Katrina Adams

Katrina M. Adams
Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Yonkers, New York, United States
Born	August 5, 1968 (age 56); Chicago, Illinois, US
Height	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Turned pro	1988
Retired	1999
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$1,294,235
Singles
Career record	182–194
Career titles	0 WTA, 1 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 67 (May 8, 1989)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	3R (1992)
French Open	1R (1988, 1989, 1992, 1996)
Wimbledon	4R (1988)
US Open	3R (1995)
Doubles
Career record	419–226
Career titles	20 WTA, 7 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 8 (August 14, 1989)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	QF (1992)
French Open	QF (1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996)
Wimbledon	SF (1988)
US Open	QF (1991, 1994)

Last updated January 05, 2025

Katrina M. Adams (born August 5, 1968) is an American tennis executive and former professional tennis player from Chicago. She was president and CEO of the United States Tennis Association and chair of the US Open, as well as the chair of the International Tennis Federation Fed Cup and Gender Equality in Tennis committees. As a player, Adams was a doubles specialist, reaching the quarterfinal stage or better at all four Grand Slams as well as achieving a career-high doubles ranking of no. 8 (August 1989). Her book, Own the Arena: Getting Ahead, Making a Difference, and Succeeding as the Only One was published in 2021.

Early life

Adams joined a tennis program on Chicago's West Side when she was six years old. She attended Whitney Young High School, becoming the Illinois High School Association’s first Chicago Public School and first African American singles champion in 1983 and 1984.^[1] While attending Northwestern University, she won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) doubles title with Diane Donnelly in 1987,^[2] and was twice voted All-American.^[3]

Results

Adams won seven of her 20 WTA doubles titles between 1987 and 1996 partnering Zina Garrison, including the 1988 World Doubles Championships.^[4]

Her best Grand Slam singles result was in the 1988 Wimbledon Championships when she reached the fourth round, losing in three sets to Chris Evert. The same year, she was Wimbledon doubles semifinalist with Zina Garrison.

Awards

Adams twice won the annual WTA Player Service Award in 1996 and 1997.

As alumni, in June 2024, Adams will be presented with an honorary degree during Northwestern’s 166th Commencement ceremony.^[5]

Post-retirement

Adams has been a television commentator for the Tennis Channel since 2003,^[6] a regular contributor to CBS Sports Network all-female sports panel We Need to Talk and is also an executive director of the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program.^[7]

In January 2015, Adams became president, chairman and CEO of the United States Tennis Association, becoming the first former professional tennis player, first African-American.^[8]

In 2016, Adams became Chairperson of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Fed Cup committee, which governs the Fed Cup.^[9]

Adams also serves on the board of directors for the International Tennis Hall of Fame.^[10]

WTA Tour finals

Singles 2 (0–2)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0/0)
WTA Championships (0/0)
Tier I (0/0)
Tier II (0/0)
Tier III (0/0)
Tier IV & V (0/2)

Result	W-L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Feb 1988	Wellington, New Zealand	Hard	Jill Hetherington	6–1, 6–1
Loss	0–2	Nov 1991	Brentwood, US	Hard (i)	Sabine Appelmans	6–2, 6–4

Doubles 36 (20–16)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0/0)
Olympic Gold (0/0)
WTA Championships (0/0)
Virginia Slims (2/0)
Tier I (1/1)
Tier II (4/5)
Tier III (6/4)
Tier IV & V (7/6)

