Shirli-Ann Valentine (born 20 June 1974), formerly Shirli-Ann Siddall, is a British 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.

Biography

Siddall, who was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, had a promising junior career. In 1990 she won seven out of eight national titles in the under-16 and under-18 divisions. Based in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, Siddall played professionally in the 1990s. In 1995, she featured in

Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...

ties for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

against both

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, in Murcia, Spain. She competed regularly in the main draw of the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...

and once at the

US Open U.S. Open or US Open are open championship sporting tournaments that are hosted in the United States and in which anyone, especially amateur and professional, or American and non-American, may compete. The term may also be applied to non-sporting ev ...

in 1997, partnering

Barbara Schett Barbara Schett Eagle (; born 10 March 1976) is an Austrian former professional tennis player, who reached her highest singles ranking of world No. 7 in September 1999. Between 1993 and 2004 she played in 48 matches for the Austria Fed Cup team, ...

in the women's doubles. She made the second round of Wimbledon in both 1992 and 1994. Her most famous match came against

Jennifer Capriati Jennifer Maria Capriati (born March 29, 1976) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 17 weeks. Capriati won 14 WTA Tour-level singles t ...

in the first round of the

1993 Wimbledon Championships The 1993 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 107th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and was held from ...

. Playing as a wildcard, Siddall took the first set off the seventh seeded Capriati, but was unable to secure the upset, as the young American came back to win in three. She was most successful in the mixed doubles draw at Wimbledon, with two appearances in the round of 16, both times with

Danny Sapsford Danny Sapsford (born 3 April 1969) is a former professional tennis player from Great Britain, who turned professional in 1989. He won one doubles title (1996, Nottingham) during his career. The right-hander reached his highest singles ATP-ranki ...

. The only other occasion she partnered Sapsford at Wimbledon was in 1995 when she had to be carried off the court in a stretcher after fainting from heat exhaustion during their first round match, played in record temperatures. Siddall retired from professional tour in 1998. She had been suffering from a persistent back injury. In 2002, she married Nick Valentine at All Saints Church in Bournemouth. Their wedding took place on the same day as the Wimbledon ladies final. She lives with her family in the town of

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

in Dorset.

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 11 (7–4)

Doubles: 23 (14–9)

References

External links