Career

The youngest of seven children, Garrison started playing tennis at the age of 10 and entered her first tournament at the age of 12. Her success as a junior player quickly made the tennis world take notice. At the age of 14 she won the national girls' 18s title. And then in 1981, she won both the Wimbledon and US Open junior titles and was ranked the World No. 1 junior player. Garrison graduated from Sterling High School in Houston in 1982.

Garrison began suffering from the eating disorder bulimia when she was 19, following the death of her mother. "I had never been comfortable with my looks and felt I had lost the only person who loved me unconditionally", Garrison told the British Observer Sport Monthly in 2006. "The pressure of being labeled 'the next Althea Gibson' only made things worse. I felt I was never going to be allowed to grow into just becoming me."

Garrison turned professional in 1982, and skipped her graduation at Ross Sterling High School to compete in the French Open, her first tournament as a professional, where she reached the quarterfinals before being knocked-out by Martina Navratilova.

Despite battling bulimia during her first few years on the tour, Garrison enjoyed notable success on-court. She reached the Australian Open semifinals in her first full year on the tour - 1983 - and finished the year ranked World No. 10. She won her first top-level singles titles in 1984 at the European Indoor Championships in Zürich. She was a Wimbledon semifinalist in 1985, and in 1986, she won her first tour doubles at the Canadian Open (partnering Gabriela Sabatini).

At the Australian Open in 1987, Garrison won the mixed doubles (partnering Sherwood Stewart) and finished runner-up in the women's doubles (partnering Lori McNeil). A year later, Garrison and Stewart captured the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon.

At the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Garrison teamed with Pam Shriver to win the women's doubles gold medal for the United States, defeating Jana Novotná and Helena Suková of Czechoslovakia in the final. Garrison defeated Shriver in the quarterfinals of the singles event, where she won a bronze medal. At the US Open, she defeated defending champion Navratilova for the first time in her career, advancing to the semifinals where she lost to Sabatini.

In 1989, Garrison defeated Chris Evert 7-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the US Open in what Evert earlier had said would be her final tournament. Garrison subsequently lost to Navratilova in the semifinals. She finished 1989 ranked a career-high World No. 4 in singles.

The highlight of Garrison's career came in 1990 at Wimbledon. She defeated French Open champion Monica Seles in the quarterfinals 3-6, 6-3, 9-7 and the defending Wimbledon champion and World No. 1 Steffi Graf in the semifinals 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to reach her first (and only) Grand Slam singles final, becoming the first African-American woman to do so since Althea Gibson. There, she lost to Navratilova 6-4, 6-1 who won her record ninth women's singles title at Wimbledon. However, Garrison claimed her third Grand Slam mixed doubles title at Wimbledon that year (partnering Rick Leach).

In 1992, Garrison finished runner-up in the Australian Open women's doubles (partnering Mary Joe Fernandez).

Garrison retired from the professional tour in 1996. During her career, she won 14 top-level singles titles and 20 doubles titles.

Personal life and post-tennis career

Garrison married Willard Jackson in September 1989; however the marriage ended in divorce in 1997.

Since retiring from the tour, Garrison has worked as a television commentator and maintained active roles in the community and in tennis. She founded the Zina Garrison Foundation for the Homeless in 1988, and the Zina Garrison All-Court Tennis Program, which supports inner-city tennis in Houston, in 1992. She has also served as a member of the United States President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Garrison has maintained a presence on the professional tennis scene, and was the captain for the U.S. Federation Cup team before relinquishing the role to Mary Joe Fernandez in 2008. This role involves coaching the team and giving on-court advice. She also led the U.S. women's team at the 2008 Beijing Games tennis event where team members Venus and Serena Williams won a doubles gold medal.

