Gigi Fernández facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Gigi Fernández

Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Connecticut
Born	(1964-02-22) February 22, 1964 (age 60) San Juan, Puerto Rico
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Turned pro	Nov. 1983
Retired	Nov. 1997
Plays	Right-handed (one handed-backhand)
Prize money	$4,646,829
Int. Tennis HoF	2010 (member page)
Singles
Career record	270–232
Career titles	2
Highest ranking	No. 17 (October 6, 1991)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	4R (1990, 1993)
French Open	2R (1986, 1987, 1991)
Wimbledon	SF (1994)
US Open	QF (1991, 1994)
Doubles
Career record	664–184
Career titles	69
Highest ranking	No. 1 (March 4, 1991)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	W (1993, 1994)
French Open	W (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997)
Wimbledon	W (1992, 1993, 1994, 1997)
US Open	W (1988, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour Finals	W (1993, 1994)
Olympic Games	Gold Medal (1992, 1996)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open	F (1995)
Wimbledon	F (1995)
US Open	F (1995)
Medal record Women's tennis Representing the  United States Olympic Games Gold 1992 Barcelona Women's doubles Gold 1996 Atlanta Women's doubles Representing  Puerto Rico Pan American Games Silver 1983 Caracas Singles Silver 1983 Caracas Women's doubles Bronze 1979 San Juan Women's doubles

Beatriz "Gigi" Fernández (born February 22, 1964) is a Puerto Rican former professional tennis player. Fernández won 17 major doubles titles and two Olympic gold medals representing the United States, and reached the world No. 1 ranking in doubles. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 17 in 1991. Since retiring from the professional tour in 1997 at the age of 33, Fernández has been a tennis coach and entrepreneur. She now shares her knowledge of doubles with tennis enthusiasts throughout the US by conducting Master Doubles with Gigi Clinics and Doubles Boot Camps. Fernández is the first Puerto Rican to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Career

Fernández was recognized primarily as a doubles specialist during her professional career. She won a career doubles Grand Slam with 17 Grand Slam women's doubles title – six French Open, five US Open, four Wimbledon, and two Australian Open winning at least one Grand Slam title every year from 1988 to 1997, except 1989, and for three straight years winning three of the four Grand Slam doubles titles in the same year (1992–1994). She won 14 of her 17 Grand Slam titles partnering Natasha Zvereva; their partnership is the second most successful doubles pair in the Open era after Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver.

In mixed doubles, Fernández was the runner-up in three of the four Grand Slam mixed doubles events in 1995 (Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open) partnering Cyril Suk. Fernández captured 68 career titles in women's doubles and reached the world No. 1 doubles ranking in 1991 and attained the No. 1 ranking again in 1993, 1994 and 1995. She won a total of 69 doubles titles during her career.

Fernández represented the United States at the Olympic Games in 1992 (Barcelona) and 1996 (Atlanta). She teamed with Mary Joe Fernández (no relation) to win the women's doubles gold medal on both occasions. The first gold medal was won against the home team of Conchita Martínez and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario with the king and queen of Spain in the audience. The two medals are on Fernández's desk, and a license plate on her car states "DBL GLD".

Fernández represented Puerto Rico when San Juan played host to the Pan Am Games in 1979. Just 15, Fernández won a bronze medal. In 1982 at the Central American-Caribbean Games in Cuba, she teamed with Marilda Julia to win doubles gold and won a silver medal in the singles as well. She represented Puerto Rico at the 1984 Olympics.

Fernández was also on the United States team that won the Federation Cup in 1990.

In singles, Fernández reached as high as world No. 17. She also won two top-level titles and reached the semifinals at Wimbledon in 1994 (ranked 99 becoming the lowest-ranked Grand Slam singles semifinalist at Wimbledon) and the quarterfinals at the US Open in 1991 and 1994.

Fernández retired from the professional tour in 1997, and in 1999, she was named Puerto Rico's "Female Athlete of the Century".

On July 12, 2010, Fernández was inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame with Zvereva.

