Zina Garrison

Olympic medal record
Women's tennis
Representing the United States

Zina Garrison
Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Houston, Texas, U.S.
Born	November 16, 1963 (age 60); Houston, Texas, U.S.
Height	1.64 m (5 ft 4+1⁄2 in)
Turned pro	1982
Retired	1997
Plays	Right-handed
Prize money	$4,590,816
Singles
Career record	587–270
Career titles	14
Highest ranking	No. 4 (November 20, 1989)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	SF (1983)
French Open	QF (1982)
Wimbledon	F (1990)
US Open	SF (1988, 1989)
Doubles
Career record	436–231
Career titles	20
Highest ranking	No. 5 (May 23, 1988)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	F (1987, 1992)
French Open	QF (1988, 1989, 1991, 1995)
Wimbledon	SF (1988, 1990, 1991, 1993)
US Open	SF (1985, 1991)
Mixed doubles
Career titles	3
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open	W (1987)
French Open	SF (1989)
Wimbledon	W (1988, 1990)
US Open	SF (1987)
	Last updated on: July 12, 2008.

Zina Lynna Garrison (born November 16, 1963 in Houston, Texas) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. During her career, she was a women's singles runner-up at Wimbledon in 1990, a three-time Grand Slam mixed doubles champion, and a women's doubles gold medalist at the 1988 Olympic Games.

Career

An African-American and 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.^[1]

Garrison began suffering from the eating disorder bulimia when she was 19, following the death of her mother.^[1] "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."^{[citation needed]}

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 Navrátilová.

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. And Garrison defeated Shriver in the quarterfinals of the singles event, where she won a bronze medal.

In 1989, Garrison defeated Chris Evert 7–6, 6–2 in the quarterfinals of the US Open in what proved to be the final Grand Slam singles match of Evert's career. Garrison subsequently lost to Navrátilová 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. There, she lost to Navrátilová 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.^[2]

Grand Slam finals

Singles 1 (0 titles, 1 runner-up)

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

Doubles: 2 (0 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
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(3)

Mixed Doubles: 6 (3 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1987	Australian Open	Grass	Sherwood Stewart	Anne Hobbs Andrew Castle	3–6, 7–6(5), 6–3
Winner	1988	Wimbledon	Grass	Sherwood Stewart	Gretchen Magers Kelly Jones	6–1, 7–6(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 (2)	Grass	Rick Leach	Elizabeth Sayers Smylie John Fitzgerald	7–5, 6–2
Runner-up	1993	Australian Open	Hard	Rick Leach	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Todd Woodbridge	7–5, 6–4

Titles (34)

Singles (14)

Legend
Grand Slams (0)
WTA Championships (0)
Tier I (0)
Tier II (0)
Tier III (5)
Tier IV & V (3)
VS (6)

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

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
1.	November 4, 1984	Zürich, Switzerland	Carpet (I)	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	6–1, 0–6, 6–2
2.	April 21, 1985	Amelia Island, USA	Clay	Chris Evert	6–4, 6–3
3.	November 3, 1985	Zürich, Switzerland	Carpet (I)	Hana Mandlíková	6–1, 6–3
4.	November 2, 1986	Indianapolis, USA (VS of Indianapolis)	Hard (I)	Melissa Gurney	6–3, 6–3
5.	January 11, 1987	Sydney, Australia	Grass	Pam Shriver	6–2, 6–4
6.	February 15, 1987	San Francisco, USA	Carpet (I)	Sylvia Hanika	7–5, 4–6, 6–3
7.	February 26, 1989	Oakland, USA	Carpet (I)	Larisa Neiland	6–1, 6–1
8.	July 23, 1989	Newport, USA	Grass	Pam Shriver	6–0, 6–1
9.	November 12, 1989	Chicago, USA	Carpet (I)	Larisa Neiland	6–3, 2–6, 6–4
10.	June 17, 1990	Birmingham, UK	Grass	Linda Harvey Wild	6–4, 6–3
11.	February 23, 1992	Oklahoma City, USA	Hard (I)	Lori McNeil	7–5, 3–6, 7–6(10)
12.	February 21, 1993	Oklahoma City, USA	Hard (I)	Patty Fendick	6–2, 6–2
13.	October 24, 1993	Budapest, Hungary	Carpet (I)	Sabine Appelmans	7–5, 6–2
14.	June 18, 1995	Birmingham, UK	Grass	Lori McNeil	6–3, 6–3

Doubles (20)