After "piling on weight" in her 40's, she participated in Season 16 of the reality competition The Biggest Loser, titled The Biggest Loser: Glory Days, which premiered September 11, 2014 on NBC. Despite losing 8 lbs., she was the first person eliminated from the program.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles 1 (0 titles, 1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1990	Wimbledon	Grass	Martina Navratilova	6-4, 6-1

Women's doubles: 2 (0 titles, 2 runners-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1987	Australian Open	Grass	Lori McNeil	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	6-1, 6-0
Runner-up	1992	Australian Open	Hard	Mary Joe Fernández	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Helena Suková	6-4, 7-6(7-3)

Mixed doubles: 6 (3 titles, 3 runners-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1987	Australian Open	Grass	Sherwood Stewart	Anne Hobbs Andrew Castle	3-6, 7-6(7-5), 6-3
Winner	1988	Wimbledon	Grass	Sherwood Stewart	Gretchen Magers Kelly Jones	6-1, 7-6(7-3)
Runner-up	1989	Australian Open	Hard	Sherwood Stewart	Jana Novotná Jim Pugh	6-3, 6-4
Runner-up	1990	Australian Open	Hard	Jim Pugh	Natasha Zvereva Andrew Castle	4-6, 6-2, 6-3
Winner	1990	Wimbledon	Grass	Rick Leach	Elizabeth Smylie John Fitzgerald	7-5, 6-2
Runner-up	1993	Australian Open	Hard	Rick Leach	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Todd Woodbridge	7-5, 6-4

Olympics

Singles: 1 medal (1 bronze medal)

Outcome	Year	Location	Surface	Opponent	Score
Bronze	1988	Seoul	Hard	Tied	DNP

Garrison lost in the semi-finals to Steffi Graf 6-2, 6-0. In 1988, there was no bronze medal play off match, both beaten semi-final players received bronze medals.

Doubles: 1 (1 gold medal)

Outcome	Year	Location	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Gold	1988	Seoul	Hard	Pam Shriver	Jana Novotná Helena Suková	4-6, 6-2, 10-8

WTA Career Finals

Singles: 36 (14-22)

Winner — Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0-1) WTA Tour Championships (0-0) Tier I (0-0) Tier II (0-8) Tier III (5-2) Tier IV (3-2) Tier V (0-2) Virginia Slims (6-7)

