Mary Joe Fernandez

Mary Joe Fernandez

Born: August 19, 1971
Age: 53
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Biography

Mary Joe Fernández Godsick (born María José Fernández; August 19, 1971) is an American former professional tennis player. 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.

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Career

Mary Joe 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 eight days, she became the youngest player to win a main draw match at the U.S. Open when she defeated Sara Gomer in the first round. She 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 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. She was back in the Australian Open singles final in 1992, this time losing to Monica Seles. Fernández was selected to represent the United States at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, winning a gold medal in women's doubles (with Gigi Fernández) and a bronze medal in singles.

In the quarterfinals of the 1993 French Open, Mary Joe Fernández staged a dramatic comeback against Sabatini after Sabatini took a 6-1, 5-1 lead. But Mary Joe raised the level of her game and saved five match points in the 2nd set before winning a tiebreak. In the 3rd set, Mary Joe finally got rid of Sabatini by hitting a down the line winner, ending the three-hour, 36-minute marathon by a final score of 1-6, 7-6(7-4), 10-8. She then faced second seeded Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the semifinals. Mary Joe defeated Arantxa 6-2, 6-2, ending a three match losing streak against the Spaniard. After the heroics against Sabatini in the quarterfinals, followed by her easy win over Arantxa in the semis, Mary Joe's opponent in the final would be top seeded Steffi Graf of Germany. In their nine previous meetings, Mary Joe had lost each time against Steffi. Mary Joe took the opening set 6-4, but Steffi rallied to win by a final score of 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Fernández won her second Grand Slam doubles title in 1996 at the French Open, partnering with Lindsay Davenport. The pair went on to capture the year-end WTA Tour Championships doubles title later that year. Revealing the fact she had reached the climax of her career when she was 22 (she defeated Steffi Graf in the first set of French Open final).

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 (owing to a withdrawal), and reached the semifinals, where she was defeated for the bronze medal 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.

In 2003, Dr. Wade Exum, the United States Olympic Committee's director of drug control administration from 1991 to 2000, gave copies of documents to Sports Illustrated which revealed that some 100 American athletes who failed drug tests and should have been prevented from competing in the Olympics were nevertheless cleared to compete. Among those athletes was Fernández.

Since retiring from the tour, Mary Joe Fernández has served as a tennis commentator for ESPN and joined CBS Sports as an analyst for the 2005 U.S. Open. She also coaches the U.S. Fed Cup team and served as the woman's coach for the 2012 U.S. Olympic tennis team in London.

Personal

Fernández was born in the Dominican Republic; her parents were immigrants to the country. Her father José is from Spain and her mother Silvia Pino is from Cuba.

She completed her high school education at the Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, in Miami, Florida.

On 8 April 2000 in Miami, Fernández married Anthony Lewisohn (Tony) Godsick, a sports agent with International Management Group. They have two children: Isabella Maria (born December 11, 2001) and Nicholas Cooper (born September 15, 2004). She has homes in Cleveland, Ohio, and Key Biscayne, Florida.

Significant finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 3 (0 titles, 3 runners-up)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1990 Australian Open Hard Steffi Graf 3-6, 4-6
Runner-up 1992 Australian Open Hard Monica Seles 2-6, 3-6
Runner-up 1993 French Open Clay Steffi Graf 6-4, 2-6, 4-6

Women's doubles: 7 (2 titles, 5 runners-up)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1989 US Open Hard Pam Shriver Hana Mandlíková
Martina Navratilova
7-5, 4-6, 4-6
Runner-up 1990 Australian Open Hard Patty Fendick Jana Novotná
Helena Suková
6-7(5-7), 6-7(6-8)
Winner 1991 Australian Open Hard Patty Fendick Gigi Fernández
Jana Novotná
7-6(7-4), 6-1
Runner-up 1992 Australian Open Hard Zina Garrison Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
Helena Suková
4-6, 6-7(4-7)
Runner-up 1996 Australian Open Hard Lindsay Davenport Chanda Rubin
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
5-7, 6-2, 4-6
Winner 1996 French Open Clay Lindsay Davenport Gigi Fernández
Natasha Zvereva
6-2, 6-1
Runner-up 1997 French Open Clay Lisa Raymond Gigi Fernández
Natasha Zvereva
2-6, 3-6

Olympics

Singles: 1 medal (1 bronze medal)

Outcome Year Location Surface Opponent Score
Bronze 1992 Barcelona Clay Tied DNP

Mary Joe Fernández lost in the semi-finals to Steffi Graf 6-4, 6-2. In 1992, there was no bronze medal play off match, both beaten semi-final players received bronze medals.