Legend (Doubles)
Grand Slam Title (0)
WTA Championships (0)
Olympic Gold (1)
Tier I (2)
Tier II (6)
Tier III (6)
Tier IV & V (0)
VS (5)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
1.	August 10, 1986	Montreal, Canada	Hard	Gabriela Sabatini	Pam Shriver Helena Suková	7–6(2), 5–7, 6–4
2.	November 2, 1986	Indianapolis, USA	Hard (I)	Lori McNeil	Candy Reynolds Anne Smith	4–5 retired
3.	August 23, 1987	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Lori McNeil	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková	6–1, 6–2
4.	October 7, 1987	New Orleans, USA	Carpet (I)	Lori McNeil	Peanut Louie Harper Heather Ludloff	6–3, 6–4
5.	March 13, 1988	Boca Raton, USA	Hard	Katrina Adams	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková	4–6, 5–7, 6–4
6.	April 11, 1988	Amelia Island, USA	Clay	Eva Pfaff	Katrina Adams Penny Barg Mager	4–6, 6–2, 7–6(5)
7.	April 24, 1988	Houston, USA	Clay	Katrina Adams	Lori McNeil Martina Navratilova	6–7(4), 6–2, 6–4
8.	October 2, 1988	Summer Olympics, Seoul	Hard	Pam Shriver	Jana Novotná Helena Suková	4–6, 6–2, 10–8
9.	November 27, 1988	Tokyo, Japan (World Doubles)	Carpet (I)	Katrina Adams	Gigi Fernández Robin White	7–5, 7–5
10.	February 5, 1989	Tokyo, Japan (Pan Pacific)	Carpet (I)	Katrina Adams	Mary Joe Fernandez Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	6–3, 6–3, 7–6(5)
11.	April 30, 1989	Houston, USA	Clay	Katrina Adams	Gigi Fernández Lori McNeil	6–3, 6–4
12.	June 25, 1989	Eastbourne, UK	Grass	Katrina Adams	Jana Novotná Helena Suková	6–3 retired
13.	February 25, 1990	Washington, DC, USA	Carpet (I)	Martina Navrátilová	Ann Henricksson Dinky Van Rensburg	6–0, 6–3
14.	August 12, 1990	San Diego, USA	Hard	Patty Fendick	Elise Burgin Rosalyn Fairbank Nideffer	6–4, 7–6(5)
15.	October 21, 1990	Filderstadt, Germany	Carpet (I)	Mary Joe Fernandez	Mercedes Paz Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	7–5, 6–3
16.	March 24, 1991	Key Biscayne, USA	Hard	Mary Joe Fernandez	Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná	7–5, 6–2
17.	February 14, 1993	Chicago, USA	Carpet (I)	Katrina Adams	Amy Frazier Kimberly Po	7–6(3), 6–3
18.	February 21, 1993	Oklahoma City, USA	Hard (I)	Patty Fendick	Katrina Adams Manon Bollegraf	6–3, 6–2
19.	October 10, 1993	Zürich, Switzerland	Carpet (I)	Martina Navratilova	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	6–3, 5–7, 6–3
20.	June 12, 1994	Birmingham, UK	Grass	Larisa Neiland	Catherine Barclay Kerry-Anne Guse	6–4, 6–4

Singles runner-ups (22)

Legend
Grand Slams (1)
WTA Championships (0)
Tier I (0)
Tier II (8)
Tier III (4)
Tier IV & V (2)
VS (7)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
1.	August 7, 1983	Indianapolis, USA (US Clay Courts)	Clay	Andrea Temesvári	6–2, 6–2
2.	January 2, 1984	Washington, DC, USA	Carpet (I)	Hana Mandlíková	6–1, 6–1
3.	September 30, 1984	New Orleans, USA	Carpet (I)	Martina Navratilova	6–4, 6–3
4.	January 20, 1985	Denver, USA	Carpet (I)	Peanut Louie	6–4, 4–6, 6–4
5.	July 27, 1985	Indianapolis, USA (US Clay Courts)	Clay	Andrea Temesvári	7–6(0), 6–3
6.	September 21, 1986	Tampa, USA	Hard	Lori McNeil	2–6, 7–5, 6–2
7.	August 23, 1987	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Pam Shriver	6–4, 6–1
8.	October 30, 1988	Indianapolis, USA (VS of Indianapolis)	Hard (I)	Katerina Maleeva	6–3, 2–6, 6–2
9.	February 19, 1989	Washington, DS, USA	Carpet (I)	Steffi Graf	6–1, 7–5
10.	June 18, 1989	Birmingham, UK	Grass	Martina Navratilova	7–6(5), 6–3
11.	August 6, 1989	San Diego, USA	Hard	Steffi Graf	6–4, 7–5
12.	November 5, 1989	Worcester, USA	Carpet (I)	Martina Navratilova	6–2, 6–3
13.	February 25, 1990	Washington, DC, USA	Carpet (I)	Martina Navratilova	6–1, 6–0
14.	July 8, 1990	Wimbledon, London, UK	Grass	Martina Navratilova	6–4, 6–1
15.	October 23, 1990	San Juan, Puerto Rico	Hard	Jennifer Capriati	5–7, 6–4, 6–2
16.	February 17, 1991	Chicago, USA	Carpet (I)	Martina Navratilova	6–1, 6–2
17.	October 27, 1991	Brighton, UK	Carpet (I)	Steffi Graf	5–7, 6–4, 6–1
18.	April 19, 1992	Houston, USA	Clay	Monica Seles	6–1, 6–1
19.	June 13, 1993	Birmingham, UK	Grass	Lori McNeil	6–4, 2–6, 6–3
20.	August 1, 1993	Stratton Mountain, USA	Hard	Conchita Martínez	6–3, 6–2
21.	November 7, 1993	Oakland, USA	Carpet (I)	Martina Navratilova	6–2, 7–6(1)
22.	June 12, 1994	Birmingham, UK	Grass	Lori McNeil	6–2, 6–2

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

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
Career Statistics
Year End Ranking			16	11	9	8	11	9	9	4	10	12	18	14	24	22	255

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.