Former Tennis Player Fernandez To Be Inducted Into ITA Women’s Hall Of Fame

Sept. 18, 2008

WILLIAMSBURG, VA – Doubles legend Gigi Fernandez, an All-American in her freshman year at Clemson University, will be among this year’s inductees to the ITA Women’s Hall of Fame in an event that will take place on the College of William and Mary campus, on Friday, September 19.

Beatriz “Gigi” Fernandez won 17 Grand Slam doubles titles and two Olympic gold medals during her pro career from 1983 to 1997. Recruited to Clemson from her native Puerto Rico, she reached the national intercollegiate singles finals in her freshman year and then joined the professional circuit. She captured 69 doubles titles overall, and reached as high as No. 17 in the singles rankings.

After retiring from the tour, Fernandez went on to earn her B.A. with honors from the University of South Florida in 2003. She also coached the USF women’s tennis team from 2002-05, taking the unranked team to a Top 30 ranking. Dedicated to developing Puerto Rican tennis, Fernandez worked with the island’s Fed Cup and Olympic teams, and in 1999 was named Puerto Rico’s Female Athlete of the Century. She is currently enrolled in the M.B.A. program at Rollins College.

She was inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005.

Also honored at the ceremony, which is scheduled to start at 7:30 at the Sadler Center on William and Mary’s campus, will be Janice Metcalf Cromer of the University of Redlands, winner of the women’s intercollegiate singles title in 1972 and ’73; Alice Tym of the University of Miami, an internationally ranked player in the 1960s and head coach at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and Yale University; and Wendy White Prausa of Rollins College, a 12-year touring pro and intercollegiate champion in 1980.

Career Highlights o U.S. Collegiate Singles Finalist 1983 o Clemson University freshman season: 40-7 record in singles; 30-9 in doubles o Professional Tour Player 1983-1997: 17 Grand Slam titles; 664-184 career record in doubles; 270-232 in singles o Silver Medalist in Singles and Doubles, Pan American Games 1983 o Member, Puerto Rican Olympic Team 1984 (exhibition tennis) o Olympic Gold Medalist in Doubles 1992, 1996 o Australian Open Doubles Champion 1993-94; Finalist 1991, 1995; Mixed Doubles Finalist 1995 o French Open Doubles Champion 1991-95, 1997; Finalist 1996 o Wimbledon Doubles Champion 1992-94, 1997; Finalist 1991, 1995; Mixed Doubles Finalist 1995 o U.S. Open Doubles Champion 1988, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996; Finalist 1997; Mixed Doubles Finalist 1995 o Wimbledon Singles Semifinalist 1994 o U.S. Open Singles Quarterfinalist 1991, 1994 o 69 WTA Doubles Titles; 2 WTA Singles Titles o Member, WTA Doubles Team of the Year 1991-93, 1994, 1995, 1997 o Member, U.S. Wightman Cup Team 1987-1992 o Member, U.S. Federation Cup Team 1990 (champions) 1991-92, 1994-97 o Personal Best Award Clairol 1991 (given to U.S. Olympian who most exemplifies achievement beyond the field of sport) o Named Puerto Rico’s Female Athlete of the Century 1999 o B.A., University of South Florida (with honors) 2003; current M.B.A. candidate, Rollins College o Head Women’s Tennis Coach at USF 2002-05; guided the unranked team to a Top 30 ranking o Puerto Rico Coach of the Year 2003 o Coach and Manager for Vilmarie Castellvi (University of Tennessee) 2003-present o WTA Professional Coach for No. 1 Doubles Team Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur 2005-06 o Inducted into the Clemson University Athletic Hall of Fame 2005 o Inducted into the Puerto Rico Sports Hall of Fame 2007 o Businesswoman, venture capitalist, real estate investor 1998-present o President, Gigi Fernandez Charitable Foundation 1992-present