Felisa Piédrola

Felisa Piédrola
Full nameFelisa Piédrola de Zappa
Country (sports) Argentina
Born(1916-05-13)13 May 1916
Punta Alta, Argentina
DiedMarch 2000(2000-03-00) (aged 83)
Punta Alta, Argentina
Retired1955
PlaysRight-handed
Singles
Career record85-51
Career titles10
Medal record
Pan American Games
1951 Buenos Aires Women's Doubles
1951 Buenos Aires Women's Singles
1951 Buenos Aires Mixed Doubles

Felisa Piédrola de Zappa (13 May 1916 – March 2000) was an Argentine tennis player.

Biography

Felisa Piédrola was born on 13 May 1916 in Punta Alta, Argentina.[1] Originally a fencer, she turned to tennis after a serious injury in which her opponent's foil pierced her right armpit in practice.[1][2]

Piédrola won the Argentina International Open six times (in 1938, 1939, 1942, 1943, 1944 and 1950).[3] In 1951, she participated in the first Pan American Games, winning a gold medal in the women's doubles with María Teran de Weiss and silver in the women's singles and mixed doubles (with Enrique Morea).[4] She was the number-one ranked tennis player in Argentina for six years.[3]

She married amateur tennis player Augusto Zappa,[3] with whom she played mixed doubles.[5][6]

Piédrola died in March 2000 at the age of 83 and her remains were buried in the Punta Alta cemetery.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b Puppo, Eduardo; Andersen, Roberto (2012). Historia del Tenis en la Argentina (in Spanish). EP Press Argentina. ISBN 9789872755812.
  2. ^ "1936. Felisa Piedrola, directo al corazón". El Gráfico (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 December 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d "Piédrola de Zappa fue una pionera". LA NACION (in Spanish). 16 March 2000. Retrieved 30 December 2025.
  4. ^ Olderr, Steven (2009). The Pan American Games: a statistical history, 1951-1999. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-4336-9.
  5. ^ Puppo, Eduardo (12 May 2025). "Las Nº 1 argentinas: Felisa Piédrola, la primera en pasar al tenis ofensivo". Set de Lectura, por Eduardo Puppo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 14 May 2025. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  6. ^ "U.S. Netters Gain Finals". The Salt Lake Tribune. 15 November 1940. p. 24. Retrieved 30 December 2025.