Mary Joe Fernández

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 Opens, and the 1993 French Open, as well as winning a bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. In doubles, she won the 1991 Australian Open with Patty Fendick and 1996 French Open with Lindsay Davenport, plus two Olympic gold medals.

Mary Joe Fernández

Mary Joe at the 2010 US Open
Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Miami, Florida, U.S.
Born	August 19, 1971 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
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
Olympic Games	Bronze medal (1992)
Doubles
Career record	344–141
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)
Olympic Games	Gold medal (1992, 1996)
Medal record Women's tennis Representing the  United States Olympic Games 1992 Barcelona Women's doubles 1996 Atlanta Women's doubles 1992 Barcelona Women's singles

Career

Mary Joe 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 Sanchez-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 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.[1] 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 Sanchez-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 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

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 Martinez 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 Novotna 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

In 2003, Dr. Wade Exum, the United States Olympic Committee's director of drug control administration from 1991 to 2000, gave copies of documents to Sports Illustrated which revealed that some 100 American athletes who failed drug tests and should have been prevented from competing in the Olympics were nevertheless cleared to compete. Among those athletes was Fernández.[2]

Fernández coached the US Fed Cup team from 2008 to 2016[3] and served as the woman's coach for the 2012 U.S. Olympic tennis team in London.[4]

She currently works as an analyst and commentator for ESPN.[5]

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.[6] She completed her high school education at the Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart in Miami, Florida.[7]

In April 2000, Fernández married Anthony (Tony) Godsick, a sports agent with International Management Group.[8] Monica Seles was a bridesmaid at the wedding.[9] They have two children.[10] Her husband is the current agent of Roger Federer.[11]

She has homes in Cleveland, Ohio, and Key Biscayne, Florida.[12]

Significant finals

Singles: 3 (3 runners-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1990	Australian Open	Hard	Steffi Graf	3–6, 4–6
Runner-up	1992	Australian Open	Hard	Monica Seles	2–6, 3–6
Runner-up	1993	French Open	Clay	Steffi Graf	6–4, 2–6, 4–6

Women's doubles: 7 (2 titles, 5 runners-up)

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

Singles: 1 bronze medal

Outcome	Year	Location	Surface	Opponent	Score
Bronze	1992	Barcelona	Clay	Tied	DNP

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 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

Doubles: 1 title

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

WTA career finals

Singles: 16 (7–9)

Finals by surface
Hard (2–4)
Grass (0–1)
Clay (2–2)
Carpet (3–2)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	October 9, 1989	Filderstadt	Carpet (i)	Gabriela Sabatini	6–7^(5–7), 4–6
Runner-up	2.	January 15, 1990	Australian Open	Hard	Steffi Graf	3–6, 4–6
Winner	1.	September 24, 1990	Tokyo	Carpet (i)	Amy Frazier	3–6, 6–2, 6–3
Winner	2.	October 15, 1990	Filderstadt	Carpet (i)	Barbara Paulus	6–1, 6–3
Runner-up	3.	April 15, 1991	Houston	Clay	Monica Seles	4–6, 3–6
Runner-up	4.	September 16, 1991	Tokyo	Hard	Monica Seles	1–6, 1–6
Runner-up	5.	January 13, 1992	Australian Open	Hard	Monica Seles	2–6, 3–6
Runner-up	6.	February 3, 1992	Essen	Carpet (i)	Monica Seles	0–6, 3–6
Winner	3.	February 22, 1993	Indian Wells	Hard	Amanda Coetzer	3–6, 6–1, 7–6^(8–6)
Runner-up	7.	May 24, 1993	French Open	Clay	Steffi Graf	6–4, 2–6, 4–6
Runner-up	8.	June 10, 1994	Sydney	Hard	Kimiko Date	4–6, 2–6
Winner	4.	May 16, 1994	Strasbourg	Clay	Gabriela Sabatini	2–6, 6–4, 6–0
Winner	5.	February 27, 1995	Indian Wells	Hard	Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 6–3
Winner	6.	October 16, 1995	Brighton	Carpet (i)	Amanda Coetzer	6–4, 7–5
Runner-up	9.	June 17, 1996	Eastbourne	Grass	Monica Seles	0–6, 2–6
Winner	7.	May 12, 1997	Berlin	Clay	Mary Pierce	6–4, 6–2

Doubles: 43 (19–24)

Winner — Legend Grand Slam tournaments (2–5) WTA Tour Championships (1–0) Olympic Games (2–0) Tier I (2–5) Tier II (8–11) Tier III (4–3) Tier IV (0–0) Tier V (0–0)