Result	W-L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Dec 1987	Guarujá, Brazil	Hard	Cheryl Jones	Jill Hetherington Mercedes Paz	6–4, 4–6, 6–4
Win	2–0	Mar 1988	Boca Raton, US	Hard	Zina Garrison	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková	4–6, 7–5, 6–4
Loss	2–1	Apr 1988	Amelia Island, US	Clay	Penny Barg	Zina Garrison Eva Pfaff	6–4, 2–6, 6–7^(5–7)
Win	3–1	Apr 1988	Houston, US	Clay	Zina Garrison	Lori McNeil Martina Navratilova	6–7^(4–7), 6–2, 6–4
Loss	3–2	Oct 1988	Indianapolis, US	Hard (i)	Zina Garrison	Larisa Savchenko Natasha Zvereva	2–6, 1–6
Win	4–2	Nov 1988	Tokyo, Japan	Carpet (i)	Zina Garrison	Gigi Fernández Robin White	7–5, 7–5
Win	5–2	Jan 1989	Tokyo, Japan	Carpet (i)	Zina Garrison	Mary Joe Fernández Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	6–3, 3–6, 7–6^(7–5)
Win	6–2	Feb 1989	San Antonio, US	Hard	Pam Shriver	Patty Fendick Jill Hetherington	3–6, 6–1, 6–4
Win	7–2	Apr 1989	Houston, US	Clay	Zina Garrison	Gigi Fernández Lori McNeil	6–3, 6–4
Win	8–2	May 1989	Geneva, Switzerland	Clay	Lori McNeil	Larisa Savchenko Natalia Zvereva	2–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win	9–2	Jun 1989	Eastbourne, UK	Grass	Zina Garrison	Jana Novotná Helena Suková	6–3 ret.
Win	10–2	Oct 1989	Brighton, UK	Carpet	Lori McNeil	Hana Mandlíková Jana Novotná	4–6, 7–6^(9–7), 6–4
Win	11–2	Oct 1989	Indianapolis, US	Hard (i)	Lori McNeil	Claudia Porwik Larisa Savchenko	6–4, 6–4
Loss	11–3	Nov 1990	Indianapolis, US	Hard (i)	Jill Hetherington	Patty Fendick Meredith McGrath	1–6, 1–6
Loss	11–4	Feb 1991	Oklahoma City, US	Hard (i)	Jill Hetherington	Meredith McGrath Anne Smith	2–6, 4–6
Loss	11–5	Jul 1991	Westchester, US	Hard	Lori McNeil	Rosalyn Fairbank Lise Gregory	5–7, 4–6
Win	12–5	Aug 1991	Albuquerque, US	Hard	Isabelle Demongeot	Lise Gregory Peanut Louie Harper	6–7^(2–7), 6–4, 6–3
Loss	12–6	Nov 1991	Indianapolis, US	Hard (i)	Mercedes Paz	Patty Fendick Gigi Fernández	4–6, 2–6
Loss	12–7	Feb 1992	Chicago, US	Carpet	Zina Garrison	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	4–6, 6–7^(7–9)
Loss	12–8	Feb 1992	Oklahoma City, US	Hard (i)	Manon Bollegraf	Lori McNeil Nicole Provis	6–3, 4–6, 6–7^(6–8)
Win	13–8	Nov 1992	Indianapolis, US	Hard (i)	Elna Reinach	Sandy Collins Mary-Lou Daniels	5–7, 6–2, 6–4
Win	14–8	Feb 1993	Chicago, US	Carpet	Zina Garrison	Amy Frazier Kimberly Po	7–6^(9–7), 6–3
Loss	14–9	Feb 1993	Oklahoma City, US	Hard (i)	Manon Bollegraf	Patty Fendick Zina Garrison	3–6, 2–6
Win	15–9	Mar 1993	Houston, US	Clay	Manon Bollegraf	Eugenia Maniokova Radomira Zrubáková	6–3, 5–7, 7–6^(9–7)
Loss	15–10	Mar 1993	Hilton Head, US	Clay	Manon Bollegraf	Gigi Fernández Natalia Zvereva	3–6, 1–6
Win	16–10	Nov 1993	Quebec City, Canada	Hard (i)	Manon Bollegraf	Katerina Maleeva Nathalie Tauziat	6–4, 6–4
Win	17–10	Nov 1993	Philadelphia, US	Carpet	Manon Bollegraf	Conchita Martínez Larisa Neiland	6–2, 4–6, 7–6^(9–7)
Loss	17–11	Feb 1994	Oklahoma City, US	Hard (i)	Manon Bollegraf	Patty Fendick Meredith McGrath	6–7^(3–7), 2–6
Loss	17–12	Mar 1994	Houston, US	Clay	Zina Garrison	Manon Bollegraf Martina Navratilova	4–6, 2–6
Loss	17–13	Feb 1995	Oklahoma City, US	Hard (i)	Brenda Schultz	Nicole Arendt Laura Golarsa	4–6, 3–6
Loss	17–14	Oct 1995	Oakland, US	Carpet	Zina Garrison	Lori McNeil Helena Suková	6–3, 4–6, 3–6
Loss	17–15	Feb 1996	Oklahoma City, US	Hard (i)	Debbie Graham	Chanda Rubin Brenda Schultz-McCarthy	4–6, 3–6
Win	18–15	May 1996	Budapest, Hungary	Clay	Debbie Graham	Radka Bobková Eva Melicharová	6–3, 7–6^(7–3)
Win	19–15	May 1996	Cardiff, UK	Clay	Mariaan de Swardt	Els Callens Laurence Courtois	6–0, 6–4
Win	20–15	Jun 1997	Birmingham, UK	Grass	Larisa Neiland	Nathalie Tauziat Linda Wild	6–2, 6–3
Loss	20–16	Jan 1998	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Meredith McGrath	Martina Hingis Helena Suková	1–6, 2–6

ITF finals

Singles (1–1)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	August 3, 1987	Lebanon, United States	Hard	Shaun Stafford	6–3, 1–6, 3–6
Win	2.	January 21, 1991	New Braunfels, United States	Hard	María Luciana Reynares	7–6⁽⁷⁾, 2–6, 6–2

