Mary Joe Fernández facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Mary Joe Fernández

Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Miami, Florida, U.S.
Born	(1971-08-19) August 19, 1971 (age 53) Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro	1986
Retired	2000
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$5,258,471
Singles
Career record	437–203 (68.28%)
Career titles	7 WTA
Highest ranking	No. 4 (October 22, 1990)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	F (1990, 1992)
French Open	F (1993)
Wimbledon	SF (1991)
US Open	SF (1990, 1992)
Other tournaments
Doubles
Career record	344–141 (70.93%)
Career titles	17 WTA, 2 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 4 (February 18, 1991)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	W (1991)
French Open	W (1996)
Wimbledon	SF (1991, 1993)
US Open	F (1989)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour Finals	W (1996)
Medal record Women's tennis Representing  United States Olympic Games Gold 1992 Barcelona Women's doubles Gold 1996 Atlanta Women's doubles Bronze 1992 Barcelona Women's singles

Mary Joe Fernández Godsick (born María José Fernández; August 19, 1971) is an American former professional tennis player, who reached a career-high ranking of world No. 4 in both singles and doubles. In singles, Fernández was the runner-up at the 1990 and 1992 Australian Open, and the 1993 French Open. She also won a bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. In doubles, she won the 1991 Australian Open with Patty Fendick and the 1996 French Open with Lindsay Davenport, plus two Olympic gold medals.

Career

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 US Open when she defeated Sara Gomer in the first round.

Turning professional in 1986, she won her first tour doubles title in 1989 at Dallas, partnering Betsy Nagelsen. She was also semifinalist at the 1989 French Open, losing to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 2–6, 2–6.

She reached her first Grand Slam singles final in 1990 at the Australian Open, where she was defeated by Steffi Graf 3–6, 4–6 (having held a 4–1 lead herself in the second set). She won her first WTA Tour singles title the same year at the Tokyo Indoor championships, and finished the year ranked a career-high world No. 4 in singles.

In 1991, Fernández reached the semifinals of the Australian Open, where she was match point up against Monica Seles, before eventually losing 3–6, 6–0, 7–9. She teamed with Patty Fendick to win the women's Australian Open doubles title. At Wimbledon, she reached the semifinals, losing to Steffi Graf in straight sets.

She reached the Australian Open singles final again in 1992, beating world No. 3, Gabriela Sabatini, in the semifinals before losing to Seles, 2–6, 3–6. She also reached the semifinals of the US Open, beating Sabatini in the quarterfinals and losing once again to Seles. At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Fernández was selected to represent the United States and won both a gold medal in women's doubles (with Gigi Fernández) and a bronze medal in singles.

In 1993, she won the title in Indian Wells, defeating Amanda Coetzer in the final. At the French Open, she defeated world No. 5 Sabatini in the quarterfinals and world No. 3 Sánchez Vicario in the semifinals. In the final against Steffi Graf, Fernandez held several points to lead 3–0 in the final set, but eventually lost 6–4, 2–6, 4–6.

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.

She 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, defeating world No. 2, Conchita Martínez, in the quarterfinals. 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 reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in 1997, losing to Martina Hingis 1–6, 3–6. In May, she won her first and only Tier I tournament in Berlin, beating Jana Novotná in the semifinals and Mary Pierce in the final. At the end-of-year WTA Finals, she defeated world No. 2, Lindsay Davenport.

In 1999, she defeated Serena Williams in the third round of the French Open and in her last Grand Slam appearance she lost to Venus Williams in the fourth round of the US Open the same year.

She retired from the tour in 2000, having won a total of 24 titles: seven WTA singles titles and 17 doubles titles.

Post retirement

Fernández coached the US Fed Cup team from 2008 to 2016 and served as the woman's coach for the 2012 U.S. Olympic tennis team in London.

She currently works as an analyst and commentator for ESPN.

Personal life

Fernández was born in the Dominican Republic; her parents were immigrants to the country. Her father José is from Asturias, 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.

In April 2000, Fernández married Anthony (Tony) Godsick, a sports agent with International Management Group. Monica Seles was a bridesmaid at the wedding. They have two children. Her husband is the current agent of Roger Federer. One of their children, Nicholas Godsick, is also a tennis player.

She has homes in Cleveland, Ohio, and Key Biscayne, Florida.