Titles by Surface Hard (3-6) Grass (4-4) Clay (1-3) Carpet (6-9)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	August 1, 1983	Indianapolis	Clay	Andrea Temesvári	2-6, 2-6
Runner-up	2.	January 2, 1984	Washington	Carpet (I)	Hana Mandlíková	1-6, 1-6
Runner-up	3.	September 24, 1984	New Orleans	Carpet (I)	Martina Navratilova	4-6, 3-6
Winner	1.	October 29, 1984	Zürich	Carpet (I)	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	6-1, 0-6, 6-2
Runner-up	4.	January 14, 1985	Denver	Carpet (I)	Peanut Louie	4-6, 6-4, 4-6
Winner	2.	April 15, 1985	Amelia Island	Clay	Chris Evert-Lloyd	6-4, 6-3
Runner-up	5.	July 22, 1985	Indianapolis	Clay	Andrea Temesvári	6-7(0-7), 3-6
Winner	3.	October 28, 1985	Zürich	Carpet (I)	Hana Mandlíková	6-1, 6-3
Runner-up	6.	September 15, 1986	Tampa	Hard	Lori McNeil	6-2, 5-7, 2-6
Winner	4.	October 27, 1986	Indianapolis	Hard (I)	Melissa Gurney	6-3, 6-3
Winner	5.	January 5, 1987	Sydney	Grass	Pam Shriver	6-2, 6-4
Winner	6.	February 9, 1987	San Francisco	Carpet (I)	Sylvia Hanika	7-5, 4-6, 6-3
Runner-up	7.	August 17, 1987	Toronto	Hard	Pam Shriver	4-6, 1-6
Runner-up	8.	October 24, 1988	Indianapolis	Hard (I)	Katerina Maleeva	3-6, 6-2, 2-6
Runner-up	9.	February 13, 1989	Washington	Carpet (I)	Steffi Graf	1-6, 5-7
Winner	7.	February 20, 1989	Oakland	Carpet (I)	Larisa Savchenko	6-1, 6-1
Runner-up	10.	June 12, 1989	Birmingham	Grass	Martina Navratilova	6-7(5-7), 3-6
Winner	8.	July 17, 1989	Newport	Grass	Pam Shriver	6-0, 6-1
Runner-up	11.	July 31, 1989	San Diego	Hard	Steffi Graf	4-6, 5-7
Runner-up	12.	October 30, 1989	Worcester	Carpet (I)	Martina Navratilova	2-6, 3-6
Winner	9.	November 6, 1989	Chicago	Carpet (I)	Larisa Savchenko	6-3, 2-6, 6-4
Runner-up	13.	February 19, 1990	Washington	Carpet (I)	Martina Navratilova	1-6, 0-6
Winner	10.	June 11, 1990	Birmingham	Grass	Helena Suková	6-4, 6-1
Runner-up	14.	June 25, 1990	Wimbledon	Grass	Martina Navratilova	4-6, 1-6
Runner-up	15.	October 22, 1990	Dorado	Hard	Jennifer Capriati	7-5, 4-6, 2-6
Runner-up	16.	February 11, 1991	Chicago	Carpet (I)	Martina Navratilova	1-6, 2-6
Runner-up	17.	October 22, 1991	Brighton	Carpet (I)	Steffi Graf	7-5, 4-6, 1-6
Winner	11.	February 17, 1992	Oklahoma City	Hard (I)	Lori McNeil	7-5, 3-6, 7-6(12-10)
Runner-up	18.	April 13, 1992	Houston	Clay	Monica Seles	1-6, 1-6
Winner	12.	February 15, 1993	Oklahoma City	Hard (I)	Patty Fendick	6-2, 6-2
Runner-up	19.	June 7, 1993	Birmingham	Grass	Lori McNeil	4-6, 6-2, 3-6
Runner-up	20.	July 26, 1993	Stratton Mountain	Hard	Conchita Martínez	3-6, 2-6
Winner	13.	October 18, 1993	Budapest	Carpet (I)	Sabine Appelmans	7-5, 6-2
Runner-up	21.	November 1, 1993	Oakland	Carpet (I)	Martina Navratilova	2-6, 6-7(1-7)
Runner-up	22.	June 6, 1994	Birmingham	Grass	Lori McNeil	2-6, 2-6
Winner	14.	June 12, 1995	Birmingham	Grass	Lori McNeil	6-3, 6-3

Doubles: 46 (20-26)

Winner — Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0-2) WTA Tour Championships (0-0) Olympic Games (1-0) Tier I (2-2) Tier II (6-11) Tier III (6-2) Tier IV (0-0) Tier V (0-1) Virginia Slims (5-8)

