Mary Joe Fernández Godsick is an American former professional tennis player. She reached a career-high ranking of world No. 4 in both singles and doubles. Fernández was the runner-up in three Grand Slam singles tournaments and won two Grand Slam women's doubles titles and two Olympic gold medals.
Background
Her father, José Fernández, a Spaniard, and her Cuban mother, Sylvia Fernández, settled in the Dominican Republic after marrying. The younger of two sisters, María José, who would later use the professional name of Mary Joe, was born on August 19, 1971. While still an infant, her parents moved to Florida, where she first discovered tennis. José, a recreational tennis player, would often take both his daughters to the tennis court. While he played tennis with the older sibling Sylvia, three-year-old Mary Joe would stay out of trouble by hitting tennis balls against the wall with her own tennis racquet.
Education
By the age of five, her father had enrolled her for temáis lessons with a local pro. The following year she started playing in tournaments, winning her first when she was ten years old. By the time she was a teenager she was a promising tennis player and her future seemed pretty clear-cut. Despite the advice of numerous tennis professionals and coaches, she decided she would not turn professional until she completed her high school. In 1984, at the age of 13, she was invited to play in a field that included tennis great Martina Navratilova. She stepped into center court and beat her opponent, Pam Teegu arden, in two sets, becoming the youngest player to appear in a professional tournament.
As an adolescent she juggled academics and tennis, managing to maintain excellent grades while earning a Top 10 Women's Tennis Association (WTA) ranking. In 1985, at age 14, Fernández became the youngest player to win a match at the U.S. Open when she defeated Sara Gomer 6-1, 6-4 in the first round, thus establishing herself as a professional while still a student. In 1989 she graduated from Carrolton High School of the Sacred Heart in Coconut Grove, Florida, with an A average.
Career
Immediately after high school graduation which she missed because she was making the semifinals of the French Open she began her professional tennis career, in January 1990, her first full year as a professional, she reached her first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open; she won her first professional titles at the Tokyo Indoor Tournament and at the Porsche Temáis Grand Prix at Filderstadt, Germany; and she reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open all of which added up to her being ranked fourth in the world of women's tennis that year. Her successes on the court were won despite the numerous injuries that sidelined her most of the year. The pace of professional tennis touring, poor nutrition, and the lack of a conditioning and fitness program were to blame for her injuries. After making the necessary adjustments she began to improve and was able to consistently defeat many of the top ten players in women's tennis. She began to vary her trademark baseline game and practiced and improved her game by successfully rushing the net more frequently.
In 1991 she won the Lipton Doubles Championship with partner Zina Garrison and in 1992 reached the finals in the Australian Open. In both 1990 and 1992 she came close to winning the Australian Open Singles title, only losing in the final rounds. Among the important highlights of her career were the medals she won at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. With partner Gigi Fernández she was able to capture the gold medal, and won the bronze for herself in singles. In addition to winning titles, she was also making over a million dollars a year in prize money and endorsements.
She also reached the winner's circle at the German Open, her first tour title in two years. She retired from tennis in 2000 and occasionally appears as an announcer at a few professional women's tournaments.
Personality
Physical Characteristics:
In 1993, when she believed she was playing the best tennis of her life and was fast closing in on the dream of winning a Grand Slam Championship, she reached but lost the French Open finals and was sidelined for medical reasons. Her recovery was slow and affected her ability to win a significant number of matches or titles. Even though her tennis was yet not on par with her past achievements, in 1996 she partnered again with Gigi Fernández, and together they won their second gold medal in tennis women's doubles at the Atlanta Olympic Games.
Since then, she has continued to be plagued with injuries, but made it to the semifinals of the 1997 Australian Open and the quarterfinals of the French Open.
Connections
On 8 April 2000 in Miami, Fernández married Anthony Lewisohn (Tony) Godsick, a sports agent with International Management Group. They have two children: Isabella Maria (born December 11, 2001) and Nicholas Cooper (born September 15, 2004). She has homes in Cleveland, Ohio, and Key Biscayne, Florida.