Mary Joe Fernández
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Country | ![]() |
|
Residence | Miami, Florida, USA | |
Date of birth | August 19, 1971 | |
Place of birth | Dominican Republic | |
Height | 5'9 1/2" (1.76 m) | |
Weight | 140 lbs. (63 kg) | |
Turned Pro | 1986 | |
Retired | 2000 | |
Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) | |
Career Prize Money | $5,258,471 | |
Singles | ||
Career record: | 437-203 | |
Career titles: | 7 | |
Highest ranking: | n/a | |
Grand Slam results | ||
Australian Open | F (1990, 1992) | |
French Open | F (1993) | |
Wimbledon | SF (1991) | |
U.S. Open | SF (1990, 1992) | |
Doubles | ||
Career record: | 344-141 | |
Career titles: | 17 WTA, 2 ITF | |
Highest ranking: | n/a | |
Infobox last updated on: n/a. |
Olympic medal record | |||
Women's Tennis | |||
---|---|---|---|
Gold | 1992 Barcelona | Doubles | |
Gold | 1996 Atlanta | Doubles | |
Bronze | 1992 Barcelona | Singles |
Maria Jose (Mary Joe) Fernández Godsick (b. August 19, 1971, in the Dominican Republic) is a former professional tennis player from the United States of Cuban[citation needed] descent. She was the runner-up in three Grand Slam singles tournaments and won two Grand Slam women's doubles titles and two Olympic gold medals.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Fernández first came to the tennis world's attention as an outstanding junior player who won four straight Orange Bowl junior titles. In 1985, aged 14 years and 8 days, Fernández became the youngest player to win a main draw match at the U.S. Open when she defeated Sara Gomer in the first round 6-1, 6-4.
Fernández turned professional in 1986. She won her first tour doubles title in 1989 at Dallas, partnering Betsy Nagelsen. Her first top-level singles title came in 1990 at the Tokyo Indoor championships.
Fernández reached her first Grand Slam singles final in 1990 at the Australian Open, where she was defeated 6-3, 6-4 by Steffi Graf. She finished 1990 ranked a career-high World No. 4 in singles.
In 1991, Fernández teamed with Patty Fendick to win the women's doubles title at the Australian Open.
Fernández was back in the Australian Open singles final in 1992. This time, she lost to Monica Seles 6-2, 6-3.
Fernández was selected to represent the United States at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. She won a gold medal in women's doubles, partnering Gigi Fernández (no relation), and a bronze medal in women's singles.
In the quarterfinals of the 1993 French Open, Fernández staged a dramatic comeback against Gabriela Sabatini after Sabatini took a 6-1, 5-1 lead. Fernández saved five match points during the 3-hour, 36-minute match and eventually won 1-6, 7-6(7-4), 10-8. She then defeated Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals to reach her third Grand Slam singles final. In a close match against Graf, Fernández lost 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Fernández won her second Grand Slam doubles title in 1996 at the French Open, partnering Lindsay Davenport. The pair went on to capture the year-end WTA Tour Championships doubles title later that year.
Fernández was a late replacement for Chanda Rubin on the United States team for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. She won a second straight women's doubles gold medal, again in partnership with Gigi Fernández. She was also entered in the singles competition due to a withdrawal and reached the semifinals, where she was defeated in the bronze medal match by Jana Novotná. Later that year, Fernández was a member of the U.S. team that won the Fed Cup.
Fernández won her final tour singles title in 1997 at the German Open in Berlin. Her final doubles title also came that year in Madrid. She retired from the tour in 2000, having won 7 singles titles, 17 WTA doubles titles, and 2 ITF women's doubles titles.
Since retiring from the tour, Fernández has served as a tennis commentator for ESPN and joined CBS Sports as an analyst for the 2005 U.S. Open.
[edit] Grand Slam record
- Australian Open
- Singles finalist: 1990, 1992
- Singles semifinalist: 1991, 1997
- Singles quarterfinalist: 1993
- Women's Doubles champion: 1991 (w/ Patty Fendick)
- Women's Doubles runner-up: 1990 (w/ Fendick), 1992 (w/ Zina Garrison Jackson), 1996 (w/ Lindsay Davenport)
- French Open
- Singles finalist: 1993
- Singles semifinalist: 1989
- Singles quarterfinalist: 1986, 1990, 1991, 1997
- Women's Doubles champion: 1996 (w/ Davenport)
- Women's Doubles runner-up: 1997 (w/ Lisa Raymond)
- Wimbledon
- Singles semifinalist: 1991
- Singles quarterfinalist: 1995, 1996
- U.S. Open
- Singles semifinalist: 1990, 1992
- Singles quarterfinalist: 1995
- Women's Doubles runner-up: 1989 (w/ Pam Shriver)
[edit] Runner-ups (3)
Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
1990 | Australian Open | ![]() |
6-3, 6-4 |
1992 | Australian Open | ![]() |
6-2, 6-3 |
1993 | French Open | ![]() |
4-6, 6-2, 6-4 |
[edit] Grand Slam singles performance timeline
Tournament | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | Career SR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australian Open | A | NH | A | A | 3R | F | SF | F | QF | 4R | 4R | 4R | SF | A | 3R | 0 / 10 |
French Open | 1R | QF | 2R | A | SF | QF | QF | 3R | F | 3R | 1R | 4R | QF | A | 4R | 0 / 13 |
Wimbledon | A | 1R | 4R | 4R | 4R | A | SF | 3R | 3R | 3R | QF | QF | 4R | A | 1R | 0 / 12 |
U.S. Open | 2R | 3R | 3R | 3R | 1R | SF | 3R | SF | A | 3R | QF | A | 4R | 3R | 4R | 0 / 13 |
SR | 0 / 2 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 48 |
NH = tournament not held.
A = did not participate in the tournament.
SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
[edit] External links
- WTA Tour profile for Mary Joe Fernández
- Fed cup record
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since March 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | American tennis players | People of the Dominican Republic | Tennis commentators | Australian Open champions | French Open champions | Summer Olympics medalists | Olympic gold medalists for the United States | Olympic bronze medalists for the United States | Tennis players at the 1992 Summer Olympics | Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics | 1971 births | Living people | Women sports announcers | People from Miami