Yolanda del Monte Carmelo Ramírez y Partida (1 March 1935 – 9 March 2025), known simply as Yola Ramírez, was a Mexican tennis player active in the 1950s and 1960s who was twice a singles finalist and once a women's doubles champion and mixed doubles champion at the

French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...

Biography

Ramírez was a singles finalist at the

French Championships The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam tennis events eve ...

in 1960 and 1961. She lost the 1960 final to Darlene Hard and the 1961 final to Ann Haydon. She also was a quarterfinalist at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

in 1959 and 1961, a quarterfinalist at the 1961 and 1963 U.S. Championships, a semifinalist at the 1962

Australian Championships The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events every year, held be ...

, a semifinalist at the 1959 Italian Championships, and a finalist in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

in 1959. She won the German Championships in 1957 and was a finalist in 1961. Ramirez teamed with

Rosie Reyes Rosa María Reyes Darmon (''née'' Reyes; 23 March 1939 – 4 January 2024) was a Mexican tennis player who was active in the 1950s and 1960s. Career Most of her success came on clay on which she won the women's doubles title at the 1958 Fren ...

to win the women's doubles title at the 1958 French Championships and to reach the final at the 1957 and 1959 French Championships. She teamed with

Billy Knight William R. Knight (born June 9, 1952) is an American former professional basketball player and executive. Playing with the Indiana Pacers in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and later the National Basketball Association (NBA), he ...

to win the mixed doubles title at the 1959 French Championships. With Edda Buding, she reached the women's doubles final at the 1961 U.S. Championships. She also won the women's doubles titles at the Italian Championships and in Monte Carlo, both in 1960. At the tournament in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, Ramirez won the singles title in 1956 and the doubles title (with Sara Mae Turber) in 1955. She was a doubles finalist in 1956. In 1959, she won the South of France Championships in Nice, France. Ramírez won the singles titles at the 1960 Mexico National Championships and the 1961 Caribbean Lawn Tennis Championship. During her career, Ramírez had wins over

Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943), also known as BJK, is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in w ...

(in the second round of Wimbledon in 1961, which was King's first appearance at the tournament), Jones, and

Christine Truman Christine Clara Truman Janes (born 16 January 1941) is a former tennis player from the United Kingdom who was active from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. She won a singles Grand Slam title at the French Championships in 1959 and was a finalist ...

. According to Lance Tingay of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' and the ''

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'', Ramírez was ranked in the world top 10 in 1957 and from 1959 through 1961, reaching a career high of world no. 6 in 1961. Ramírez married Alfonso Ochoa on 29 August 1962. She died on 9 March 2025, at the age of 90.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (2 runners-up)

Doubles (1 title, 3 runners-up)

Mixed doubles (1 title)

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramirez, Yola 1935 births 2025 deaths Mexican female tennis players Sportspeople from Puebla Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Pan American Games gold medalists in tennis Pan American Games silver medalists in tennis Pan American Games bronze medalists in tennis Pan American Games gold medalists for Mexico Pan American Games silver medalists for Mexico Pan American Games bronze medalists for Mexico Tennis players at the 1955 Pan American Games French Championships (tennis) champions Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in tennis Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Mexico Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalists for Mexico Medalists at the 1955 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games 20th-century Mexican sportswomen