FIRST - Unseeded Player to Reach the Semifinals of the U.S. Open - Nancy Chaffee Whitaker
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member NW_history_buff
N 33° 44.769 W 116° 24.780
11S E 554369 N 3734164
This citizen memorial mentions a FIRST and is located within Whitewater Park in Rancho Mirage, CA.
Waymark Code: WMKEJ3
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 03/31/2014
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member Zork V
Views: 6

Located within Whitewater Park, a very nice park, is a standing citizen memorial plaque that mentions a 'FIRST' and reads:

NANCY CHAFFEE WHITAKER
1929 - 2002

In 1947, Nancy won the USTA National Girls'
title for 18-and under. In 1950, she became
the first unseeded player to reach the
semifinals of the U.S. Open.
From 1950 to
1952, Nancy won the U.S. Women's National
Indoor Singles titles and, in 1950, she
reached the quarter finals at Wimbledon.
In 1951, Nancy was the fourth ranked women's
tennis player in the world.

Nancy moved to Rancho Mirage in 1951 and
throughout her life was a successful fundraiser
for many local and national charities. She was
a much loved Mother, a great friend, and a part
of the rich history of the Coachella Valley.

There's a NY Times article that contains a good bio of her life and reads:

Nancy Chaffee Whitaker, a leading tennis player in the 1950's who won three consecutive national indoor championships, died Sunday in Coronado, Calif. She was 73 and lived in Indian Wells, Calif.

The cause was complications of cancer, said her husband, the sportscaster Jack Whitaker.

Wrap Text around ImageIn the early 50's, Nancy Chaffee vied for tennis supremacy with figures like Maureen Connolly, Althea Gibson, Margaret Osborne duPont, Doris Hart, Louise Brough and Shirley Fry.

She was the national indoor titleholder from 1950 to 1952, defeating Gibson, Beverly Baker and Patricia Todd in the finals, long before the open era and the advent of huge prize money. The indoor tournaments were played on the boards at the Seventh Regiment Armory on Park Avenue in Manhattan before perhaps 2,000 fans at the final rounds.

''What did I win?'' Chaffee Whitaker said in a 1993 interview. ''A little silver ball and a silver ashtray with a glass base, and I don't even smoke. No money.''

Comparing the modern game with her era, she said: ''There are more better players. When I was playing I was an automatic almost into the semifinals of any tournament. That's just the way it was, a gap between the few top players and the rest. And there was no qualifying for tournaments.''

The daughter of a tennis instructor and a native of Ventura, Calif., she played on the men's tennis team at the University of Southern California because there was no women's squad. While a sophomore, she captured the 1947 United States girls' lawn tennis singles championship and teamed with Baker to win the doubles title.

She emerged in the national spotlight in 1950, reaching the singles quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the singles semifinals of the United States nationals -- the forerunner of the United States Open -- in addition to winning the first of her indoor championships.

In 1951, she teamed with Todd in doubles at the nationals, losing in the final to Fry and Hart, and she played doubles on the 1951 Wightman Cup team that defeated Britain, 6-1.

She was married in October 1951 to Ralph Kiner, the Pittsburgh Pirates' slugger and future Hall of Famer, and retired from most tournament play after winning the 1952 indoor title, devoting herself to rearing a family.

She was later a sports commentator for ABC, developed tennis programs at resorts and helped found the Cartier tennis tournament in Long Island's Hamptons to benefit the American Cancer Society.

In addition to Whitaker, whom she married in 1991, she is survived by three children from her marriage to Kiner, the longtime Mets broadcaster; sons Michael and Scott Kiner, and a daughter, Kathryn Freeman, all of Palm Desert, Calif.; and five grandchildren.


The historic Rock Point Hotel building is also listed in the National Register of Historic Pla es (1980).

FIRST - Classification Variable: Person or Group

Date of FIRST: 01/01/1950

More Information - Web URL: Not listed

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