Tory Ann Fretz

Tory Ann Fretz (b.1942), whose playing history bridges the amateur and professional eras, inaugurated her outstanding career by capturing the singles and doubles titles at the fourth intercollegiate championships for women in 1961. Fretz learned tennis at the William Penn Public Courts in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – becoming the top-ranked junior in the USTA’s Middle States section. Moving to Southern California to attend Occidental College, Tretz developed her strong volleying game under the guidance of tennis great Alice Marble.

In 1963, the year she earned her first USTA Top 10 ranking, Fretz began touring on the Caribbean and European circuits, reaching the third round at Wimbledon. An excellent doubles player, she was ranked No. 2 with Julie Heldman in 1965 and won the Ojai Invitational with Billie Jean King the following year. As a pioneering professional, Fretz joined King as a teammate on the Philadelphia Freedoms in 1974. Fretz went on to a successful career as a tennis instructor in her adopted state of California.