Judy Alvarez (born April 2, 1943) is an American former professional

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player. Alvarez grew up in the Tampa neighborhood of

Ybor City Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mai ...

and is of mixed Cuban and Italian descent. Her Cuban American father was a bus driver and her Sicilian born mother worked in a cigar factory. A Florida state junior champion, Alvarez won the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...

in 1961 and the following year graduated from Jefferson High School. She attended the

University of Tampa The University of Tampa (UTampa, UT or Tampa U) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UTampa offers more than 200 programs of study, including 19 master's degrees and a br ...

on a football scholarship, with the college yet to have established a women's tennis team. Alvarez's best performance 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 ...

, when she made the round of 16 in 1964, included a win over future champion

Virginia Wade Sarah Virginia Wade (born 10 July 1945) is a British former professional tennis player. She won three major tennis singles championships and four major doubles championships, and is the only British woman in history to have won titles at all fo ...

. She also reached the round of 16 at the French and U.S. Championships during her career. By the age of 21 she was ranked sixth nationally, but then suddenly quit the tour after being overlooked for the

Wightman Cup The Wightman Cup was an annual team tennis competition for women contested from 1923 through 1989 (except during World War II) between teams from the United States and Great Britain. History U.S. player Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman wanted to generat ...

team, despite having recently beaten rivals including

Darlene Hard Darlene Ruth Hard (January 6, 1936 – December 2, 2021) was an American professional tennis player, known for her aggressive volleying ability and strong serves. She captured singles titles at the French Championships in 1960 and the U.S. Cha ...

and Billie Jean Moffitt. In the 1970s she made a brief comeback to the professional tour.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez, Judy 1943 births Living people American female tennis players Tennis players from Tampa, Florida American sportspeople of Cuban descent American people of Italian descent College women's tennis players in the United States University of Tampa alumni 20th-century American sportswomen