Beverly Baker Fleitz (born March 13 1930) from Bakersfield, California, was a top women's tennis player from the United States. She began playing tennis at age 11 and played mostly on the public courts in Lincoln Park in Santa Monica, California. Her father Frank Baker was her only coach and was the assistant director of recreation for the city of Santa Monica. Fleitz was ranked in the U.S. top ten several years during the 1950s, and reached the No. 1 ranking in 1959. Her game was unique because she was ambidextrous and played with two forehands. Fleitz reached the Wimbledon singles final in 1955, losing to Louise Brough Clapp 7-5, 8-6. In 1956, Fleitz reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals but was forced to retire from the tournament when she became ill. She was pregnant with her second child at the time. Fleitz won the women's doubles title at the 1955 French Championships with Darlene Hard. Fleitz was the runner-up at the 1949 U.S. Clay Court Championships, losing to Magda Rurac of Romania in the final. Fleitz won the 1958 U.S. Hard Court Championships, defeating Karen Hantze Susman in the final. Fleitz won the Pacific Southwest Tournament four times, in 1947, 1955, 1958, and 1959. She defeated Hard in the 1958 final and Maria Bueno in the 1959 final. At the tennis tournament in Cincinnati, Fleitz won the singles title in 1950 (defeating Rurac in the final) and was a singles finalist in 1949 (losing to Rurac in the final). Fleitz also paired with Rurac to win the doubles title there in 1950. Fleitz also won the Southern California Championship in 1954, 1955, 1956, and 1958. Fleitz retired permanently from tennis in 1959 and was inducted into the Southern California Tennis Association Hall of Fame in 2005.
Grand Slam singles tournament timeline
| Tournament | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | Career SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 |
| France | A | A | A | A | QF | A | A | A | SF | A | A | A | A | 0 / 2 |
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | SF | A | A | A | F | QF | A | A | 4R | 0 / 4 |
| United States | 3R | QF | QF | SF | 3R | A | A | QF | QF | A | A | SF | A | 0 / 8 |
| SR | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 14 |
A = did not participate in the tournament. SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