Personal life

Her parents are Tuto Fernández, a well-known doctor in Puerto Rico, and Beatriz Fernández. Her cousin José Ferrer was a famous Puerto Rican actor and director. Fernández started playing tennis when she was seven. She studied at the prestigious Academia San José in Guaynabo. When she turned professional in 1983, she became Puerto Rico's first female professional athlete. Before turning professional, she played tennis for one season at Clemson University in 1982–83, where she was singles and doubles All-American and reached the National Collegiate Athletics Association singles final.

Since retiring from the tour, Fernández has worked as a tennis coach. She has coached players including the former world No. 1 doubles player Rennae Stubbs, Lisa Raymond, and Samantha Stosur. She coached Sam Stosur to her first Grand Slam title at the 2005 US Open with Lisa Raymond. She also coached for the Puerto Rican national team and the University of South Florida.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of South Florida in 2003 and later graduated from Rollins College's Crummer School of Business where she earned a Master of Business Administration. She is the mother of twins, Karson Xavier and Madison Jane, and the partner of retired professional golfer and former LPGA and WWE executive Jane Geddes.

In 2010, Fernández started a company named Baby Goes Pro. She presently resides in Tampa, Florida and was the Director of Adult Tennis at Chelsea Piers Connecticut, as well as Summer Director at The Long Ridge Tennis Club.

In a 2021 interview, Fernández states she receives a lot of negative comments from some Puerto Ricans via her social media and that it saddens her.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 23 (17–6)

Result	Year	Championship	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1988	US Open (1)	Robin White	Patty Fendick Jill Hetherington	6–4, 6–1
Win	1990	US Open (2)	Martina Navratilova	Jana Novotná Helena Suková	6–2, 6–4
Loss	1991	Australian Open	Jana Novotná	Patty Fendick Mary Joe Fernández	6–7(4–7), 1–6
Win	1991	French Open (1)	Jana Novotná	Larisa Savchenko Neiland Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 6–0
Loss	1991	Wimbledon	Jana Novotná	Larisa Savchenko Neiland Natasha Zvereva	4–6, 6–3, 4–6
Win	1992	French Open (2)	Natasha Zvereva	Conchita Martínez Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–3, 6–2
Win	1992	Wimbledon (1)	Natasha Zvereva	Larisa Savchenko Neiland Jana Novotná	6–4, 6–1
Win	1992	US Open (3)	Natasha Zvereva	Larisa Savchenko Neiland Jana Novotná	7–6(7–4), 6–1
Win	1993	Australian Open (1)	Natasha Zvereva	Pam Shriver Elizabeth Smylie	6–4, 6–3
Win	1993	French Open (3)	Natasha Zvereva	Jana Novotná Larisa Savchenko Neiland	6–3, 7–5
Win	1993	Wimbledon (2)	Natasha Zvereva	Larisa Savchenko Neiland Jana Novotná	6–4, 6–7(9–11), 6–4
Win	1994	Australian Open (2)	Natasha Zvereva	Patty Fendick Meredith McGrath	6–3, 4–6, 6–4
Win	1994	French Open (4)	Natasha Zvereva	Lindsay Davenport Lisa Raymond	6–2, 6–2
Win	1994	Wimbledon (3)	Natasha Zvereva	Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–4, 6–1
Loss	1995	Australian Open	Natasha Zvereva	Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	3–6, 7–6(7–3), 4–6
Win	1995	French Open (5)	Natasha Zvereva	Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–7(6–8), 6–4, 7–5
Loss	1995	Wimbledon	Natasha Zvereva	Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	7–5, 5–7, 4–6
Win	1995	US Open (4)	Natasha Zvereva	Brenda Schultz-McCarthy Rennae Stubbs	7–5, 6–3
Loss	1996	French Open	Natasha Zvereva	Lindsay Davenport Mary Joe Fernández	2–6, 1–6
Win	1996	US Open (5)	Natasha Zvereva	Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	1–6, 6–1, 6–4
Win	1997	French Open (6)	Natasha Zvereva	Mary Joe Fernández Lisa Raymond	6–2, 6–3
Win	1997	Wimbledon (4)	Natasha Zvereva	Nicole Arendt Manon Bollegraf	7–6(7–4), 6–4
Loss	1997	US Open	Natasha Zvereva	Lindsay Davenport Jana Novotná	3–6, 4–6

