Mary Joe Fernández

Mary Joe Fernández

Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Miami, Florida, U.S.
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Turned pro	1986
Retired	2000
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$5,258,471
Singles
Career record	437–203
Career titles	7
Highest ranking	4
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	F (1990, 1992)
French Open	F (1993)
Wimbledon	SF (1991)
US Open	SF (1990, 1992)
Doubles
Career record	344–141
Career titles	17 WTA, 2 ITF
Highest ranking	9

Olympic medal record
Women's Tennis
	1992 Barcelona	Doubles
	1996 Atlanta	Doubles
	1992 Barcelona	Singles

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 (with Gigi Fernández) and a bronze medal in 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 (owing to a withdrawal), and reached the semifinals, where she was defeated for the bronze medal 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	Steffi Graf	4–6, 6–2, 6–4

Women's doubles

Wins (2)

Year	Championship	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1991	Australian Open	Patty Fendick	Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná	7–6(4), 6–1
1996	French Open	Lindsay Davenport	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	6–2, 6–1

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)	Amanda Coetzer	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)	Monica Seles	6–1, 6–1
5.	January 26, 1992	Australian Open (2)	Melbourne	Hard	Monica Seles	6–2, 6–3
6.	February 9, 1992	Nokia Grand Prix	Essen, Germany	Carpet (I)	Monica Seles	6–0, 6–3
7.	June 6, 1993	French Open	Paris	Clay	Steffi Graf	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	Monica Seles	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

• Mary Joe Fernández at the Women's Tennis Association
• Mary Joe Fernández at the Billie Jean King Cup