# Meredith McGrath

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. | 18 July 1988 | Fayetteville, United States | Hard | Tammy Whittington | 6–0, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 6 February 1989 | Midland, United States | Hard | Shaun Stafford | 3–6, 3–6 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 28 January 1991 | Midland, United States | Hard | Helen Kelesi | 2–6, 2–6 |
| Runner-up | 4. | 6 February 1994 | 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. | 6 February 1989 | Midland, United States | Hard | Shaun Stafford | Kim Il-soon Lee Jeong-myung | 6–2, 2–6, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 28 January 1991 | 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. | 1 February 1993 | Midland, United States | Hard | Patty Fendick | Jean Ceniza Caroline Delisle | 7–6$^{(5)}$, 6–2 |
| Runner-up | 5. | 27 October 1997 | Austin, United States | Hard | Debbie Graham | Park Sung-hee Miho Saeki | 4–6, 7–5, 2–6 |

## Grand Slam doubles performance timeline

Key :
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| Tournament | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | SR | W–L |
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | F | 3R | SF | A | 1R | 0 / 4 | 11–4 |
| French Open | A | A | A | QF | A | 1R | 3R | 3R | SF | A | A | 0 / 5 | 11–5 |
| Wimbledon | A | 1R | 2R | A | A | 2R | 3R | SF | 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 |