Valentino Taroni

{{Short description|Italian tennis player}}

{{Infobox tennis biography

| name = Valentino Taroni

| image =

| fullname =

| country_represented = {{flagu|Italy|1861}}

| birth_date = 1915

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| death_date = 1997

| death_place =

| height =

| plays = Right-handed

| careerprizemoney =

| singlesrecord =

| singlestitles =

| highestsinglesranking =

| FrenchOpenresult = 3R (1934)

| Wimbledonresult = 1R (1935)

}}

Valentino Taroni (1915–1997) was an Italian tennis player.{{cite news |title=Calcio E Tennis I Ritmi Dello Sport E Tanta Nostalgiacalcio E Tennis I Ritmi Dello Sport E Tanta Nostalgia |url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1997/09/13/calcio-tennis-ritmi-dello-sport-tanta-nostalgia.html |work=la Repubblica |date=13 September 1997 |language=it}}

Born in 1915, Taroni grew up in the town of Carate Urio on the shores of Lake Como. From a working class family, Taroni's humble beginnings were a contrast to the top Italian player's of the time, who were largely upper class. In order to pursue the sport he had to receive financial help from a member of a Como tennis club, where he was a ball boy.{{cite web |title=Vecchie famiglie |url=http://www.taroni.net/CC7_vecchie_famiglie.htm |website=www.taroni.net |language=Italian}}

Taroni competed for the Italy Davis Cup team between 1933 and 1939, primarily as a doubles specialist. He reached the singles third round of the 1934 French Championships and was Italy's national singles champion in 1937.{{cite news |title="Io, giocatore ribelle sempre a rete e con al collo un dente di pescecane..." |url=https://www.ilgiornale.it/news/io-giocatore-ribelle-sempre-rete-e-collo-dente-pescecane.html |work=Il Giornale |date=19 May 2008 |language=it}} His career was interrupted by the war and after the conflict he became a tennis coach in Naples.