Meredith McGrath

Meredith McGrath (born April 28, 1971) is a former professional tennis player.

She was born in Midland, Michigan, and made her debut on the WTA Tour in 1988. In her eight-year professional career, Meredith achieved career-high world rankings of No. 18 in singles and No. 4 in doubles. She notched victories over such players as Martina Navratilova, Martina Hingis, Anna Kournikova, Jana Novotna, Gigi Fernandez and Mary Jo Fernandez. The pinnacle of her career came in reaching the singles semifinals and doubles finals at the 1996 Wimbledon Championships (leading 7–5, 5–2 in the doubles final before losing to Suková/Hingis). In the singles, she defeated Mana Endo, Amanda Coetzer, Nancy Feber, Katarína Studeníková and Mary Joe Fernandez before losing to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario. An injury two weeks prior to the 1996 Wimbledon Championships eventually ended her career. Meredith won the 1995 US Open Mixed-Doubles Championship (she was runner-up in 1989) and was the runner-up in the 1994 Australian Open Doubles Championship. Meredith won three WTA singles titles, Oklahoma City and Eastbourne in 1994 and Birmingham in 1996, and 25 doubles titles. Meredith was recognized by Tennis Magazine as the WTA Comeback Player of the Year as she overcame near career-ending injuries to having her most successful competitive season in 1996. In 1994, she was awarded the WTA Tour Comeback Player of the Year.

Meredith played her collegiate tennis at Stanford University where she, during her only collegiate season, earned All-American honors in both singles and doubles after having achieved year-end rankings of No. 2 in singles and No. 1 in doubles (undefeated). She had maintained No. 1 rankings in both singles and doubles during her freshman year until a loss at the NCAA Championships. Meredith turned professional after her freshman year, but returned to Stanford to earn her degree in 2000 after injuries forced her early retirement. In 1990, Meredith was awarded the Block S Award for the Most Outstanding Freshman Athlete at Stanford and with her doubles partner, Teri Whitlinger, was named the Volvo Tennis/Tennis Magazine Doubles Team of the Year.

Meredith McGrath is also a 2012 inductee into the prestigious Stanford Hall of Fame. She is also a member of the USTA Midwest Hall of Fame and the USTA NorCal Hall of Fame.

As the No. 1 ranked junior player in the world, McGrath won a total of 19 national and international junior titles. She captured the US Open junior doubles title and Wimbledon junior doubles title with Jennifer Capriati in 1989, and won the US Open junior doubles title with Kimberly Po in 1987 and 1988. Meredith was the runner-up in the 1988 Wimbledon junior singles championship. A three-time national All-American in high school, Meredith won three Michigan High School Division A State Championships. She also received six USTA National Championship Sportsmanship Awards.

WTA career finals Singles: 3 (3 titles) Legend Grand Slam 0 Tier I 0 Tier II 1 Tier III 2 Tier IV & V 0 ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 1–0 Feb 1994 Oklahoma City, U.S. Hard Brenda Schultz 7–6(6), 7–6(4)Win 2–0 Jun 1994 Eastbourne, England Grass Linda Harvey-Wild 6–2, 6–4Win 3–0 Jun 1996 Birmingham, England Grass Nathalie Tauziat 2–6, 6–4, 6–4

