Claudia Kohde-Kilsch (born December 11, 1963 in
SaarbrückenSaarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city sits at the heart of a metropolitan area that bounds westwards to Dillingen and northeastwards to Neunkirchen, in which most of the people of the Saarland live....
) is a former
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
tennisTennis is a sport played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a strung racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court....
player. During her career, she won two women's doubles Grand Slam titles. She also won 6 singles titles and 25 doubles titles.
Kohde-Kilsch was born Claudia Kohde, but added the hyphenated "-Kilsch" to her name which came from her adoptive father Jurgen Kilsch, an attorney. She has 1 younger sister, Katrin.
Claudia Kohde-Kilsch (born December 11, 1963 in
SaarbrückenSaarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city sits at the heart of a metropolitan area that bounds westwards to Dillingen and northeastwards to Neunkirchen, in which most of the people of the Saarland live....
) is a former
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
tennisTennis is a sport played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a strung racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court....
player. During her career, she won two women's doubles Grand Slam titles. She also won 6 singles titles and 25 doubles titles.
Career
Kohde-Kilsch was born Claudia Kohde, but added the hyphenated "-Kilsch" to her name which came from her adoptive father Jurgen Kilsch, an attorney. She has 1 younger sister, Katrin. She began playing tennis when she only 5, and was soon a rising junior player.
Kohde-Kilsch turned professional on January 1, 1980, and by 1981 she had handed a rare first round defeat to
Martina NavrátilováMartina Navrátilová is a Czech-American tennis player. A former World No. 1...
in Oakland. She went on to win Gstaad, the Austrian Open, and Toronto that year. In 1982, she captured the title at Pittsburgh and in 1984 she triumphed at the
German OpenThe German Open, sponsored from 2006 through 2008 as the Qatar Telecom German Open, was a WTA Tour affiliated professional tennis tournament for women played in Berlin, Germany. Held since 1896, it was one of the oldest tournaments for women...
, defeating
Kathleen HorvathErica Kathleen "Kathy" Horvath is a former professional tennis player.-Career:Horvath was the youngest player to win the U.S. National 16s in 1979. She also is the only player to ever win all four age groups in the U.S...
of the United States, 7–6(8), 6–1.
In 1985, she reached the
Australian OpenThe Australian Open is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments held each year. The tournament is held each January at Melbourne Park. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was contested on grass from then up to 1987. Since 1988, the tournament has been held on hard...
and French Open semi-finals and also won in Los Angeles. Later that year, she defeated Navrátilová in the quarter-finals on the way to a final round match with
Chris EvertChristine Marie "Chris" Evert is a former world number 1 professional tennis player from the United States. She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships, including a record seven championships at the French Open and a record six championships at the U.S. Open. According to the Women's Tennis...
at the
Canadian OpenThe Canada Masters , currently sponsored as the Rogers Cup, is an annual tennis tournament held in Canada. The men's competition is a Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour. The women's competition is a Premier Tournament on the Women's Tennis Association tour...
, where she eventually lost to Evert, 6–2, 6–4. In 1987, she again reached the finals of the
German OpenThe German Open, sponsored from 2006 through 2008 as the Qatar Telecom German Open, was a WTA Tour affiliated professional tennis tournament for women played in Berlin, Germany. Held since 1896, it was one of the oldest tournaments for women...
, where she lost to a rising
Steffi GrafStefanie Maria Graf is a former World No. 1 female tennis player from Germany.Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players only to Margaret Court's 24...
6–2, 6–3.
In women's doubles, Kohde-Kilsch won the
1985 US OpenList of the 1985 US Open champions:-Men's singles: Ivan Lendl def. John McEnroe, 7–6, 6–3, 6–4*It was Lendl's 2nd career Grand Slam title, and his 1st US Open title.-Women's singles: Hana Mandlíková def...
women's doubles championship with
Helena SukováHelena Suková is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. During her career, she won 14 Grand Slam titles, 9 of them in women's doubles and 5 of them in mixed doubles...
and in 1987, partnering again with Suková, she won the
1987 Wimbledon women's doubles championshipThe 1987 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 101st edition of the Wimbledon Championships. List of the 1987 Wimbledon Champions:-Men's singles: Pat Cash def. Ivan Lendl, 7–6, 6–2, 7–5...
