Meredith McGrath explained

Meredith McGrath (born April 28, 1971) is a former professional tennis player.

She was born in Midland, Michigan, and made her debut on the WTA Tour in 1988. In her eight-year professional career, Meredith achieved career-high world rankings of No. 18 in singles and No. 4 in doubles. She notched victories over such players as Martina Navratilova, Martina Hingis, Anna Kournikova, Jana Novotna, Gigi Fernandez and Mary Jo Fernandez. The pinnacle of her career came in reaching the singles semifinals and doubles finals at the 1996 Wimbledon Championships (leading 7–5, 5–2 in the doubles final before losing to Suková/Hingis). In the singles, she defeated Mana Endo, Amanda Coetzer, Nancy Feber, Katarína Studeníková and Mary Joe Fernandez before losing to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario. An injury two weeks prior to the 1996 Wimbledon Championships eventually ended her career. Meredith won the 1995 US Open Mixed-Doubles Championship (she was runner-up in 1989) and was the runner-up in the 1994 Australian Open Doubles Championship. Meredith won three WTA singles titles, Oklahoma City and Eastbourne in 1994 and Birmingham in 1996, and 25 doubles titles. Meredith was recognized by Tennis Magazine as the WTA Comeback Player of the Year as she overcame near career-ending injuries to having her most successful competitive season in 1996. In 1994, she was awarded the WTA Tour Comeback Player of the Year.

Meredith played her collegiate tennis at Stanford University where she, during her only collegiate season, earned All-American honors in both singles and doubles after having achieved year-end rankings of No. 2 in singles and No. 1 in doubles (undefeated). She had maintained No. 1 rankings in both singles and doubles during her freshman year until a loss at the NCAA Championships. Meredith turned professional after her freshman year, but returned to Stanford to earn her degree in 2000 after injuries forced her early retirement. In 1990, Meredith was awarded the Block S Award for the Most Outstanding Freshman Athlete at Stanford and with her doubles partner, Teri Whitlinger, was named the Volvo Tennis/Tennis Magazine Doubles Team of the Year.

Meredith McGrath is also a 2012 inductee into the prestigious Stanford Hall of Fame. She is also a member of the USTA Midwest Hall of Fame and the USTA NorCal Hall of Fame.

As the No. 1 ranked junior player in the world, McGrath won a total of 19 national and international junior titles. She captured the US Open junior doubles title and Wimbledon junior doubles title with Jennifer Capriati in 1989, and won the US Open junior doubles title with Kimberly Po in 1987 and 1988. Meredith was the runner-up in the 1988 Wimbledon junior singles championship. A three-time national All-American in high school, Meredith won three Michigan High School Division A State Championships. She also received six USTA National Championship Sportsmanship Awards.

WTA career finals

Singles: 3 (3 titles)

Legend
Grand Slam	0
Tier I	0
Tier II	1
Tier III	2
Tier IV & V	0

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1.	Feb 1994	Oklahoma City, U.S.	Hard	Brenda Schultz	7–6(6), 7–6(4)
Win	2.	Jun 1994	Eastbourne, England	Grass	Linda Harvey-Wild	6–2, 6–4
Win	3.	Jun 1996	Birmingham, England	Grass	Nathalie Tauziat	2–6, 6–4, 6–4

Doubles: 38 (25 titles, 13 runner-ups)

