Valerie Ziegenfuss (1949- )

     Valerie Ziegenfuss brings many years of distinguished tennis to the Hall of Fame.  A native of San Diego, her first recollection of the sport occurred at Morley Field in November 1959, where she got to the finals of the San Diego Tennis Patrons Thanksgiving Tournament.  Under the guidance of her father, George Ziegenfuss, she won the Harper Ink girls high school division.  Valerie was ranked number one in the SCTA in both the girls 16 and 18 and under singles and doubles.  She won the National 16 doubles with Peaches Bartkowicz and captured the National 18 doubles three years in succession.  Ziegenfuss played Junior Wightman Cup on the winning SCTA team, and she received sportsmanship awards at the Girls 18 Nationals as well as the Margaret Weckerly Sportsmanship Award from the San Diego Tennis Patrons. Valerie played on the professional circuit from 1968 to 1978, and is one of the original nine of the Virginia Slims tour, established in 1970, joining Billie Jean King and Rosie Casals, among others.  She represented the U.S. in the Federation Cup in 1972, and the Wightman Cup in 1969 and 1971.  Ziegenfuss was semifinalist in the Wimbledon doubles twice, was a doubles semifinalist at the U.S. Open and won the U.S. Clay Court Doubles Championships. She won the Mexico City Women’s Singles Championships and once ranked as high as 7 in the U.S. in singles.  She played World Team Tennis for the Hawaii Leis, Boston Lobsters and Los Angeles Strings from 1974 through 1976.   An owner of 16 USTA gold balls, she has played the U.S. Open and Wimbledon Senior Invitational events for 16 years.  From 1979 through 2002, Ziegenfuss coached at the Pacific Beach Tennis Club, San Diego Tennis & Racquet, Helix South and the Hilton Hotel. Valerie was the USTA National Coach from 1998 to 2002 in charge of player development. Her daughter Allison Bradshaw has been on the pro circuit and her son Michael has served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves. Valerie currently resides in El Cajon and works at Century 21 Award in San Diego.