Doubles (8–3)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1.	June 30, 1986	Tampa, United States	Clay	Heliane Steden	Brenda Niemeyer Karen Schimper	4–6, 6–1, 6–3
Win	2.	July 14, 1986	Midland, United States	Clay	Sonia Hahn	Alison Scott Ruth Seeman	2–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win	3.	January 5, 1987	Chicago, United States	Hard	Diane Donnelly	Mary Lou Daniels Yvonne Vermaak	6–4, 6–3
Loss	4.	June 15, 1987	Birmingham, United States	Hard	Sonia Hahn	Ingelise Driehuis Lise Gregory	6–7⁽⁰⁾, 6–4, 6–2
Win	5.	July 20, 1987	Philadelphia, United States	Hard	Ingelise Driehuis	Kathy Foxworth Tammy Whittington	6–3, 6–4
Win	6.	July 27, 1987	Chatham, United States	Hard	Diane Donnelly	Jennifer Fuchs Robyn Lamb	7–5, 6–3
Win	7.	September 24, 1990	Chicago, United States	Hard	Lynn Nabors	Jill Hetherington Mary Lou Daniels	6–4, 6–4
Loss	8.	January 28, 1991	Midland, United States	Hard	Helen Kelesi	Meredith McGrath Anne Smith	5–7, 5–7
Win	9.	September 23, 1991	Chicago, United States	Hard	Mary Lou Daniels	Beverly Bowes-Hackney Cammy Macgregor	6–4, 6–3
Loss	10.	February 12, 1996	Midland, United States	Hard	Debbie Graham	Angela Lettiere Corina Morariu	6–7, 6–7
Win	11.	October 7, 1996	Sedona, United States	Hard	Debbie Graham	Angela Lettiere Shannan McCarthy	6–4, 6–1

Performance timelines

Key
W	F	SF	QF	#R	RR	Q#	DNQ	A	NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles

Tournament	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	1R	2R	1R	A	3R	Q2	Q1	Q1	A	1R	4–8
French Open	A	1R	1R	Q2	Q2	1R	Q1	Q3	A	1R	Q1	4–9
Wimbledon	A	4R	3R	1R	Q2	2R	Q1	1R	1R	2R	Q2	18–10
US Open	Q2	1R	1R	1R	Q3	A	1R	1R	3R	1R	Q3	7–10

Doubles

Tournament	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	3R	3R	3R	A	QF	3R	2R	1R	A	2R	1R	1R	13–10
French Open	A	A	QF	QF	3R	3R	QF	QF	1R	QF	QF	2R	3R	1R	25–12
Wimbledon	A	A	SF	QF	3R	QF	3R	1R	2R	3R	QF	3R	3R	1R	23–12
US Open	1R	1R	2R	3R	3R	QF	A	3R	QF	3R	2R	3R	2R	1R	19–13

Related Research Articles

Beatriz "Gigi" Fernández is a Puerto Rican-American former professional tennis player. Fernández won 17 major doubles titles and two Olympic gold medals representing the United States, and reached the world No. 1 ranking in doubles. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 17 in 1991. Since retiring from the professional tour in 1997 at the age of 33, Fernández has been a tennis coach and entrepreneur. She now shares her knowledge of doubles with tennis enthusiasts throughout the US by conducting Master Doubles with Gigi Clinics and Doubles Boot Camps. Fernández is the first Puerto Rican to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Zina Lynna Garrison is an American former professional tennis player. Garrison was the runner-up in singles at the 1990 Wimbledon Championships, a three-time major mixed doubles champion, and an Olympic gold and bronze medalist from the women's doubles and singles events, respectively, at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4, on 20 November 1989.

Chanda Rubin is an American former top-10 professional tennis player. During her career, she reached the semifinals at the 1996 Australian Open, the quarterfinals of the French Open three times, and had wins over world No. 1s Serena Williams and Martina Hingis. In doubles, she won the 1996 Australian Open with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and alongside Sandrine Testud, were runners-up at the 1999 US Open.

Helena Suková is a Czech former professional tennis player. During her career, she won 14 major doubles titles, nine in women's doubles and five in mixed doubles. She is also a two-time Olympic silver medalist in doubles, a four-time major singles runner-up, and she won a total of ten singles titles and 69 doubles titles.

Françoise Dürr is a retired French tennis player. She won 50 singles titles and over 60 doubles titles.

Lisa Raymond is an American former professional tennis player who has achieved notable success in doubles tennis. Raymond has eleven major titles to her name: six in women's doubles and five in mixed doubles. On June 12, 2000, she reached the world No. 1 ranking in doubles for the first time, becoming the 13th player to reach the milestone. Raymond was ranked No. 1 on five separate occasions in her career over a combined total of 137 weeks and finished as the year-end No. 1 doubles player in both 2001 and 2006. She currently holds the record of most doubles match wins (860) and most doubles matches played (1,206) in WTA history, and earned more than $10 million in prize money in her career.