.
Between 1983 and 1987 Kohde-Kilsch and Suková, sometimes referred to as the "twin towers" for their height, paired to win 19 doubles tournaments. At the
1988 Summer OlympicsThe 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan...
, she partnered with
Steffi GrafStefanie Maria Graf is a former World No. 1 female tennis player from Germany.Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players only to Margaret Court's 24...
in the doubles competition and together they were awarded the
bronze medalA bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...
in the event.
Kohde-Kilsch currently lives in
SaarlandSaarland is one of the 16 federal states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest of the German Flächenländer , i.e., those that are not city-states...
with her husband, Chris Bennett, and their son, Fynn. The couple operate CeKay Music, a music publishing house and production company.
Doubles: 8 (2 titles, 6 runner-ups)
| Outcome |
Year |
Championship |
Surface |
Partner |
Opponents in the final |
Score in the final |
| Runner-up |
1982 |
Australian OpenThe Australian Open is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments held each year. The tournament is held each January at Melbourne Park. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was contested on grass from then up to 1987. Since 1988, the tournament has been held on hard...
|
Grass |
GER Eva Pfaff Eva Pfaff is a former German tennis player.During her career she won 5 doubles WTA titles. Her peak world rankings in the sport were 17th in singles and 16th in doubles .-External links:...
|
USA Martina NavratilovaMartina Navrátilová is a Czech-American tennis player. A former World No. 1...
USA Pam ShriverPamela Howard Shriver Lazenby , is a former professional tennis player and current sports broadcaster from the United States. During the 1980s and 1990s, she won 133 top-level titles, including 21 women's doubles titles and 1 mixed doubles title at Grand Slam tournaments...
|
6–4, 6–2 |
| Runner-up |
1984 |
French Open |
Clay |
TCH Hana MandlíkováHana Mandlíková is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. During her career, she won four Grand Slam singles titles – two at the Australian Open, one at the French Open, and one at the US Open...
|
USA Martina Navratilova
USA Pam Shriver |
5–7, 6–3, 6–2 |
| Runner-up |
1984 |
Australian Open |
Grass |
TCH Helena Suková Helena Suková is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. During her career, she won 14 Grand Slam titles, 9 of them in women's doubles and 5 of them in mixed doubles...
|
USA Martina Navratilova
USA Pam Shriver |
6–3, 6–4 |
| Runner-up |
1985 |
French Open |
Clay |
TCH Helena Suková |
USA Martina Navratilova
USA Pam Shriver |
4–6, 6–2, 6–2 |
| Winner |
1985 |
US Open |
Hard |
TCH Helena Suková |
USA Martina Navratilova
USA Pam Shriver |
6–7(5), 6–2, 6–3 |
| Runner-up |
1985 |
Australian Open |
Grass |
TCH Helena Suková |
USA Martina Navratilova
USA Pam Shriver |
6–3, 6–4 |
| Winner |
1987 |
WimbledonThe Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is generally considered the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in the London suburb of Wimbledon since 1877...
|
Grass |
TCH Helena Suková |
USA Betsy Nagelsen Betsy Nagelsen McCormack is a retired professional tennis player from the United States. Nagelsen won the doubles championship at the 1978 and 1980 Australian Opens . She reached the singles final of the 1978 Australian Open, losing to Christine O'Neil...
