Education
Stanford University.
Stanford University.
Jordan turned professional in 1979. Her best performance in a Grand Slam singles tournament was runner-up at the 1983 Australian Open, where she lost to Martina Navratilova in straight sets. She was the first player to defeat Chris Evert before the semifinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament.
Jordan defeated Evert 6–1, 7–6 in the third round of Wimbledon in 1983 after Evert had reached at least the semifinals of her first 34 Grand Slam singles tournaments.
In the Wimbledon final on July 6, 1985, Jordan and Elizabeth Smylie teamed to snap the 109-match winning streak of Navratilova and Pam Shriver by defeating them in three sets. Jordan retired in 1991.
Her highest singles rank was world number five in 1984 and her highest doubles rank was world number 6 in 1991. After retiring, Jordan returned to Stanford University and received a Bachelor of Arts in political science in 1991.
She was elected vice-president of the Women's Tennis Association in 1992.
She also served as chairperson of the Women's Tennis Association Drug Testing Committee and served on Women's Tennis Association executive, deferred compensation, finance/marketing, and insurance Committees through 1992. Jordan was nicknamed "KJ." Grand Slam finals =: 1 (0 titles, 1 runner–up) = Women"s doubles: 11 (5 titles, 6 runners-up) = Mixed doubles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner–up) Year-End Championships finals = Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner–up) Doubles Mixed doubles New Hampshire = tournament not held. A = did not participate in the tournament.
During her career, she won seven Grand Slam titles, five of them in women"s doubles and two in mixed doubles. She also was the 1983 Australian Open women"s singles runner-up and won three singles titles and 42 doubles titles. In women"s doubles, Jordan won five Grand Slam titles, four of which were in partnership with Anne Smith. She also won a career Grand Slam in women"s doubles, winning the 1980 French Open, 1980 and 1985 Wimbledon, 1981 United States Open, and 1981 Australian Open. In mixed doubles, Jordan won two Grand Slam titles, 1986 French Open and 1986 Wimbledon, both of which were in partnership with Ken Flach. She won several awards during her career, including 1979 Women's Tennis Association Most Impressive Newcomer Award, 1980 Women's Tennis Association Doubles Team of the Year Award with Smith, 1984 Women's Tennis Association Most Improved Player of the Year Award, and 1991 Women's Tennis Association Player Service Award While at Stanford, she won the 1979 AIAW Championships in singles and in doubles with her sister, Barbara Jordan. Her sister won the 1979 Australian Open women"s singles title. Social Research = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
