Carrie Cunningham (born April 28, 1972) is an American surgeon and former professional tennis player who played on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Circuit from 1987 until 1994. She has served as president of the

Association for Academic Surgery The Association for Academic Surgery is the world's largest organization dedicated exclusively to the promotion of surgical research. It has about 3,000 active and senior members. Its annual meeting is the association's main forum to communicate ...

Career singles highlights

Cunningham's career highlights include a world ranking of 32 in 1991, ending the year with a rank of 51 after reaching the third rounds of both the Australian and French Opens. Her best Grand Slam performance was attaining the 4th round (round of 16) at the 1992 US Open, losing to eventual semi-finalist

Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere Manuela Georgieva Maleeva ( bg, Мануела Георгиева Малеева; born 14 February 1967) is a Bulgarian former professional tennis player. She played on the WTA Tour between 1982 and 1994. Through her marriage, Maleeva began re ...

, 6–3, 7–5. She reached the second round in Wimbledon from 1989-1991. She also holds one Grand Slam Junior title - the US Junior Open Championship in 1988.

Doubles highlights

Cunningham was also on the doubles circuit, reaching one WTA final - the 1991

Tokyo International The Nichirei International Championships is a defunct WTA Tour affiliated professional women's tennis tournament played from 1990 to 1996. It was held in Tokyo in Japan and was played on indoor carpet courts in 1990 and on outdoor hard courts fro ...

, with doubles partner

Laura Gildemeister Laura Arraya (born 12 January 1964) is a retired Peruvian tennis player. She was also known by her married name Laura Gildemeister. Career At a young age, Argentine-born Arraya emigrated to Peru with her family and acquired Peruvian nationalit ...

, losing 6–3, 6–3 to the team of

Pam Shriver Pamela Howard Shriver (born July 4, 1962) is an American former professional tennis player and current tennis broadcaster and pundit. During the 1980s and 1990s, Shriver won 133 titles, including 21 singles titles, 111 women's doubles titles, an ...

and Mary Joe Fernandez. She does hold a USTA Girls’ 18 National Championship doubles title, when she teamed with Andrea Farley to capture the 1988 crown on clay courts.

Court habits and influence

Cunningham had a habit of sometimes grunting during her play. In fact, former world #1 Monica Seles cites Cunningham for starting her own grunting habit, after Seles lost a finals match to Cunningham in 1986. Said Seles, "it has been part of me since I was 12 when I played Carrie Cunningham in one of the finals and I started doing that. Since then, it has been always with me each year at Wimbledon."

Earnings

Cunningham's career earnings on the professional tour totaled $318,541.

Post tennis career

Cunningham pursued a career in medicine and surgery. She is on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and is an attending surgeon at the

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...

in Boston, Massachusetts. She graduated from University of Michigan and Harvard School of Public Health. As the President of the

, Cunningham advocates for heightened awareness and enhanced mental health practices among physicians, aiming to address the concerning rates of mental health issues and suicides within the profession. During her address at the Association's annual conference in 2023, she candidly shared her personal battle with depression and substance abuse as a poignant example of the need for such initiatives.

Career finals

Doubles (0–1)

References

External links

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Link to physician profile at Massachusetts General Hospital website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Carrie 1972 births Living people US Open (tennis) junior champions American female tennis players Grand Slam (tennis) champions in girls' singles Tennis players from Michigan University of Michigan alumni Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health alumni 21st-century American women physicians 21st-century American physicians