AUS Elizabeth Sayers SmylieElizabeth Sayers Smylie is an Australian former tennis player.She won the Western Australian Sports Star of the Year award in 1985.She won the Comeback Player of the Year award in 1990 and 1993....
|
7–5, 7–5 |
| Runner-up |
1988 |
French Open |
Clay |
TCH Helena Suková |
USA Martina Navratilova
USA Pam Shriver |
6–2, 7–5 |
Singles (6)
|
|
| Titles by Surface |
| Hard (1) |
| Clay (3) |
| Grass (1) |
| Carpet (1) |
|
| No. |
Date |
Location |
Surface |
Opponent in the final |
Score in the final |
| 1. |
19 July 1981 |
Kitzbühel, Austria The WTA Austrian Open is a defunct WTA Tour affiliated tennis tournament held from 1968 to 2004. In the Open Era six locations hosted the event: Pörtschach in 1968 and 1999; Kitzbühel from 1969 to 1977, from 1979 to 1983 and from 1990 to 1993; Vienna in 1978 and from 2001 to 2004; Bregenz from 1985...
|
Clay |
FRG Sylvia HanikaSylvia Hanika is a former professional tennis player from Germany. She is best remembered for finishing runner-up at the French Open in 1981, and for winning the Avon Championships in 1982. She was ranked as high as No. 5 in the world and played left-handed.-Career:Hanika turned professional in 1977...
|
7–5, 7–6 |
| 2. |
21 March 1982 |
Austin, USA |
Carpet (I) |
TCH Helena Suková Helena Suková is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. During her career, she won 14 Grand Slam titles, 9 of them in women's doubles and 5 of them in mixed doubles...
|
7–6, 0–6, 6–3 |
| 3. |
20 May 1984 |
Berlin, West Germany |
Clay |
USA Kathleen Horvath Erica Kathleen "Kathy" Horvath is a former professional tennis player.-Career:Horvath was the youngest player to win the U.S. National 16s in 1979. She also is the only player to ever win all four age groups in the U.S...
|
7–6, 6–1 |
| 4. |
4 August 1985 |
Manhattan Beach, USA |
Hard |
USA Pam Shriver Pamela Howard Shriver Lazenby , is a former professional tennis player and current sports broadcaster from the United States. During the 1980s and 1990s, she won 133 top-level titles, including 21 women's doubles titles and 1 mixed doubles title at Grand Slam tournaments...
|
6–2, 6–4 |
| 5. |
12 June 1988 |
Birmingham, UK |
Grass |
USA Pam Shriver |
6–2, 6–1 |
| 6. |
16 September 1990 |
Kitzbühel, Austria |
Clay |
AUS Rachel McQuillan Rachel McQuillan is a retired professional tennis player from Australia. She won 5 WTA Tour doubles titles, as well as 14 singles and 21 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. She reached the mixed doubles semifinals at the 1995 and 1998 French Opens and at the 1996 US Open, each time...
|
7–6, 6–4 |
Doubles (25)
Grand slam events in boldface.
- 1980: Kitzbühel (with Eva Pfaff
Eva Pfaff is a former German tennis player.During her career she won 5 doubles WTA titles. Her peak world rankings in the sport were 17th in singles and 16th in doubles .-External links:...
)
- 1981: Kitzbühel (with Eva Pfaff)
- 1983: Oakland (with Eva Pfaff)
- 1983: Hamburg (with Bettina Bunge
Bettina Bunge is a German tennis player. She was born in Adliswil, Switzerland, plays right-handed and is 1.73 m tall and weighs 56.6 kg ....
)
- 1984: Hilton Head (with Hana Mandlíková
Hana Mandlíková is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. During her career, she won four Grand Slam singles titles – two at the Australian Open, one at the French Open, and one at the US Open...
)
- 1984: Orlando (with Hana Mandlíková)
- 1984: Filderstadt (with Helena Suková
Helena Suková is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. During her career, she won 14 Grand Slam titles, 9 of them in women's doubles and 5 of them in mixed doubles...
)
- 1984: Sydney (with Helena Suková)
- 1984: Tokyo Pan Pacific (with Helena Suková)
- 1985: Berlin (with Helena Suková)
- 1985: Los Angeles (with Helena Suková)
- 1985: US Open (with Helena Suková)
- 1985: Tokyo Pan Pacific (with Helena Suková)
- 1986: Dallas (with Helena Suková)
- 1986: Amelia Island (with Helena Suková)
- 1996: Chicago (with Helena Suková)
- 1987: Tokyo Bridgestone Doubles (with Helena Suková)
- 1987: Berlin (with Helena Suková)
- 1987: Wimbledon (with Helena Suková)
- 1987: Hamburg (with Jana Novotná
Jana Novotná is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. She played a serve and volley game, an increasingly rare style of play among women during her career...