Titles by Surface Hard (8-7) Grass (2-3) Clay (3-5) Carpet (7-11)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1.	August 4, 1986	Montreal	Hard	Gabriela Sabatini	Pam Shriver Helena Suková	7-6(7-2), 5-7, 6-4
Runner-up	1.	October 13, 1986	Filderstadt	Carpet (I)	Gabriela Sabatini	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	6-7(5-7), 4-6
Winner	2.	October 27, 1986	Indianapolis	Hard (I)	Lori McNeil	Candy Reynolds Anne Smith	4-5 ret.
Runner-up	2.	January 12, 1987	Australian Open	Grass	Lori McNeil	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	1-6, 0-6
Runner-up	3.	February 9, 1987	San Francisco	Carpet (I)	Gabriela Sabatini	Hana Mandlíková Wendy Turnbull	4-6, 6-7(4-7)
Runner-up	4.	March 23, 1987	Washington	Carpet (I)	Lori McNeil	Elise Burgin Pam Shriver	1-6, 6-3, 4-6
Runner-up	5.	April 6, 1987	Hilton Head Island	Clay	Lori McNeil	Mercedes Paz Eva Pfaff	6-7(6-8), 5-7
Runner-up	6.	April 20, 1987	Houston	Clay	Lori McNeil	Kathy Jordan Martina Navratilova	2-6, 4-6
Runner-up	7.	August 10, 1987	Los Angeles	Hard	Lori McNeil	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	3-6, 4-6
Winner	3.	August 17, 1987	Toronto	Hard	Lori McNeil	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková	6-1, 6-2
Winner	4.	September 28, 1987	New Orleans	Carpet (I)	Lori McNeil	Peanut Louie-Harper Heather Ludloff	6-3, 6-4
Runner-up	8.	October 12, 1987	Filderstadt	Carpet (I)	Lori McNeil	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	1-6, 2-6
Runner-up	9.	November 9, 1987	Chicago	Carpet (I)	Lori McNeil	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková	4-6, 3-6
Runner-up	10.	February 8, 1988	Dallas	Carpet (I)	Gigi Fernández	Lori McNeil Eva Pfaff	6-2, 4-6, 5-7
Winner	5.	March 7, 1988	Boca Raton	Hard	Katrina Adams	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková	4-6, 5-7, 6-4
Runner-up	11.	March 14, 1988	Key Biscayne	Hard	Gigi Fernández	Steffi Graf Gabriela Sabatini	6-7(3-7), 3-6
Winner	6.	April 11, 1988	Amelia Island	Clay	Eva Pfaff	Katrina Adams Penny Barg	4-6, 6-2, 7-6(7-5)
Winner	7.	April 18, 1988	Houston	Clay	Katrina Adams	Lori McNeil Martina Navratilova	6-7(4-7), 6-2, 6-4
Runner-up	12.	August 15, 1988	Montreal	Hard	Pam Shriver	Jana Novotná Helena Suková	6-7(2-7), 6-7(6-8)
Winner	8.	September 19, 1988	Seoul	Hard	Pam Shriver	Jana Novotná Helena Suková	4-6, 6-2, 10-8
Runner-up	13.	October 24, 1988	Indianapolis	Hard (I)	Katrina Adams	Larisa Savchenko Natalia Zvereva	2-6, 1-6
Winner	9.	November 25, 1988	Tokyo	Carpet (I)	Katrina Adams	Gigi Fernández Robin White	7-5, 7-5
Winner	10.	January 31, 1989	Tokyo	Carpet (I)	Katrina Adams	Mary Joe Fernández Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	6-3, 6-3, 7-6(7-5)
Winner	11.	April 24, 1989	Houston	Clay	Katrina Adams	Gigi Fernández Lori McNeil	6-3, 6-4
Winner	12.	June 19, 1989	Eastbourne	Grass	Katrina Adams	Jana Novotná Helena Suková	6-3 ret.
Winner	13.	February 19, 1990	Washington	Carpet (I)	Martina Navratilova	Ann Henricksson Dinky Van Rensburg	6-0, 6-3
Runner-up	14.	June 18, 1990	Eastbourne	Grass	Patty Fendick	Larisa Savchenko-Neiland Natalia Zvereva	4-6, 3-6
Winner	14.	August 6, 1990	San Diego	Hard	Patty Fendick	Elise Burgin Rosalyn Fairbank-Nideffer	6-4, 7-6(7-5)
Winner	15.	October 15, 1990	Filderstadt	Carpet (I)	Mary Joe Fernández	Mercedes Paz Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	7-5, 6-3
Winner	16.	March 15, 1991	Key Biscayne	Hard	Mary Joe Fernández	Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná	7-5, 6-2
Runner-up	15.	October 7, 1991	Zürich	Carpet (I)	Lori McNeil	Jana Novotná Andrea Strnadová	4-6, 3-6
Runner-up	16.	October 22, 1991	Brighton	Carpet (I)	Lori McNeil	Pam Shriver Natasha Zvereva	1-6, 2-6
Runner-up	17.	November 11, 1991	Philadelphia	Carpet (I)	Mary Joe Fernández	Jana Novotná Larisa Savchenko-Neiland	2-6, 4-6
Runner-up	18.	January 6, 1992	Sydney	Hard	Mary Joe Fernández	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Helena Suková	6-7(4-7), 7-6(7-4), 2-6
Runner-up	19.	January 13, 1992	Australian Open	Hard	Mary Joe Fernández	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Helena Suková	4-6, 6-7(3-7)
Runner-up	20.	February 10, 1992	Chicago	Carpet (I)	Katrina Adams	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	4-6, 6-7(7-9)
Runner-up	21.	April 6, 1992	Amelia Island	Clay	Jana Novotná	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Natasha Zvereva	1-6, 0-6
Runner-up	22.	June 15, 1992	Eastbourne	Grass	Mary Joe Fernández	Jana Novotná Larisa Savchenko-Neiland	0-6, 3-6
Runner-up	23.	August 10, 1992	Los Angeles	Hard	Pam Shriver	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Helena Suková	4-6, 2-6
Winner	17.	February 8, 1993	Chicago	Carpet (I)	Katrina Adams	Amy Frazier Kimberly Po	7-6(7-3), 6-3
Winner	18.	February 15, 1993	Oklahoma City	Hard (I)	Patty Fendick	Katrina Adams Manon Bollegraf	6-3, 6-2
Runner-up	24.	May 3, 1993	Rome	Clay	Mary Joe Fernández	Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	4-6, 2-6
Winner	19.	October 4, 1993	Zürich	Carpet (I)	Martina Navratilova	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	6-3, 5-7, 6-3
Runner-up	25.	March 21, 1994	Houston	Clay	Katrina Adams	Manon Bollegraf Martina Navratilova	4-6, 2-6
Winner	20.	June 6, 1994	Birmingham	Grass	Larisa Savchenko-Neiland	Catherine Barclay Kerry-Anne Guse	6-4, 6-4
Runner-up	26.	October 30, 1995	Oakland	Carpet (I)	Katrina Adams	Lori McNeil Helena Suková	6-3, 4-6, 3-6