Doubles: 2 medals (2 gold medals)

Outcome Year Location Surface Partner Opponents Score
Gold 1992 Barcelona Clay Gigi Fernández Conchita Martínez
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
7-5, 2-6, 6-2
Gold 1996 Atlanta Hard Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná
Helena Suková
7-6(9-7), 6-4

Year-End Championships finals

Doubles: 1 (1 title, 0 runners-up)

Outcome Year Location Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner 1996 New York City Carpet (I) Lindsay Davenport Jana Novotná
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
6-3, 6-2

WTA Tour Finals

Singles: 16 (7-9)

Titles by Surface
Hard (2-4)
Grass (0-1)
Clay (2-2)
Carpet (3-2)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1. October 9, 1989 Filderstadt Carpet (I) Gabriela Sabatini 6-7(5-7), 4-6
Runner-up 2. January 15, 1990 Australian Open Hard Steffi Graf 3-6, 4-6
Winner 1. September 24, 1990 Tokyo Carpet (I) Amy Frazier 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
Winner 2. October 15, 1990 Filderstadt Carpet (I) Barbara Paulus 6-1, 6-3
Runner-up 3. April 15, 1991 Houston Clay Monica Seles 4-6, 3-6
Runner-up 4. September 16, 1991 Tokyo Hard Monica Seles 1-6, 1-6
Runner-up 5. January 13, 1992 Australian Open Hard Monica Seles 2-6, 3-6
Runner-up 6. February 3, 1992 Essen Carpet (I) Monica Seles 0-6, 3-6
Winner 3. February 22, 1993 Indian Wells Hard Amanda Coetzer 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(8-6)
Runner-up 7. May 24, 1993 French Open Clay Steffi Graf 6-4, 2-6, 4-6
Runner-up 8. June 10, 1994 Sydney Hard Kimiko Date 4-6, 2-6
Winner 4. May 16, 1994 Strasbourg Clay Gabriela Sabatini 2-6, 6-4, 6-0
Winner 5. February 27, 1995 Indian Wells Hard Natasha Zvereva 6-4, 6-3
Winner 6. October 16, 1995 Brighton Carpet (I) Amanda Coetzer 6-4, 7-5
Runner-up 9. June 17, 1996 Eastbourne Grass Monica Seles 0-6, 2-6
Winner 7. May 12, 1997 Berlin Clay Mary Pierce 6-4, 6-2

Doubles: 43 (19-24)

