GIGI FERNANDEZ GOLF UPGRADE
GIGI FERNANDEZ GOLF PROFESSIONAL

Navratilova remembered the Open that year, as well. I thought if we didn't win, I'd be washed up at 26.' When we went to play the US Open, I had to vindicate myself because Wimbledon had been such a disaster. 'We lost in the quarters, and it was a big shock. 'She and Pam had been established partners, and I knew if we lost, it would be my fault,' Fernandez said. Seven years and one Grand Slam title later, Fernandez remembers partnering with Navratilova at Wimbledon in 1990 and feeling overwhelmed.

'They saw talent in me and gave me a scholarship, and it was the first time I ever practiced in an organized manner.'įernandez repaid Clemson by reaching the NCAA singles final, where she lost to a player then ranked 27th in the world. I was recruited to go to college with a really marginal junior career,' she said. She told herself that 'a lot of things had to fall into place. 'There wasn't a female athlete I knew about who was Hispanic in any sport.' I always talk about that, that I really didn't have role models growing up,' she said. What she did not have in tennis, however, was anyone to emulate. 'Apparently I had very good hand-eye coordination, and at 3, I was already rallying on court with a big racket,' Fernandez said. But she also possessed a God-given talent recognized at a very early age. I went through that and many others.'įernandez, a controversial figure in her homeland following her decision to represent the United States in the Olympics, reflects on a childhood in which her mother and father, a well-known physician in Puerto Rico, were able to provide her with lessons at their country club, and later, on a court built next to their home. 'When you have that much talent, you're always fighting that in a way. I always thought she could have done better because she was so talented, but who's to say? 'She was very creative on court, had all the shots. 'Gigi was extremely talented, very gifted and fun to watch,' said Navratilova, who partnered with Fernandez for the 1990 US Open title. 'I was on this little island, and they were off in the world.'įernandez, 49, voted the 10th-most-influential Hispanic female athlete in history by our blue-ribbon panel of voters, would go on to become a highly ranked singles player and one of the most successful doubles players in tennis history, winning 17 Grand Slam titles with four different partners and two Olympic gold medals with another in her 14-year Hall of Fame career. 'We didn't have tennis coverage so it was probably the first time I ever saw tennis on TV, and it was so foreign to me that I could play with them someday,' Fernandez said.

GIGI FERNANDEZ GOLF PROFESSIONAL

'It was the first time I became aware of this thing called professional tennis,' Fernandez said.įive years later, Fernandez became the first female athlete from her country to turn professional in any sport. Gigi Fernandez was 14 when she watched the 1978 Wimbledon women's singles final between Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert from her home in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

GIGI FERNANDEZ GOLF UPGRADE

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Gigi fernandez golf