Legend Grand Slam 0 Tier I 2 Tier II 11 Tier III 6 Tier IV & V 6

Titles by surface Hard 13 Clay 2 Grass 0 Carpet 10

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1.	Jun 1989	Birmingham, England	Grass	Pam Shriver	Larisa Savchenko Natalia Zvereva	5–7, 7–5, 0–6
Win	2.	Nov 1989	Nashville, U.S.	Hard	Manon Bollegraf	Natalia Medvedeva Leila Meskhi	1–6, 7–6, 7–6
Win	3.	Feb 1990	Wichita, U.S.	Hard (i)	Manon Bollegraf	Mary-Lou Daniels Wendy Prausa	6–0, 6–2
Win	4.	Aug 1990	Albuquerque, U.S.	Hard	Anne Smith	Mareen Louie-Harper Wendy Prausa	7–6, 6–4
Loss	5.	Sep 1990	Orlando, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Manon Bollegraf	Larisa Savchenko Natalia Zvereva	4–6, 1–6
Win	6.	Nov 1990	Oakland, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Anne Smith	Rosalyn Fairbank-Nideffer Robin White	2–6, 6–0, 6–4
Win	7.	Nov 1990	Oakland, U.S.	Hard	Patty Fendick	Katrina Adams Jill Hetherington	6–1, 6–1
Win	8.	Feb 1991	Oklahoma City, U.S.	Hard (i)	Anne Smith	Katrina Adams Jill Hetherington	6–1, 6–1
Loss	9.	Mar 1991	Boca Raton, U.S.	Hard	Samantha Smith	Larisa Savchenko-Neiland Natalia Zvereva	4–6, 6–7
Loss	10.	Apr 1993	Pattaya City, Thailand	Hard	Patty Fendick	Cammy Macgregor Catherine Suire	3–6, 6–7
Win	11.	Apr 1993	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Hard	Patty Fendick	Nicole Arendt Kristine Radford	6–4, 7–6
Win	12.	Oct 1993	Montpellier, France	Carpet (i)	Claudia Porwik	Janette Husárová Dominique Monami	3–6, 6–2, 7–6
Win	13.	Nov 1993	Oakland, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Patty Fendick	Amanda Coetzer Inés Gorrochategui	6–2, 6–0
Win	14.	Jan 1994	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Patty Fendick	Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–2, 6–3
Loss	15.	Jan 1994	Australian Open	Hard	Patty Fendick	Gigi Fernández Natalia Zvereva	3–6, 6–4, 4–6
Win	16.	Feb 1994	Oklahoma City, U.S.	Hard (i)	Patty Fendick	Katrina Adams Manon Bollegraf	7–6, 6–2
Loss	17.	Mar 1994	Key Biscayne, U.S.	Hard	Patty Fendick	Gigi Fernández Natalia Zvereva	3–6, 1–6
Win	18.	Apr 1994	Pattaya City, Thailand	Hard	Patty Fendick	Yayuk Basuki Nana Miyagi	7–6, 3–6, 6–3
Win	19.	Apr 1994	Singapore	Hard	Patty Fendick	Nicole Arendt Kristine Radford	6–4, 6–1
Win	20.	Aug 1994	Rogers Cup, Canada	Hard	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Pam Shriver Liz Smylie	2–6, 6–2, 6–4
Win	21.	Aug 1994	Schenectady, U.S.	Hard	Larisa Savchenko	Pam Shriver Liz Smylie	6–2, 6–2
Win	22.	Oct 1994	Leipzig, Germany	Carpet (i)	Patty Fendick	Manon Bollegraf Larisa Savchenko	6–4, 6–4
Loss	23.	Oct 1994	Zurich, Switzerland	Carpet (i)	Patty Fendick	Manon Bollegraf Martina Navratilova	6–7, 1–6
Win	24.	Feb 1995	Paris, France	Hard (i)	Larisa Savchenko	Manon Bollegraf Rennae Stubbs	6–4, 6–1
Win	25.	Feb 1995	Generali Ladies Linz, Austria	Carpet (i)	Nathalie Tauziat	Iva Majoli Petra Schwarz	6–1, 6–2
Win	26.	May 1995	Edinburgh, Scotland	Clay	Larisa Savchenko	Manon Bollegraf Rennae Stubbs	6–2, 7–6
Win	27.	Sep 1995	Moscow, Russia	Carpet (i)	Larisa Savchenko	Anna Kournikova Aleksandra Olsza	6–1, 6–1
Win	28.	Oct 1995	Leipzig, Germany	Carpet (i)	Larisa Savchenko	Brenda Schultz-McCarthy Caroline Vis	6–4, 6–4
Loss	29.	Oct 1995	Filderstadt, Germany	Hard (i)	Larisa Savchenko	Gigi Fernández Natalia Zvereva	7–5, 1–6, 4–6
Win	30.	Oct 1995	Brighton, England	Carpet (i)	Larisa Savchenko	Lori McNeil Helena Suková	7–5, 6–1
Loss	31.	Nov 1995	Philadelphia, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Larisa Savchenko	Lori McNeil Helena Suková	6–4, 3–6, 4–6
Win	32.	Feb 1996	Essen, Germany	Carpet (i)	Larisa Savchenko	Lori McNeil Helena Suková	6–4, 3–6, 4–6
Win	33.	Mar 1996	Generali Ladies Linz, Austria	Carpet (i)	Manon Bollegraf	Rennae Stubbs Helena Suková	6–4, 6–4
Loss	34.	Mar 1996	Key Biscayne, U.S.	Hard	Larisa Savchenko	Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	4–6, 4–6
Loss	35.	Apr 1996	Amelia Island, U.S.	Clay	Larisa Savchenko	Chanda Rubin Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	4–6, 4–6
Win	36.	May 1996	Berlin, Germany	Clay	Larisa Savchenko	Martina Hingis Helena Suková	6–1, 5–7, 7–6
Loss	37.	Jul 1996	Wimbledon, England	Grass	Larisa Savchenko	Martina Hingis Helena Suková	7–5, 5–7, 1–6
Loss	38.	Jan 1998	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Katrina Adams	Martina Hingis Helena Suková	1–6, 2–6

