Riza Angela Zalameda (born February 10, 1986) is an American-Filipino former

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player. From 2004 to 2008, she attended and represented

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

on the Division I women's tennis team. Zalameda is a former NCAA national champion in the doubles and team events, and four-time All-American in singles and doubles. Upon graduating with a degree in

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

, she played on the

WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour. WTA Tour tou ...

. From 2012 to 2016, Zalameda served as the assistant coach for Columbia University's Division I women's tennis program in New York City. Then, from 2016 to 2018, she led the newly fully funded tennis program at

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the ...

in South Orange, New Jersey. Currently, Zalameda is the tennis coach at Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands.

Biography

Riza was born to Filipino parents Rolly and Angie Zalameda in Los Angeles. She started playing tennis at five and was coached by her father, Rolly. Zalameda played mainly on tournaments of the

ITF Women's Circuit The ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, previously known as the ITF Women's Circuit, is a series of professional tennis tournaments run by the International Tennis Federation for female professional tennis players. History It serves as a developmental ...

where she won two singles and six doubles titles. Her career-high

WTA rankings The WTA rankings are the ratings defined by the Women's Tennis Association, introduced in November 1975. Iga Świątek is the current world No. 1. Ranking method The WTA rankings are based on a rolling 52-week, cumulative system. A pla ...

are No. 534 in singles (achieved in July 2006) and No. 76 in doubles (set in April 2010). She was runner-up at the doubles event of the Taipei Ladies Open in 2009 with

Yayuk Basuki Yayuk Basuki (born 30 November 1970) is an Indonesian former professional tennis player who is now a politician. She is the highest-ever ranked tennis player from Indonesia, having reached No. 19 in singles in the WTA rankings in October 1997. ...

, her greatest success. Zalameda also won seven medals at the

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, also known as the SEA Games, is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with sup ...

, representing the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. She retired from pro circuit 2011.

ITF Circuit finals

Singles (2–0)

Doubles (6–6)

External links

* * * http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/w-tennis/mtt/zalameda_riza00.html * http://www.tennisgrandstand.com/archives/1489 {{DEFAULTSORT:Zalameda, Riza Living people 1986 births American sportspeople of Filipino descent American female tennis players Tennis players from Los Angeles SEA Games gold medalists for the Philippines SEA Games silver medalists for the Philippines SEA Games bronze medalists for the Philippines SEA Games medalists in tennis Filipino female tennis players UCLA Bruins women's tennis players Competitors at the 2005 SEA Games Competitors at the 2009 SEA Games