|
|
|
|
Mary Joe Fernández
|
| |
|
| |
Mary Joe Fernandez Godsick (María José Fernandez) (born 19 August 1971, in the Dominican Republic) is a former professional tennis player from the United States and is of Spanish and Cuban 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.
andez first came to the tennis world's attention as an outstanding junior player who won four straight Orange Bowl junior titles.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Mary Joe Fernández' Start a new discussion about 'Mary Joe Fernández' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
Mary Joe Fernandez Godsick (María José Fernandez) (born 19 August 1971, in the Dominican Republic) is a former professional tennis player from the United States and is of Spanish and Cuban 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.
Career
Fernandez 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, Fernandez 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.
Fernandez 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. She 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, Fernandez teamed with Patty Fendick to win the women's doubles title at the Australian Open. She was back in the Australian Open singles final in 1992, this time losing to Monica Seles 6–2, 6–3. Fernandez was selected to represent the United States at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, winning a gold medal in women's doubles, partnering Gigi Fernández and a bronze medal in women's singles.
In the quarterfinals of the 1993 French Open, Fernandez staged a dramatic comeback against Gabriela Sabatini after Sabatini took a 6–1, 5–1 lead. Fernandez 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, Fernandez lost 4–6, 6–2, 6–4. Fernandez 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.
Fernandez 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, Fernandez was a member of the U.S. team that won the Fed Cup. Fernandez 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, Fernandez has served as a tennis commentator for ESPN and joined CBS Sports as an analyst for the 2005 U.S. Open.
Personal
Fernandez completed her high school education at the Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, in Miami, Florida.
On 8 April 2000, Fernandez married Anthony Lewisohn (Tony) Godsick, a sports agent with International Management Group. The pair were married in Miami. They have two children: Isabella Maria (born December 11, 2001 and Nicholas Cooper (born September 15, 2004).
Grand Slam finals
Singles
Runner-ups (3)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final | 1990 | Australian Open | Steffi Graf | 6–3, 6–4 | 1992 | Australian Open | Monica Seles | 6–2, 6–3 | 1993 | French Open | | 4–6, 6–2, 6–4 |
Women's doubles
Wins (2)
Runner-ups (5)
| Year | Championship | Partner | Opponents in Final | Score in Final | 1989 | US Open | Pam Shriver | Hana Mandlikova
Martina Navratilova | 5–7, 6–4, 6–4 | 1990 | Australian Open | Patty Fendick | Jana Novotná
Helena Suková | 7–6(5), 7–6(6) | 1992 | Australian Open | Zina Garrison | Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
Helena Suková | 6–4, 7–6(3) | 1996 | Australian Open | Lindsay Davenport | Chanda Rubin
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | 7–5, 2–6, 6–4 | 1997 | French Open | Lisa Raymond | Gigi Fernández
Natasha Zvereva | 6–2, 6–3 |
Titles (26)
Wins (7)
| Legend | | Tier I (1) | | Tier II (5) | | Tier III (1) |
| | Titles by Surface | | Hard (2) | | Clay (2) | | Grass (0) | | Carpet (3) |
|
| No. | Date | Tournament Name | Location | Surface | Opponent in Final | Score in Final | | 1. | September 30, 1990 | Nichirei International Championships | Tokyo, Japan | Carpet (I) | Amy Frazier | 3–6, 6–2, 6–3 | | 2. | October 21, 1990 | Porsche Tennis Grand Prix | Filderstadt, Germany | Carpet (I) | Barbara Paulus | 6–1, 6–3 | | 3. | February 28, 1993 | Matrix Essentials Evert Cup (1) | Indian Wells, California, U.S. | Hard | Amanda Coetzer | 3–6, 6–1, 7–6 | | 4. | May 22, 1994 | Internationaux de Strasbourg | Strasbourg, France | Clay | Gabriela Sabatini | 2–6, 6–4, 6–0 | | 5. | March 5, 1995 | State Farm Evert Cup (2) | Indian Wells, California, U.S. | Hard | Natasha Zvereva | 6–4, 6–3 | | 6. | October 22, 1995 | Brighton International | Brighton, United Kingdom | Carpet (I) | | 6-4, 7–5 | | 7. | May 18, 1997 | German Open | Berlin, Germany | Clay | Mary Pierce | 6–4, 6–2 |
Doubles (19)
Grand slam events in boldface.
- 1989: Dallas (with Betsy Nagelsen)
- 1990: Tokyo Nichirei International (with Robin White)
- 1990: Filderstadt (with Zina Garrison)
- 1991: Australian Open (with Patty Fendick)
- 1991: Key Biscayne (with Zina Garrison)
- 1991: Tokyo Nichirei International (with Pam Shriver)
- 1992: Olympics Barcelona (with Gigi Fernández)
- 1992: Tokyo Nichirei International (with Robin White)
- 1993: Lucerne (with Helena Suková)
- 1995: Delray Beach (with Jana Novotná)
- 1995: Strasbourg (with Lindsay Davenport)
- 1995: Tokyo Nichirei International (with Lindsay Davenport)
- 1996: Sydney (with Lindsay Davenport)
- 1996: French Open (with Lindsay Davenport)
- 1996: Olympics Atlanta (with Gigi Fernández)
- 1996: Oakland (with Lindsay Davenport)
- 1996: Chase Championships (with Lindsay Davenport)
- 1997: Hilton Head (with Martina Hingis)
- 1997: Madrid (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario)
Singles runner-ups (9)
| Legend | | Grand Slam (3) | | Tier II (4) | | Tier III (2) |
| No. | Date | Tournament Name | Tournament Location | Surface | Opponent in Final | Score in Final | | 1. | October 15, 1989 | Porsche Tennis Grand Prix | Filderstadt, Germany | Carpet (I) | Gabriela Sabatini | 7–6, 6–4 | | 2. | January 28, 1990 | Australian Open (1) | Melbourne | Hard | Steffi Graf | 6–3, 6–4 | | 3. | April 21, 1991 | Virginia Slims of Houston | Houston, Texas, U.S. | Clay | Monica Seles | 6–4, 6-3 | | 4. | September 22, 1991 | Nichirei International Championships | Tokyo, Japan | Carpet (I) | | 6–1, 6–1 | | 5. | January 26, 1992 | Australian Open (2) | Melbourne | Hard | | 6–2, 6–3 | | 6. | February 9, 1992 | Nokia Grand Prix | Essen, Germany | Carpet (I) | | 6–0, 6–3 | | 7. | June 6, 1993 | French Open | Paris | Clay | | 4–6, 6–2, 6–4 | | 8. | June 16, 1994 | Peters New South Wales Open | Sydney, Australia | Hard | Kimiko Date | 6–4, 6–2 | | 9. | June 23, 1996 | Direct Line International Championships | Eastbourne, United Kingdom | Grass | | 6–0, 6–2 |
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.
External links
|
| |
|
|