Significant finals

Grand Slam tournaments

Singles: 3 (3 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1990	Australian Open	Hard	Steffi Graf	3–6, 4–6
Loss	1992	Australian Open	Hard	Monica Seles	2–6, 3–6
Loss	1993	French Open	Clay	Steffi Graf	6–4, 2–6, 4–6

Doubles: 7 (2 titles, 5 runner-ups)

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

Olympics

Singles: 1 (bronze medal)

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

Doubles: 2 (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

Doubles: 1 title

Result	Year	Location	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1996	New York	Carpet (i)	Lindsay Davenport	Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–3, 6–2

WTA career finals

Singles: 16 (7–9)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Oct 1989	Porsche Tennis Grand Prix	Carpet (i)	Gabriela Sabatini	6–7(5–7), 4–6
Loss	0–2	Jan 1990	Australian Open	Hard	Steffi Graf	3–6, 4–6
Win	1–2	Sep 1990	Tokyo Championships	Carpet (i)	Amy Frazier	3–6, 6–2, 6–3
Win	2–2	Oct 1990	Porsche Tennis Grand Prix	Carpet (i)	Barbara Paulus	6–1, 6–3
Loss	2–3	Apr 1991	VS Houston	Clay	Monica Seles	4–6, 3–6
Loss	2–4	Sep 1991	Tokyo Championships	Hard	Monica Seles	1–6, 1–6
Loss	2–5	Jan 1992	Australian Open	Hard	Monica Seles	2–6, 3–6
Loss	2–6	Feb 1992	Essen Grand Prix	Carpet (i)	Monica Seles	0–6, 3–6
Win	3–6	Feb 1993	Indian Wells Masters	Hard	Amanda Coetzer	3–6, 6–1, 7–6(8–6)
Loss	3–7	May 1993	French Open	Clay	Steffi Graf	6–4, 2–6, 4–6
Loss	3–8	Jun 1994	Sydney International	Hard	Kimiko Date	4–6, 2–6
Win	4–8	May 1994	Internationaux de Strasbourg	Clay	Gabriela Sabatini	2–6, 6–4, 6–0
Win	5–8	Feb 1995	Indian Wells Masters	Hard	Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 6–3
Win	6–8	Oct 1995	Brighton International	Carpet (i)	Amanda Coetzer	6–4, 7–5
Loss	6–9	Jun 1996	Eastbourne International	Grass	Monica Seles	0–6, 2–6
Win	7–9	May 1997	German Open	Clay	Mary Pierce	6–4, 6–2