Grand Slam performance timeline

Singles

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	Career SR
Australian Open	A	A	1R	SF	1R	QF	NH	QF	2R	QF	QF	4R	4R	3R	1R	3R	A	0 / 13
French Open	A	A	QF	1R	4R	2R	3R	A	4R	3R	1R	1R	A	1R	1R	1R	A	0 / 12
Wimbledon	A	A	4R	1R	2R	SF	2R	A	QF	2R	F	QF	4R	4R	QF	3R	A	0 / 13
US Open	1R	1R	4R	4R	3R	QF	4R	4R	SF	SF	QF	4R	4R	3R	4R	4R	1R	0 / 17
SR	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 1	0 / 55
Year End Ranking	NR	NR	16	10	9	8	11	9	9	4	10	12	18	14	24	22	255

Doubles

Tournament	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	Career SR
Australian Open	A	1R	2R	QF	QF	NH	F	SF	3R	1R	2R	F	QF	QF	1R	A	A	0 / 13
French Open	A	2R	1R	1R	1R	1R	A	QF	QF	1R	QF	1R	3R	3R	QF	A	A	0 / 13
Wimbledon	A	1R	2R	2R	2R	3R	A	SF	QF	SF	SF	QF	SF	1R	3R	A	A	0 / 13
US Open	2R	1R	3R	1R	SF	QF	QF	2R	3R	3R	SF	QF	A	A	3R	1R	1R	0 / 15
SR	0 / 1	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 54
Year End Ranking				40	44	18	7	7	9	13	12	10	13	21	27	90	NR

Mixed doubles

Tournament	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	Career SR
Australian Open	NH	NH	NH	NH	NH	W	1R	F	F	1R	A	F	1R	A	A	1 / 7
French Open	A	QF	A	3R	A	A	2R	SF	2R	3R	A	2R	2R	3R	A	0 / 9
Wimbledon	A	QF	1R	2R	1R	A	W	3R	W	2R	2R	3R	1R	A	A	2 / 11
US Open	QF	2R	A	QF	2R	SF	QF	QF	QF	1R	QF	1R	2R	A	1R	0 / 13
SR	0 / 1	0 / 3	0 / 1	0 / 3	0 / 2	1 / 2	1 / 4	0 / 4	1 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 2	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 1	0 / 1	3 / 40

• 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.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]