Doubles: 38 (25 titles, 13 runner-ups) Legend Grand Slam 0 Tier I 2 Tier II 11 Tier III 6 Tier IV & V 6 Titles by surface Hard 13 Clay 2 Grass 0 Carpet 10 ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1. Jun 1989 Birmingham, England Grass Pam Shriver Larisa Savchenko Natalia Zvereva 5–7, 7–5, 0–6Win 2. Nov 1989 Nashville, U.S. Hard Manon Bollegraf Natalia Medvedeva Leila Meskhi 1–6, 7–6, 7–6Win 3. Feb 1990 Wichita, U.S. Hard (i) Manon Bollegraf Mary-Lou Daniels Wendy Prausa 6–0, 6–2Win 4. Aug 1990 Albuquerque, U.S. Hard Anne Smith Mareen Louie-Harper Wendy Prausa 7–6, 6–4Loss 5. Sep 1990 Orlando, U.S. Carpet (i) Manon Bollegraf Larisa Savchenko Natalia Zvereva 4–6, 1–6Win 6. Nov 1990 Oakland, U.S. Carpet (i) Anne Smith Rosalyn Fairbank-Nideffer Robin White 2–6, 6–0, 6–4Win 7. Nov 1990 Oakland, U.S. Hard Patty Fendick Katrina Adams Jill Hetherington 6–1, 6–1Win 8. Feb 1991 Oklahoma City, U.S. Hard (i) Anne Smith Katrina Adams Jill Hetherington 6–1, 6–1Loss 9. Mar 1991 Boca Raton, U.S. Hard Samantha Smith Larisa Savchenko-Neiland Natalia Zvereva 4–6, 6–7Loss 10. Apr 1993 Pattaya City, Thailand Hard Patty Fendick Cammy Macgregor Catherine Suire 3–6, 6–7Win 11. Apr 1993 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Hard Patty Fendick Nicole Arendt Kristine Radford 6–4, 7–6Win 12. Oct 1993 Montpellier, France Carpet (i) Claudia Porwik Janette Husárová Dominique Monami 3–6, 6–2, 7–6Win 13. Nov 1993 Oakland, U.S. Carpet (i) Patty Fendick Amanda Coetzer Inés Gorrochategui 6–2, 6–0Win 14. Jan 1994 Sydney, Australia Hard Patty Fendick Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6–2, 6–3Loss 15. Jan 1994 Australian Open Hard Patty Fendick Gigi Fernández Natalia Zvereva 3–6, 6–4, 4–6Win 16. Feb 1994 Oklahoma City, U.S. Hard (i) Patty Fendick Katrina Adams Manon Bollegraf 7–6, 6–2Loss 17. Mar 1994 Key Biscayne, U.S. Hard Patty Fendick Gigi Fernández Natalia Zvereva 3–6, 1–6Win 18. Apr 1994 Pattaya City, Thailand Hard Patty Fendick Yayuk Basuki Nana Miyagi 7–6, 3–6, 6–3Win 19. Apr 1994 Singapore Hard Patty Fendick Nicole Arendt Kristine Radford 6–4, 6–1Win 20. Aug 1994 Rogers Cup, Canada Hard Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Pam Shriver Liz Smylie 2–6, 6–2, 6–4Win 21. Aug 1994 Schenectady, U.S. Hard Larisa Savchenko Pam Shriver Liz Smylie 6–2, 6–2Win 22. Oct 1994 Leipzig, Germany Carpet (i) Patty Fendick Manon Bollegraf Larisa Savchenko 6–4, 6–4Loss 23. Oct 1994 Zurich, Switzerland Carpet (i) Patty Fendick Manon Bollegraf Martina Navratilova 6–7, 1–6Win 24. Feb 1995 Paris, France Hard (i) Larisa Savchenko Manon Bollegraf Rennae Stubbs 6–4, 6–1Win 25. Feb 1995 Generali Ladies Linz, Austria Carpet (i) Nathalie Tauziat Iva Majoli Petra Schwarz 6–1, 6–2Win 26. May 1995 Edinburgh, Scotland Clay Larisa Savchenko Manon Bollegraf Rennae Stubbs 6–2, 7–6Win 27. Sep 1995 Moscow, Russia Carpet (i) Larisa Savchenko Anna Kournikova Aleksandra Olsza 6–1, 6–1Win 28. Oct 1995 Leipzig, Germany Carpet (i) Larisa Savchenko Brenda Schultz-McCarthy Caroline Vis 6–4, 6–4Loss 29. Oct 1995 Filderstadt, Germany Hard (i) Larisa Savchenko Gigi Fernández Natalia Zvereva 7–5, 1–6, 4–6Win 30. Oct 1995 Brighton, England Carpet (i) Larisa Savchenko Lori McNeil Helena Suková 7–5, 6–1Loss 31. Nov 1995 Philadelphia, U.S. Carpet (i) Larisa Savchenko Lori McNeil Helena Suková 6–4, 3–6, 4–6Win 32. Feb 1996 Essen, Germany Carpet (i) Larisa Savchenko Lori McNeil Helena Suková 6–4, 3–6, 4–6Win 33. Mar 1996 Generali Ladies Linz, Austria Carpet (i) Manon Bollegraf Rennae Stubbs Helena Suková 6–4, 6–4Loss 34. Mar 1996 Key Biscayne, U.S. Hard Larisa Savchenko Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 4–6, 4–6Loss 35. Apr 1996 Amelia Island, U.S. Clay Larisa Savchenko Chanda Rubin Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 4–6, 4–6Win 36. May 1996 Berlin, Germany Clay Larisa Savchenko Martina Hingis Helena Suková 6–1, 5–7, 7–6Loss 37. Jul 1996 Wimbledon, England Grass Larisa Savchenko Martina Hingis Helena Suková 7–5, 5–7, 1–6Loss 38. Jan 1998 Sydney, Australia Hard Katrina Adams Martina Hingis Helena Suková 1–6, 2–6

Mixed doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

ITF finals Singles (1–3) $75,000 tournaments $25,000 tournaments $10,000 tournaments

Doubles (2–3) ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1. Midland, United States Hard Shaun Stafford Kim Il-soon Lee Jeong-myung 6–2, 2–6, 4–6Loss 2. Midland, United States Hard Anne Smith Katrina Adams Helen Kelesi 5–7, 5–7Win 3. 27 January 1992 Midland, United States Hard Manon Bollegraf Helen Kelesi Caroline Vis 6–3, 6–1Win 4. Midland, United States Hard Patty Fendick Jean Ceniza Caroline Delisle 7–6(5), 6–2Loss 5. Austin, United States Hard Debbie Graham Park Sung-hee Miho Saeki 4–6, 7–5, 2–6

Grand Slam doubles performance timeline