Gigi Fernández
Gigi Fernández 
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| Gigi Fernández at the 2009 US Open | |||||||||||||
| Nation: |
 Puerto Rico United States
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| Birthday: | February 22, 1964 | ||||||||||||
| Size: | 170 cm | ||||||||||||
| 1st professional season: | 1983 | ||||||||||||
| Resignation: | 1997 | ||||||||||||
| Playing hand: | Right | ||||||||||||
| Prize money: | $ 4,646,829 | ||||||||||||
| singles | |||||||||||||
| Career record: | 270: 232 | ||||||||||||
| Career title: | 2 WTA, 1 ITF | ||||||||||||
| Highest ranking: | 17 (September 9 1991) | ||||||||||||
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| Double | |||||||||||||
| Career record: | 664: 184 | ||||||||||||
| Career title: | 69 WTA, 1 ITF | ||||||||||||
| Highest ranking: | 1 (March 4 1991) | ||||||||||||
| Weeks as No. 1: | 80 | ||||||||||||
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| Olympic games | |||||||||||||
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| Sources: official player profiles at the ATP / WTA and ITF (see web links ) | |||||||||||||
Beatriz "Gigi" Fernández (born February 22, 1964 in San Juan , Puerto Rico ) is a former American tennis player .
With 17 Grand Slam titles and two Olympic gold medals (1992 and 1996) Fernández is one of the most successful doubles players in tennis history.
Career
She began playing tennis at the age of seven. In her childhood she was trained by her father, Tuto Fernández. She received a scholarship to Clemson University but opted for a career as a professional tennis player shortly after she was able to move into the individual finals of the NCAA in her first semester in 1983 . Fernández became Puerto Rico's first female professional athlete in 1983.
1983–1986: First international tournaments and tournament victories
Her first international tournament played Gigi Fernández at the ITF tournament in 1983 in Lakewood, where she could win the double competition together with Lori McNeil . In her fourth individual tournament at ITF level in Greensboro, she also won her first individual tournament. At the first tournament on the WTA Tour in Indianapolis in doubles together with Beth Herr they made it into the final, which they lost against the top seeded pairing around Kathleen Horvath and Virginia Ruzici . Also in 1983 she took part in her first Grand Slam tournament at the US Open in singles , but was eliminated in the first round against Sabina Simmonds . After several tournaments in which she was eliminated in the first rounds, she took part in her first Grand Slam tournament in doubles at the Australian Open in November 1983 , where she was also eliminated in the first round. In 1984 she made it to the semi-finals in Indianapolis together with Terry Holladay . At Wimbledon , she was able to move into the round of 16 alongside Alycia Moulton . Following Wimbledon, she played the singles tournament in Newport where she came out of qualification as a lucky loser and was able to advance to the final, which she lost to top seed Martina Navrátilová in two sets. At her first tournament in 1985 in Washington DC , she achieved her first tournament victory in doubles on the WTA Tour. A good month later, the second followed in Delray Beach with Martina Navrátilová. The next double victory followed in August 1985 in Toronto, also at the side of Martina Navrátilová. In 1986 she did not win a tournament in doubles, but in October 1986 she won her first individual competition on the WTA Tour in Singapore .
1986–1990: The first Grand Slam title and win the Fed Cup
Gigi Fernández became more and more successful. So she was able to move into the semifinals or even the finals more and more often in doubles at tournaments in the category of the WTA World Tour. In 1987 she won three tournaments in doubles together with Lori McNeil . In 1988 she was able to move into the final together with Zina Garrison at the tournament in Miami , which was held in the Tier I category, which she lost to Steffi Graf and Gabriela Sabatini . At the next two tournaments, which Fernández played in Tokyo, she managed once with Robin White a final participation and a tournament victory. In the three tournaments she played before the US Open in 1988, she was able to reach the final. At the US Open, she won the first Grand Slam title of her career in doubles. At the side of Robin White she won the unseeded final against Patty Fendick and Jill Hetherington . With Robin White she won three more tournaments on the WTA Tour. In 1988 Fernández first appeared for the United States in the Fed Cup . She got two wins in doubles in her first two games. After two more double victories on the tour, she achieved her only Fed Cup victory in 1990 with the United States' Fed Cup team .
1991–1997: The "fake" Golden Slam and a new double partner
In 1991, Gigi Fernández won seven tournaments on the tour, including her third Grand Slam title with the French Open . 1992 was the most successful year in her entire career. With the new doubles partner Natallja Swerawa , she was able to win the Grand Slam tournaments at Wimbledon , Roland Garros and New York in a row. She won the 1992 Olympic Games in doubles with Mary Joe Fernández . With the next Grand Slam victory in Australia , the "fake" Golden Slam was perfect. Together with Natallja Swerewa, she achieved seven more Grand Slam victories and 24 more tournament victories on the WTA Tour, including twice the WTA Tour Championships. In 1994 she reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon in singles , which is the greatest success of her individual career. In 1996 she defended the Olympic title in doubles with Mary Joe Fernández. At the 1997 Wimbledon Championships , she achieved the last tournament victory in her professional career. Set in first position, she won the final together with Natallja Swerewa against Nicole Arendt and Manon Bollegraf . At the US Open she was able to move into the final again, which she lost against Lindsay Davenport and Jana Novotná . The last tournament she played in November 1997 at the WTA Tour Championships , where she was eliminated in the quarterfinals.