Finals by surface Hard (8–14) Grass (0–1) Clay (6–4) Carpet (5–5)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	January 30, 1989	Tokyo	Carpet (i)	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Katrina Adams Zina Garrison	3–6, 6–3, 6–7^(5–7)
Runner-up	2.	March 13, 1989	Boca Raton	Hard	Jo Durie	Jana Novotná Helena Suková	4–6, 2–6
Runner-up	3.	August 7, 1989	Los Angeles	Hard	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Martina Navratilova Wendy Turnbull	2–5 ret.
Runner-up	4.	August 28, 1989	US Open	Hard	Pam Shriver	Hana Mandlíková Martina Navratilova	7–5, 4–6, 4–6
Winner	1.	September 18, 1989	Dallas	Carpet (i)	Betsy Nagelsen	Elise Burgin Rosalyn Fairbank	7–6^(7–5), 6–3
Runner-up	5.	January 15, 1990	Australian Open	Hard	Patty Fendick	Jana Novotná Helena Suková	6–7^(5–7), 6–7^(3–7)
Winner	2.	September 24, 1990	Tokyo	Carpet (i)	Robin White	Gigi Fernández Martina Navratilova	4–6, 6–3, 7–6^(7–4)
Winner	3.	October 15, 1990	Filderstadt	Carpet (i)	Zina Garrison	Mercedes Paz Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	7–5, 6–3
Runner-up	6.	November 5, 1990	Worcester	Carpet (i)	Jana Novotná	Gigi Fernández Helena Suková	6–3, 3–6, 3–6
Winner	4.	January 14, 1991	Australian Open	Hard	Patty Fendick	Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná	7–6^(7–4), 6–1
Runner-up	7.	January 28, 1991	Tokyo	Carpet (i)	Robin White	Kathy Jordan Elizabeth Smylie	6–4, 0–6, 3–6
Winner	5.	March 15, 1991	Key Biscayne	Hard	Zina Garrison	Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná	7–5, 6–2
Runner-up	8.	April 15, 1991	Houston	Clay	Patty Fendick	Jill Hetherington Kathy Rinaldi	1–6, 6–2, 1–6
Winner	6.	September 16, 1991	Tokyo	Hard	Pam Shriver	Carrie Cunningham Laura Gildemeister	6–3, 6–3
Runner-up	9.	November 11, 1991	Philadelphia	Carpet (i)	Zina Garrison	Larisa Neiland Jana Novotná	2–6, 4–6
Runner-up	10.	January 6, 1992	Sydney	Hard	Zina Garrison	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Helena Suková	6–7^(4–7), 7–6^(4–7), 2–6
Runner-up	11.	January 13, 1992	Australian Open	Hard	Zina Garrison	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Helena Suková	4–6, 6–7^(3–7)
Runner-up	12.	June 15, 1992	Eastbourne	Grass	Zina Garrison	Larisa Neiland Jana Novotná	0–6, 3–6
Winner	7.	July 28, 1992	Olympics	Clay	Gigi Fernández	Conchita Martínez Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	7–5, 2–6, 6–2
Winner	8.	September 21, 1992	Tokyo	Hard	Robin White	Yayuk Basuki Nana Miyagi	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	13.	Mary 3, 1993	Rome	Clay	Zina Garrison	Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	4–6, 2–6
Winner	9.	May 17, 1993	Lucerne	Clay	Helena Suková	Lindsay Davenport Marianne Werdel	6–2, 6–4
Runner-up	14.	October 17, 1994	Brighton	Carpet (i)	Jana Novotná	Manon Bollegraf Larisa Neiland	6–4, 2–6, 3–6
Runner-up	15.	January 9, 1995	Sydney	Hard	Patty Fendick	Lindsay Davenport Jana Novotná	5–7, 6–2, 4–6
Winner	10.	March 6, 1995	Delray Beach	Hard	Jana Novotná	Lori McNeil Larisa Neiland	6–2, 6–4
Winner	11.	May 22, 1995	Strasbourg	Clay	Lindsay Davenport	Sabine Appelmans Miriam Oremans	6–2, 6–3
Winner	12.	September 18, 1995	Tokyo	Hard	Lindsay Davenport	Amanda Coetzer Linda Wild	6–3, 6–2
Winner	13.	January 8, 1996	Sydney	Hard	Lindsay Davenport	Lori McNeil Helena Suková	6–3, 6–3
Runner-up	16.	January 15, 1995	Australian Open	Hard	Lindsay Davenport	Chanda Rubin Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	5–7, 6–2, 4–6
Runner-up	17.	April 1, 1996	Hilton Head Island	Clay	Gigi Fernández	Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	2–6, 3–6
Winner	14.	May 27, 1996	French Open	Clay	Lindsay Davenport	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	6–2, 6–1
Winner	15.	July 22, 1996	Olympics	Hard	Gigi Fernández	Jana Novotná Helena Suková	7–6^(8–6), 6–4
Runner-up	18.	August 5, 1996	Montreal	Hard	Helena Suková	Larisa Neiland Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–7^(1–7), 1–6
Winner	16.	November 4, 1996	Oakland	Carpet (i)	Lindsay Davenport	Irina Spîrlea Nathalie Tauziat	6–1, 6–3
Winner	17.	November 18, 1996	Chase Championships	Carpet (i)	Lindsay Davenport	Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–3, 6–2
Winner	18.	March 31, 1997	Hilton Head Island	Clay	Martina Hingis	Lindsay Davenport Jana Novotná	7–5, 4–6, 6–1
Winner	19.	May 19, 1997	Madrid	Clay	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Inés Gorrochategui Irina Spîrlea	6–3, 6–2
Runner-up	19.	May 26, 1997	French Open	Clay	Lisa Raymond	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	2–6, 3–6
Runner-up	20.	August 10, 1998	Boston	Hard	Mariaan de Swardt	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	4–6, 4–6
Runner-up	21.	September 21, 1998	Tokyo	Hard	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Anna Kournikova Monica Seles	4–6, 4–6
Runner-up	22.	January 11, 1999	Sydney	Hard	Anke Huber	Elena Likhovtseva Ai Sugiyama	3–6, 6–2, 0–6
Runner-up	23.	March 3, 1999	Indian Wells	Hard	Jana Novotná	Martina Hingis Anna Kournikova	2–6, 2–6
Runner-up	24.	March 18, 1999	Key Biscayne	Hard	Monica Seles	Martina Hingis Jana Novotná	6–0, 4–6, 6–7^(1–7)