Mixed doubles: 3 (0–3)

Result	Year	Championship	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1995	Australian Open	Cyril Suk	Natasha Zvereva Rick Leach	6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–3), 4–6
Loss	1995	Wimbledon	Cyril Suk	Martina Navratilova Jonathan Stark	4–6, 4–6
Loss	1995	US Open	Cyril Suk	Meredith McGrath Matt Lucena	4–6, 4–6

Olympic finals

Doubles: 2 (2 gold medals)

Result	Year	Championship	Partner	Opponents	Score
Gold	1992	Barcelona	Mary Joe Fernández	Conchita Martínez Arantxa Sánchez	7–5, 2–6, 6–2
Gold	1996	Atlanta	Mary Joe Fernández	Jana Novotná Helena Suková	7–6(8–6), 6–4

WTA Tour titles

Singles (2)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Category	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1.	Oct 1986	Singapore, Singapore	Tier V	Hard (i)	Mercedes Paz	6–4, 2–6, 6–4
Win	2.	Apr 1991	Albuquerque, US	Tier IV	Hard	Julie Halard-Decugis	6–0, 6–2

Doubles (69)

• 1985: Washington (with Martina Navratilova), Miami (w/Navratilova), Toronto (w/Navratilova), Fort Lauderdale (with Robin White)
• 1987: U.S. Indoor Championships (with Lori McNeil), Newport (w/McNeil), Mahwah (w/McNeil)
• 1988: Tokyo Outdoor (w/White), US Open (w/White)
• 1989: Newport (w/McNeil), Toronto (w/White), Tokyo Doubles Championships (w/White), Filderstadt (w/White)
• 1990: Tokyo/Pan Pacific (with Elizabeth Smylie), Hamburg (w/Navratilova), Los Angeles (with Jana Novotná), US Open (w/Navratilova), New England (with Helena Suková)
• 1991: Brisbane (w/Novotná), Chicago (w/Novotná), Light n' Lively Doubles (w/Suková), French Open (w/Novotná), Oakland (with Patty Fendick), Indianapolis (w/Fendick)
• 1992: Houston (w/Fendick), French Open (with Natasha Zvereva), Wimbledon (w/Zvereva), Barcelona Olympics (with Mary Joe Fernández), US Open (w/Zvereva), Oakland (w/Zvereva), Philadelphia (w/Zvereva)
• 1993: Australian Open (w/Zvereva), Delray Beach (w/Zvereva), Light n' Lively Doubles (w/Zvereva), Hilton Head (w/Zvereva), Berlin (w/Zvereva), French Open (w/Zvereva), Eastbourne (w/Zvereva), Wimbledon (w/Zvereva), San Diego (w/Suková), Leipzig (w/Zvereva), Filderstadt (w/Zvereva), Virginia Slims Championships (w/Zvereva)
• 1994: Australian Open (w/Zvereva), Chicago (w/Zvereva), Miami (w/Zvereva), Italian Open (w/Zvereva), Berlin (w/Zvereva), French Open (w/Zvereva), Eastbourne (w/Zvereva), Wimbledon (w/Zvereva), Filderstadt (w/Zvereva), Philadelphia (w/Zvereva), Virginia Slims Championships (w/Zvereva)
• 1995: Tokyo/Pan Pacific (w/Zvereva), Hamburg (with Martina Hingis), Rome (w/Zvereva), French Open (w/Zvereva), San Diego (w/Zvereva), Los Angeles (w/Zvereva), US Open (w/Zvereva), Filderstadt (w/Zvereva)
• 1996: Tokyo/Pan Pacific (w/Zvereva), Atlanta Olympics (w/Mary Joe Fernández), San Diego (with Conchita Martínez), US Open (w/Zvereva)
• 1997: Sydney (with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario), French Open (w/Zvereva), Wimbledon (w/Zvereva)

Doubles performance timeline

See also

In Spanish: Gigi Fernández para niños

• History of women in Puerto Rico
• List of Puerto Ricans
• Monica Puig
• Sports in Puerto Rico