)
- 1987: Chicago (with Helena Suková)
- 1988: Adelaide (with Sylvia Hanika
Sylvia Hanika is a former professional tennis player from Germany. She is best remembered for finishing runner-up at the French Open in 1981, and for winning the Avon Championships in 1982. She was ranked as high as No. 5 in the world and played left-handed.-Career:Hanika turned professional in 1977...
)
- 1991: Oslo (with Silke Meier
Silke Meier is a former professional tennis player . She was born on July 13, 1968 in Wiesbaden, Germany and played on the WTA tour from 1985 to 1999. She reached the 3rd round of the US Open in 1990 and, over her career, recorded victories against Jana Novotná, Helena Suková and Manuela Maleeva....
)
- 1991: Hilton Head (with Natasha Zvereva
Natalya "Natasha" Zvereva is a retired tennis player from Belarus. Zvereva was the first major athlete in the Soviet Union to demand publicly that she'd be able to keep her tournament earnings...
)
- 1992: Indian Wells (with Stephanie Rehe
Stephanie Rehe is a retired American professional tennis player.A successful amateur player, Rehe was ranked No. 1 in every age group as a junior . She was the first player to receive a dual No...
)
Singles runner-ups (8)
- 1984: Hilton Head (lost to Chris Evert
Christine Marie "Chris" Evert is a former world number 1 professional tennis player from the United States. She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships, including a record seven championships at the French Open and a record six championships at the U.S. Open. According to the Women's Tennis...
)
- 1984: Zurich (lost to Zina Garrison
Zina Lynna Garrison is a former professional tennis player from the United States. During her career, she was a women's singles runner-up at Wimbledon in 1990, a three-time Grand Slam mixed doubles champion, and a women's doubles gold medalist at the 1988 Olympic Games.-Career:An African-American...
)
- 1984: Tokyo Pan Pacific (lost to Manuela Maleeva
Manuela Georgieva Maleeva-Fragniere is a former professional tennis player from Bulgaria. She played on the Women's Tennis Association tour between 1982 and 1994. Maleeva also sometimes played for Switzerland.-Biography:...
)
- 1985: Toronto (lost to Chris Evert)
- 1986: Worcester (lost to Martina Navratilova
Martina Navrátilová is a Czech-American tennis player. A former World No. 1...
)
- 1986: Marco Island (lost to Chris Evert)
- 1986: Amelia Island (lost to Steffi Graf
Stefanie Maria Graf is a former World No. 1 female tennis player from Germany.Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players only to Margaret Court's 24...
)
- 1987: Berlin (lost to Steffi Graf)
Grand Slam singles performance timeline
| Tournament | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | Career SR |
|---|
Australian OpenThe Australian Open is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments held each year. The tournament is held each January at Melbourne Park. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was contested on grass from then up to 1987. Since 1988, the tournament has been held on hard...
|
1R |
1R |
3R |
3R |
3R |
SF |
NH |
SF |
SF |
QF |
1R |
1R |
2R |
0 / 12 |
| French Open |
1R |
1R |
2R |
3R |
4R |
SF |
4R |
QF |
3R |
1R |
2R |
2R |
1R |
0 / 13 |
| Wimbledon |
A |
2R |
4R |
4R |
4R |
2R |
3R |
QF |
A |
3R |
3R |
3R |
2R |
0 / 11 |
| US Open |
A |
1R |
3R |
2R |
4R |
QF |
4R |
QF |
3R |
1R |
A |
1R |
A |
0 / 10 |
| SR |
0 / 2 |
0 / 4 |
0 / 4 |
0 / 4 |
0 / 4 |
0 / 4 |
0 / 3 |
0 / 4 |
0 / 3 |
0 / 4 |
0 / 3 |
0 / 4 |
0 / 3 |
0 / 46 |
- A = did not participate in the tournament.
- NH = tournament not held.
- SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
External links
Official website