Winner — Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (2-5)
WTA Tour Championships (1-0)
Olympic Games (2-0)
Tier I (2-5)
Tier II (8-11)
Tier III (4-3)
Tier IV (0-0)
Tier V (0-0)
Titles by Surface
Hard (8-14)
Grass (0-1)
Clay (6-4)
Carpet (5-5)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1. January 30, 1989 Tokyo Carpet (I) Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Katrina Adams
Zina Garrison
3-6, 6-3, 6-7(5-7)
Runner-up 2. March 13, 1989 Boca Raton Hard Jo Durie Jana Novotná
Helena Suková
4-6, 2-6
Runner-up 3. August 7, 1989 Los Angeles Hard Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Martina Navratilova
Wendy Turnbull
2-5 ret.
Runner-up 4. August 28, 1989 US Open Hard Pam Shriver Hana Mandlíková
Martina Navratilova
7-5, 4-6, 4-6
Winner 1. September 18, 1989 Dallas Carpet (I) Betsy Nagelsen Elise Burgin
Rosalyn Fairbank
7-6(7-5), 6-3
Runner-up 5. January 15, 1990 Australian Open Hard Patty Fendick Jana Novotná
Helena Suková
6-7(5-7), 6-7(3-7)
Winner 2. September 24, 1990 Tokyo Carpet (I) Robin White Gigi Fernández
Martina Navratilova
4-6, 6-3, 7-6(7-4)
Winner 3. October 15, 1990 Filderstadt Carpet (I) Zina Garrison Mercedes Paz
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
7-5, 6-3
Runner-up 6. November 5, 1990 Worcester Carpet (I) Jana Novotná Gigi Fernández
Helena Suková
6-3, 3-6, 3-6
Winner 4. January 14, 1991 Australian Open Hard Patty Fendick Gigi Fernández
Jana Novotná
7-6(7-4), 6-1
Runner-up 7. January 28, 1991 Tokyo Carpet (I) Robin White Kathy Jordan
Elizabeth Smylie
6-4, 0-6, 3-6
Winner 5. March 15, 1991 Key Biscayne Hard Zina Garrison Gigi Fernández
Jana Novotná
7-5, 6-2
Runner-up 8. April 15, 1991 Houston Clay Patty Fendick Jill Hetherington
Kathy Rinaldi
1-6, 6-2, 1-6
Winner 6. September 16, 1991 Tokyo Hard Pam Shriver Carrie Cunningham
Laura Gildemeister
6-3, 6-3
Runner-up 9. November 11, 1991 Philadelphia Carpet (I) Zina Garrison Larisa Neiland
Jana Novotná
2-6, 4-6
Runner-up 10. January 6, 1992 Sydney Hard Zina Garrison Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
Helena Suková
6-7(4-7), 7-6(4-7), 2-6
Runner-up 11. January 13, 1992 Australian Open Hard Zina Garrison Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
Helena Suková
4-6, 6-7(3-7)
Runner-up 12. June 15, 1992 Eastbourne Grass Zina Garrison Larisa Neiland
Jana Novotná
0-6, 3-6
Winner 7. July 28, 1992 Olympics Clay Gigi Fernández Conchita Martínez
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
7-5, 2-6, 6-2
Winner 8. September 21, 1992 Tokyo Hard Robin White Yayuk Basuki
Nana Miyagi
6-4, 6-4
Runner-up 13. Mary 3, 1993 Rome Clay Zina Garrison Jana Novotná
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
4-6, 2-6
Winner 9. May 17, 1993 Lucerne Clay Helena Suková Lindsay Davenport
Marianne Werdel
6-2, 6-4
Runner-up 14. October 17, 1994 Brighton Carpet (I) Jana Novotná Manon Bollegraf
Larisa Neiland
6-4, 2-6, 3-6
Runner-up 15. January 9, 1995 Sydney Hard Patty Fendick Lindsay Davenport
Jana Novotná
5-7, 6-2, 4-6
Winner 10. March 6, 1995 Delray Beach Hard Jana Novotná Lori McNeil
Larisa Neiland
6-2, 6-4
Winner 11. May 22, 1995 Strasbourg Clay Lindsay Davenport Sabine Appelmans
Miriam Oremans
6-2, 6-3
Winner 12. September 18, 1995 Tokyo Hard Lindsay Davenport Amanda Coetzer
Linda Wild
6-3, 6-2
Winner 13. January 8, 1996 Sydney Hard Lindsay Davenport Lori McNeil
Helena Suková
6-3, 6-3
Runner-up 16. January 15, 1995 Australian Open Hard Lindsay Davenport Chanda Rubin
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
5-7, 6-2, 4-6
Runner-up 17. April 1, 1996 Hilton Head Island Clay Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
2-6, 3-6
Winner 14. May 27, 1996 French Open Clay Lindsay Davenport Gigi Fernández
Natasha Zvereva
6-2, 6-1
Winner 15. July 22, 1996 Olympics Hard Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná
Helena Suková
7-6(8-6), 6-4
Runner-up 18. August 5, 1996 Montreal Hard Helena Suková Larisa Neiland
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
6-7(1-7), 1-6
Winner 16. November 4, 1996 Oakland Carpet (I) Lindsay Davenport Irina Spîrlea
Nathalie Tauziat
6-1, 6-3
Winner 17. November 18, 1996 Chase Championships Carpet (I) Lindsay Davenport Jana Novotná
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
6-3, 6-2
Winner 18. March 31, 1997 Hilton Head Island Clay Martina Hingis Lindsay Davenport
Jana Novotná
7-5, 4-6, 6-1
Winner 19. May 19, 1997 Madrid Clay Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Inés Gorrochategui
Irina Spîrlea
6-3, 6-2
Runner-up 19. May 26, 1997 French Open Clay Lisa Raymond Gigi Fernández
Natasha Zvereva
2-6, 3-6
Runner-up 20. August 10, 1998 Boston Hard Mariaan de Swardt Lisa Raymond
Rennae Stubbs
4-6, 4-6
Runner-up 21. September 21, 1998 Tokyo Hard Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Anna Kournikova
Monica Seles
4-6, 4-6
Runner-up 22. January 11, 1999 Sydney Hard Anke Huber Elena Likhovtseva
Ai Sugiyama
3-6, 6-2, 0-6
Runner-up 23. March 3, 1999 Indian Wells Hard Jana Novotná Martina Hingis
Anna Kournikova
2-6, 2-6
Runner-up 24. March 18, 1999 Key Biscayne Hard Monica Seles Martina Hingis
Jana Novotná
6-0, 4-6, 6-7(1-7)

Grand Slam performance timeline

Singles

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
Career Statistics
Year End Ranking 99 27 20 15 12 4 8 6 7 14 8 16 10 76 38

Doubles

Tournament 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Career SR
Australian Open NH A A QF F W F QF QF QF F 2R A 2R 1 / 10
French Open A 1R A 2R A QF 1R 3R 3R SF W F A 2R 1 / 10
Wimbledon A 1R A A A SF QF SF 1R 1R QF QF A QF 0 / 9
U.S. Open 1R 2R 2R F A SF QF A A A A 3R 3R QF 0 / 9
SR 0 / 1 0 / 3 0 / 1 0 / 3 0 / 1 1 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 3 1 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 1 0 / 4 2 / 38
Career Statistics
Year End Ranking 131 85 63 8 6 5 11 15 26 10 5 16 89 26
  • NH = tournament not held.
  • A = did not participate in the tournament.
  • SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]


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