Rita Maria Pichardo (born 22 May 1970) is a Cuban former professional

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. Pichardo, a five-time national champion, represented the Cuba Federation Cup team in 1991 and 1992. She featured in a total of six ties, including a World Group second round matchup against Romania, where she lost her singles rubber in three sets to

Irina Spîrlea Irina Spîrlea (born 26 March 1974) is a retired tennis player from Romania who turned professional in 1990. She won four singles and six doubles titles. Spîrlea reached her career-high ranking on the WTA Tour on 13 October 1997, when she becam ...

. In 1993, while competing in satellite tournaments in Mexico, Pichardo made the decision to

defect A defect is a physical, functional, or aesthetic attribute of a product or service that exhibits that the product or service failed to meet one of the desired specifications. Defect, defects or defected may also refer to: Examples * Angular defec ...

to the United States and with the help of friends crossed the border at Tijuana on a fake passport.

ITF finals

Singles: 4 (2–2)

Doubles: 9 (6–3)

References

External links

* * * 1970 births Living people Cuban female tennis players Defecting sportspeople of Cuba Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in tennis Central American and Caribbean Games silver medalists for Cuba Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalists for Cuba Tennis players at the 1991 Pan American Games Pan American Games competitors for Cuba 20th-century Cuban women 21st-century Cuban women {{Cuba-tennis-bio-stub