Grand Slam performance timeline

Singles

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
US 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
Career Statistics
Year-end ranking	99	27	20	15	12	4	8	6	7	14	8	16	10	76	38

Doubles

Tournament	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	Career SR
Australian Open	NH	A	A	QF	F	W	F	QF	QF	QF	F	2R	A	2R	1 / 10
French Open	A	1R	A	2R	A	QF	1R	3R	3R	SF	W	F	A	2R	1 / 10
Wimbledon	A	1R	A	A	A	SF	QF	SF	1R	1R	QF	QF	A	QF	0 / 9
US Open	1R	2R	2R	F	A	SF	QF	A	A	A	A	3R	3R	QF	0 / 9
SR	0 / 1	0 / 3	0 / 1	0 / 3	0 / 1	1 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	1 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 1	0 / 4	2 / 38
Career Statistics
Year-end ranking	131	85	63	8	6	5	11	15	26	10	5	16	89	26

• NH = tournament not held.
• A = did not participate in the tournament.
• SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

References

1. O'Connor, Mary (January 25, 1991). "TENNIS AUSTRALIAN OPEN : Seles Saves Win Over Fernandez". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
2. "Olympics; Anti-doping official says U.S. covered up". New York Times. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
3. "Mary Joe Fernandez steps down as U.S. Fed Cup captain". Tennis.com. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
4. Joanne C. Gerstner (June 4, 2012). "Mary Joe Fernandez to coach U.S." ESPN. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
5. "ESPN Press Room: Mary Jo Fernandez". ESPN Press Room. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
6. McDermott, Barry (January 6, 1986). "Young Mary Joe Is On The Go". CNN (online). Sports Illustrated. SI Vault. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
7. Murphy, Austin (February 11, 1991). "The Graduate". Sports Illustrated. p. 76.
8. Society Desk (April 9, 2000). "WEDDINGS; Mary Joe Fernandez, Anthony Godsick". New York Times. p. Section 9; Page 9; Column 1.
9. Drillman, Lisa (July 6, 2000). "0-0, She's Back". LA Times. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
10. Outlaw, Adrianna (September 16, 2004). "Mama Mary Joe Gives Birth to Second Child". Tennis Week Magazine.
11. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/12/sports/tennis/federer-and-his-agent-start-their-own-firm-representing-athletes.html
12. "Womens Circuit Players". International Tennis Association. Retrieved June 11, 2011.

External links

• Mary Joe Fernández at the Women's Tennis Association
• Mary Joe Fernández at the International Tennis Federation
• Mary Joe Fernández at the Billie Jean King Cup
• Mary-Joe Fernandez ESPN Bio