Lea Pericoli

Lea Pericoli (22 March 1935 – 4 October 2024) was an Italian tennis player and later television presenter and journalist from Milan. She reached the last sixteen of the French Open twice and the Wimbledon Championships three times, and is also famous for her choice of clothing.

Pericoli reached the last sixteen of the French Championships singles in 1960 and 1964. She reached the fourth round of Wimbledon three times in 1965, 1967, and 1970.

Pericoli won the Belgian open of 1955, after a win over Christiane Mercelis in the final, 6-3, 6-3.

Partnered by Helga Schultze, Pericoli won the doubles title at the 1974 WTA Swiss Open, defeating Kayoko Fukuoka and Michelle Rodríguez in the final in straight sets.

Pericoli made her Fed Cup debut for Italy in its inaugural year, 1963, and represented Italy in nine years of the competition, winning 8 of her 16 singles matches and 7 of her 14 doubles matches. Her last Fed Cup match was in 1975.

She partnered with Silvana Lazzarino to reach five women's doubles finals in six years (1962–65, 1967) at the Italian International Championships, with four of those coming in consecutive years.

In 1955, Pericoli played at the Wimbledon Championships wearing clothes designed by Ted Tinling. Her clothing generated so much interest in later years, that it was kept secret until her appearances on the court. In particular, her fur-lined clothing worn at the 1964 Wimbledon Championships caught the attention of observers.

In 2001, the Sunday Mirror quoted Pericoli as saying "I became famous because of my clothes, not my playing." and "I didn't make any money from tennis, but if I'd been born 30 years later I would have become terribly rich like Anna Kournikova".