Barbara Breit

Barbara Nicolette Breit (December 30, 1937 – July 20, 2022)[1] was an American tennis player of the 1950s.

Barbara Breit
Full nameBarbara Nicolette Breit
Country (sports) United States
Born(1937-12-30)December 30, 1937
New York City
DiedJuly 20, 2022(2022-07-20) (aged 84)
Madison, Wisconsin
Singles
Highest rankingNo. 6 (1955, Lance Tingay)
Grand Slam singles results
US OpenSF (1955)

Breit, eldest of three sisters, was born to German emigrant parents in New York City and raised in Los Angeles.[2] She won back to back national under 18s titles in 1954 and 1955. While still a schoolgirl, Breit upset third-seeded Beverly Baker Fleitz in the quarter-finals of the 1955 U.S. National Championships, before losing her semi-final match to Patricia Ward.[3]

At the tournament now known as the Cincinnati Masters, Breit was seeded No. 1 in 1955 at age 17 years and six months. She is still the youngest player ever to get the top seed in women's singles in Cincinnati. She reached the semifinals that year before falling to unseeded and fellow Californian Mimi Arnold.

In 2015 she was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[4]

References
  1. "Barbara Nicolette Breit Obituary 2022". Cremation Society of Madison. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  2. "Valley Newcomers". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. June 26, 1950.
  3. "Barbara Breit Wins". The Boston Globe. September 10, 1955.
  4. Simon, Ed (June 29, 2015). "17th Annual Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Inductees Come From All Areas of Sports". The LA Beat.
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