957 and from 1959 through 1961, reaching a career high of world no. 6 in 1961.[1]

Ramírez married Alfonso Ochoa on 29 August 1962. She died on 9 March 2025, at the age of 90.[2]

Grand Slam finals

Singles (2 runners-up)

Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss1960French ChampionshipsClayUnited States Darlene Hard3–6, 4–6
Loss1961French ChampionshipsClayUnited Kingdom Ann Haydon2–6, 1–6

Doubles (1 title, 3 runners-up)

Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss1957French ChampionshipsClayMexico Rosie ReyesUnited Kingdom Shirley Bloomer
United States Darlene Hard		 5–7, 6–4, 5–7
Win1958French ChampionshipsClayMexico Rosie ReyesAustralia Mary Bevis Hawton
Australia Thelma Coyne Long		 6–4, 7–5
Loss1959French ChampionshipsClayMexico Rosie ReyesSouth Africa Sandra Reynolds
South Africa Renée Schuurman		 6–2, 0–6, 1–6
Loss1961US OpenGrassWest Germany Edda BudingUnited States Darlene Hard
Australia Lesley Turner		 4–6, 7–5, 0–6

Mixed doubles (1 title)

Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win1959French ChampionshipsClayUnited Kingdom Billy KnightAustralia Rod Laver
South Africa Renée Schuurman		 6–4, 6–4

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RRQ# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
Tournament195519561957195819591960196119621963Career SR
Australian Championships A A A A A A A SF A 0 / 1
French Championships A A 3R 4R 4R F F A 2R 0 / 6
Wimbledon A A 2R 3R QF 3R QF A 1R 0 / 6
U.S. Championships 3R 1R A A A A QF A QF 0 / 4
SR 0 / 1 0 / 1 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 2 0 / 3 0 / 1 0 / 3 0 / 17

See also

References

  1. Collins, Bud (2008). The Bud Collins History of Tennis: An Authoritative Encyclopedia and Record Book. New York, N.Y: New Chapter Press. pp. 695, 703. ISBN 978-0-942257-41-0.
  2. Omar Cuautle (9 March 2025). "Muere Yola Ramírez, la mejor tenista de todos los tiempos" [Yola Ramirez dies, the best Mexican tennis player of all times] (in Spanish). Heraldo de Puebla. Archived from the original on 9 March 2025. Retrieved 9 March 2025.