Doubles: 41 (17–24)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1.	Jan 1989	Pan Pacific Open, Japan	Carpet (i)	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Katrina Adams Zina Garrison	3–6, 6–3, 6–7(5–7)
Loss	2.	Mar 1989	VS Boca Raton, U.S.	Hard	Jo Durie	Jana Novotná Helena Suková	4–6, 2–6
Loss	3.	Aug 1989	LA Championships, U.S.	Hard	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Martina Navratilova Wendy Turnbull	2–5 ret.
Loss	4.	Aug 1989	US Open	Hard	Pam Shriver	Hana Mandlíková Martina Navratilova	7–5, 4–6, 4–6
Win	1.	Sep 1989	VS Dallas, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Betsy Nagelsen	Elise Burgin Rosalyn Fairbank	7–6(7–5), 6–3
Loss	5.	Jan 1990	Australian Open	Hard	Patty Fendick	Jana Novotná Helena Suková	6–7(5–7), 6–7(3–7)
Win	2.	Sep 1990	Tokyo Championships, Japan	Carpet (i)	Robin White	Gigi Fernández Martina Navratilova	4–6, 6–3, 7–6(7–4)
Win	3.	Oct 1990	Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Germany	Carpet (i)	Zina Garrison	Mercedes Paz Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	7–5, 6–3
Loss	6.	Nov 1990	VS Worcester, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Jana Novotná	Gigi Fernández Helena Suková	6–3, 3–6, 3–6
Win	4.	Jan, 1991	Australian Open	Hard	Patty Fendick	Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná	7–6(7–4), 6–1
Loss	7.	Jan 1991	Pan Pacific Open, Japan	Carpet (i)	Robin White	Kathy Jordan Elizabeth Smylie	6–4, 0–6, 3–6
Win	5.	Mar 1991	Miami Masters, U.S.	Hard	Zina Garrison	Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná	7–5, 6–2
Loss	8.	Apr 1991	VS Houston, U.S.	Clay	Patty Fendick	Jill Hetherington Kathy Rinaldi	1–6, 6–2, 1–6
Win	6.	Sep 1991	Tokyo Championships, Japan	Hard	Pam Shriver	Carrie Cunningham Laura Gildemeister	6–3, 6–3
Loss	9.	Nov 1991	Championships of Philadelphia, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Zina Garrison	Larisa Neiland Jana Novotná	2–6, 4–6
Loss	10.	Jan 1992	Sydney International, Australia	Hard	Zina Garrison	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Helena Suková	6–7(4–7), 7–6(4–7), 2–6
Loss	11.	Jan 1992	Australian Open	Hard	Zina Garrison	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Helena Suková	4–6, 6–7(3–7)
Loss	12.	Jun 1992	Eastbourne International, UK	Grass	Zina Garrison	Larisa Neiland Jana Novotná	0–6, 3–6
Win	7.	Sep 1992	Tokyo Championships, Japan	Hard	Robin White	Yayuk Basuki Nana Miyagi	6–4, 6–4
Loss	13.	Mar 1993	Italian Open	Clay	Zina Garrison	Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	4–6, 2–6
Win	8.	May 1993	European Open, Switzerland	Clay	Helena Suková	Lindsay Davenport Marianne Werdel	6–2, 6–4
Loss	14.	Oct 1994	Brighton International, UK	Carpet (i)	Jana Novotná	Manon Bollegraf Larisa Neiland	6–4, 2–6, 3–6
Loss	15.	Jan 1995	Sydney International, Australia	Hard	Patty Fendick	Lindsay Davenport Jana Novotná	5–7, 6–2, 4–6
Win	9.	Mar 1995	VS Delray Beach, U.S.	Hard	Jana Novotná	Lori McNeil Larisa Neiland	6–2, 6–4
Win	10.	May 1995	Internationaux de Strasbourg, France	Clay	Lindsay Davenport	Sabine Appelmans Miriam Oremans	6–2, 6–3
Win	11.	Sep 1995	Tokyo Championships, Japan	Hard	Lindsay Davenport	Amanda Coetzer Linda Wild	6–3, 6–2
Win	12.	Jan 1996	Sydney International, Australia	Hard	Lindsay Davenport	Lori McNeil Helena Suková	6–3, 6–3
Loss	16.	Jan 1996	Australian Open	Hard	Lindsay Davenport	Chanda Rubin Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	5–7, 6–2, 4–6
Loss	17.	Apr 1996	Hilton Head Cup, U.S.	Clay	Gigi Fernández	Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	2–6, 3–6
Win	13.	May 1996	French Open	Clay	Lindsay Davenport	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	6–2, 6–1
Loss	18.	Aug 1996	Canadian Open	Hard	Helena Suková	Larisa Neiland Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–7(1–7), 1–6
Win	14.	Nov 1996	Oakland Classic, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Lindsay Davenport	Irina Spîrlea Nathalie Tauziat	6–1, 6–3
Win	15.	Nov 1996	WTA Tour Championships, New York	Carpet (i)	Lindsay Davenport	Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–3, 6–2
Win	16.	Mar 1997	Hilton Head Cup, U.S.	Clay	Martina Hingis	Lindsay Davenport Jana Novotná	7–5, 4–6, 6–1
Win	17.	May 1997	Madrid Open, Spain	Clay	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Inés Gorrochategui Irina Spîrlea	6–3, 6–2
Loss	19.	May 1997	French Open	Clay	Lisa Raymond	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	2–6, 3–6
Loss	20.	Aug 1998	Boston Cup, U.S.	Hard	Mariaan de Swardt	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	4–6, 4–6
Loss	21.	Sep 1998	Tokyo Cup, Japan	Hard	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Anna Kournikova Monica Seles	4–6, 4–6
Loss	22.	Jan 1999	Sydney International, Australia	Hard	Anke Huber	Elena Likhovtseva Ai Sugiyama	3–6, 6–2, 0–6
Loss	23.	Mar 1999	Indian Wells Masters, U.S.	Hard	Jana Novotná	Martina Hingis Anna Kournikova	2–6, 2–6
Loss	24.	Mar 1999	Miami Masters, U.S.	Hard	Monica Seles	Martina Hingis Jana Novotná	6–0, 4–6, 6–7(1–7)

Grand Slam performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

See also

In Spanish: Mary Joe Fernández para niños