Amy Frazier is a former professional tennis player from the United States. She won eight singles and four doubles titles on the WTA Tour. On February 27, 1995, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of No. 13, while on March 29, 1993, she achieved a career-high doubles ranking of No. 24.

Jane Bartkowicz, known during her career as Peaches Bartkowicz, is a former top tennis player from the United States in the 1960s.

Kathy Rinaldi-Stunkel is an American former professional tennis player, who retired in September 1997. In her career she won three singles and two doubles titles on the WTA Tour, and reached the semifinals of the 1985 Wimbledon Championships.

Olga Mykolayivna Savchuk is a retired tennis player from Ukraine. Savchuk grew up in the city of Makiyivka in Donetsk province. She resides in Nassau, Bahamas.

Lori McNeil is an American tennis coach and former top 10 player. McNeil was a singles semifinalist at the US Open in 1987 and Wimbledon in 1994, a women's doubles finalist at the Australian Open in 1987 with Zina Garrison and French Open mixed-doubles winner in 1988 with Jorge Lozano.

Meredith McGrath is a former professional tennis player.

Katarzyna Piter is a Polish professional tennis player.

Mareen "Peanut" Louie-Harper is a retired American tennis player, born in San Francisco, California to Ron and Alice Louie.

Taylor Townsend is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as No. 46 in singles by the WTA on 19 August 2024, and in doubles as No. 5 on 12 June 2023. Townsend won her first Grand Slam title at the 2024 Wimbledon with Kateřina Siniaková. In addition, she has won six WTA Tour doubles titles and also reached two other major finals, the 2022 US Open and the 2023 French Open.

Vera Valeryevna Lapko is a Belarusian former professional tennis player.

Natela Georgiyevna Dzalamidze is a Russian-born Georgian tennis player.

Jamie Loeb is an American tennis player.

Usue Maitane Arconada is an American tennis player born in Argentina. As a junior she won the 2016 Wimbledon girls' doubles title. During her professional career Arconada has won five singles and seven doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit.

Robin Montgomery is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA singles ranking of world No. 105, attained on 26 August 2024, and a best doubles ranking of No. 119, achieved on 11 September 2023. She won the girls' singles and girls' doubles titles at the 2021 US Open. She has won three singles and four doubles titles on the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour.

References

↑ "Girls Tennis Individual Champions". Records & History. Illinois High School Association. September 17, 2019. singles. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
↑ "Katrina Adams". ITA Women's Hall of Fame. College of William and Mary. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
↑ "Tennis: A Great Match for Katrina Adams". Northwestern Magazine. Northwestern University. Winter 2004. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
↑ Katrina Adams at the International Tennis Federation Retrieved July 28, 2008
↑ "Four distinguished alumni will receive honorary degrees". news.northwestern.edu. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
↑ "Katrina Adams". Programs. Tennis Channel. Archived from the original on July 20, 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
↑ "News You Can Use". Pro Tennis. United States Tennis Association. October 25, 2006. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
↑ "USTA CHAIRMAN, CEO AND PRESIDENT KATRINA M. ADAMS". USTA. January 1, 2017.
↑ "FED CUP COMMITTEE". Fed Cup. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
↑ "Leadership". International Tennis Hall of Fame. Retrieved January 26, 2018.

External links

Katrina Adams at the Women's Tennis Association
Katrina Adams at the International Tennis Federation

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Girls Tennis Individual Champions". Records & History. Illinois High School Association. September 17, 2019. singles. Retrieved January 3, 2020.

[2] "Katrina Adams". ITA Women's Hall of Fame. College of William and Mary. Retrieved January 3, 2020.

[3] "Tennis: A Great Match for Katrina Adams". Northwestern Magazine. Northwestern University. Winter 2004. Retrieved July 28, 2008.

[4] Katrina Adams at the International Tennis Federation Retrieved July 28, 2008

[5] "Four distinguished alumni will receive honorary degrees". news.northwestern.edu. Retrieved March 5, 2024.

[6] "Katrina Adams". Programs. Tennis Channel. Archived from the original on July 20, 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2008.

[7] "News You Can Use". Pro Tennis. United States Tennis Association. October 25, 2006. Retrieved July 28, 2008.

[8] "USTA CHAIRMAN, CEO AND PRESIDENT KATRINA M. ADAMS". USTA. January 1, 2017.

[9] "FED CUP COMMITTEE". Fed Cup. Retrieved January 26, 2018.

[10] "Leadership". International Tennis Hall of Fame. Retrieved January 26, 2018.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]