Pam Shriver, a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, recently got back the trophies that were stolen from her car while she was staying at a hotel during the evacuation due to wildfires in the greater Los Angeles area. In a phone interview on Friday, Shriver commented, “It was an interesting chapter. I wish the trophies could talk,” expressing curiosity about where they had been during their disappearance.
Shriver is a highly accomplished player, having won 21 Grand Slam doubles titles (most of them with Martina Navratilova), a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics, and 111 doubles titles overall. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002. Like many others, Shriver had to leave her home due to the wildfires, but fortunately, her property was unharmed in the end.
While Pam Shriver was staying at a hotel during the wildfires, a car containing some of her personal belongings, including family photos from over the years, was stolen. Although the car has not been found, Shriver said the trophies were returned about 10 days later, left in boxes outside the hotel. She finally received them back this week.
Pam Shriver explained that the trophies were hidden in the back of the car, making them impossible to see through the windows. She believes the thieves didn’t find them valuable, which is why they were eventually returned.
Shriver was first informed that the trophies had been found by the hotel manager. The following day, a detective took the trophies to fingerprint them. After that, Shriver regained possession of her trophies.
Among the items returned were five trophies from her U.S. Open women’s doubles victories in 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, and 1991. Also included was a bowl she received from the U.S. Tennis Association for being the runner-up in the 1978 U.S. Open singles at the age of 16, a time when, as Shriver remembered, she received no money, no trophy, just some flowers.
The car also contained four French Open doubles trophies that Shriver and Navratilova won in 1984, 1985, 1987, and 1988. Additionally, there was at least one other silver tennis trophy, along with a humorous item: the reward Shriver received in 2001 for being named the most improved golfer at Brentwood Country Club.