Mixed doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1.	September 10, 1989	US Open	Hard	Rick Leach	Shelby Cannon Robin White	6–3, 2–6, 5–7
Win	2.	September 10, 1995	US Open	Hard	Matt Lucena	Cyril Suk Gigi Fernández	6–4, 6–4

ITF finals

Singles (1–3)

$75,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.		Fayetteville, United States	Hard	Tammy Whittington	6–0, 6–3
Runner-up	2.		Midland, United States	Hard	Shaun Stafford	3–6, 3–6
Runner-up	3.		Midland, United States	Hard	Helen Kelesi	2–6, 2–6
Runner-up	4.		Midland, United States	Hard	Brenda Schultz-McCarthy	2–6, 0–1 ret.

Doubles (2–3)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.		Midland, United States	Hard	Shaun Stafford	Kim Il-soon Lee Jeong-myung	6–2, 2–6, 4–6
Runner-up	2.		Midland, United States	Hard	Anne Smith	Katrina Adams Helen Kelesi	5–7, 5–7
Winner	3.	27 January 1992	Midland, United States	Hard	Manon Bollegraf	Helen Kelesi Caroline Vis	6–3, 6–1
Winner	4.		Midland, United States	Hard	Patty Fendick	Jean Ceniza Caroline Delisle	7–6(5), 6–2
Runner-up	5.		Austin, United States	Hard	Debbie Graham	Park Sung-hee Miho Saeki	4–6, 7–5, 2–6

Grand Slam doubles performance timeline

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width=140	Tournament!	width=35	1988!	width=35	1989!	width=35	1990!	width=35	1991!	width=35	1992!	width=35	1993!	width=35	1994!	width=35	1995!	width=35	1996!	width=35	1997!	width=35	1998!	width=50	SR!	width=50	W–L
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	bgcolor=thistle	F	3R	bgcolor=yellow	SF	A	1R	0 / 4	11–4
French Open	A	A	A	QF	A	1R	3R	3R	bgcolor=yellow	SF	A	A	0 / 5	11–5
Wimbledon	A	1R	2R	A	A	2R	3R	bgcolor=yellow	SF	bgcolor=thistle	F	A	A	0 / 6	13–6
US Open	1R	2R	1R	A	A	3R	QF	3R	A	A	A	0 / 6	8–6
Win–loss	0–1	1–2	1–2	3–1	0–0	3–3	12–4	10–4	13–3	0–0	0–1	0 / 21	43–21