Balance sheet
Fernández won the double six times the French Open five times, the US Open four times at Wimbledon and twice the Australian Open . She won 14 of her 17 Grand Slam titles together with Natallja Swerawa . After Martina Navrátilová and Pam Shriver, they are the second most successful double team in Grand Slam tournaments. Fernández won a total of 71 tournaments in doubles, in 1991 she was number 1 in the doubles world rankings for the first time, in her career a total of 80 weeks. In singles , she won two tournaments on the WTA Tour and reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon in 1994 .
With the USA she took part in the Fed Cup eight times and was able to win it once. She also won gold medals at the Olympics twice.
In 1997 she resigned from professional tennis. In 1999 she was voted Female Athlete of the Century in Puerto Rico.
After her professional career, she became a tennis coach. She trained, among others, the doubles players Rennae Stubbs and Lisa Raymond and the Fed Cup team Puerto Rico .
On March 1, 2010, Gigi Fernández was nominated for induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame .
Private
Fernández had a relationship with the Spanish tennis player Conchita Martínez . Today she lives with her partner Jane Geddes , a former professional golfer. She is the mother of twins.
Tournament victories
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Performing in Grand Slam tournaments
singles
| competition | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | Balance sheet | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | 2 | - | - | AF | 1 | 1 | AF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 13:12 | AF |
| French Open | - | - | - | 2 | 2 | - | 1 | - | 2 | - | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | - | 3: 7 | 2 |
| Wimbledon | - | 2 | - | 1 | AF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | AF | 2 | HF | 1 | 3 | 3 | 21:13 | HF |
| US Open | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | VF | AF | 3 | VF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 17:15 | VF |
Double
| competition | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | Balance sheet | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | 1 | 1 | AF | - | AF | - | - | HF | F. | VF | S. | S. | F. | VF | HF | 38:10 | S. |
| French Open | - | - | - | - | VF | - | 2 | - | S. | S. | S. | S. | S. | F. | S. | 45: 3 | S. |
| Wimbledon | - | AF | - | AF | AF | VF | VF | VF | F. | S. | S. | S. | F. | HF | S. | 53: 9 | S. |
| US Open | - | 2 | VF | VF | AF | S. | VF | S. | AF | S. | HF | HF | S. | S. | F. | 57: 9 | S. |
Web links
- WTA profile Gigi Fernández (English)
- ITF profile of Gigi Fernández (English)
- Fed Cup stats by Gigi Fernández (English)
- Gigi Fernández in the "International Tennis Hall of Fame" (English; with picture)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Gigi Fernandez Bio - Biography on in.com ( Memento of the original from April 16, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on April 8, 2015
- ^ Karen Crouse, A Dream Deferred, Almost Too Long. In: The New York Times . August 29, 2010, accessed April 9, 2015 .
- ↑ Fernandez remembered for her trademark zeal on the court - espn.go.com of September 30, 2008, accessed on April 9, 2014 (English)
- ↑ a b Gigi Fernandez Bio - Gigi_Fernandez_Bio.pdf ( Memento of the original from February 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on April 8, 2015 (PDF; 880kB)
- ↑ a b c Results in the WTA profile , accessed on April 14, 2015 (English)
- ↑ Nomination for admission to the Tennis Hall of Fame on August 31, 2009, accessed on April 14, 2015 (English)
- ↑ Focus: Waiting for Monica, June 19, 1995, accessed April 14, 2015
- ^ Karen Crouse, A Dream Deferred, Almost Too Long. In: The New York Times . August 29, 2010, accessed December 1, 2013 .
1920: Kathleen McKane / Winifred McNair | 1924: Hazel Wightman / Helen Wills Moody | 1988: Pam Shriver / Zina Garrison | 1992: Gigi Fernández / Mary Joe Fernández | 1996: Gigi Fernández / Mary Joe Fernández | 2000: Serena Williams / Venus Williams | 2004: Li Ting / Sun Tiantian | 2008: Serena Williams / Venus Williams | 2012: Serena Williams / Venus Williams | 2016: Ekaterina Makarowa / Jelena Wesnina
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Fernández, Gigi |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Fernández, Beatriz (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Puerto Rican-American tennis player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 22, 1964 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | San Juan , Puerto Rico |