Ginger Helgeson (born September 14, 1968) is a former American professional tennis player, who is considered to be perhaps the greatest player ever to come out of

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. She reached her highest singles ranking on January 2, 1995, when she became the No. 29 in the world. In doubles, she reached No. 38 in the same year, on January 9.

Tennis career

Helgeson-Nielsen was born in

St. Cloud, Minnesota St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 68,881 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's 12th-largest city. St. Cloud is the county seat of Stear ...

, before moving to

Edina EDINA is a centre for digital expertise, based at the University of Edinburgh as a division of the Information Services Group. Services EDINA front-end services (those accessed directly by the user) are available free at the point of use for ...

after seventh grade. She was coached by her brother, Brace, throughout juniors and high school. She attended

Edina High School Edina High School is a four-year public high school located in Edina, Minnesota, United States, a suburb of Minneapolis. The current student population is 2,683. Edina High School was ranked as 486th best public high school in the United States a ...

and became a three-time consecutive Minnesota state singles champion, and was ranked No. 1 by the

USTA The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...

Northern at all levels. Helgeson-Nielsen then received a scholarship to attend

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and t ...

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malibu ...

. Whilst there, she was a four-year letter winner and a three-time All American, and holds the all-time best career winning percentage. She played professionally from 1987, spending her first few years on the

ITF Women's Circuit The ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, previously known as the ITF Women's Circuit, is a series of professional tennis tournaments run by the International Tennis Federation for female professional tennis players. History It serves as a developmental ...

. Her best season was in 1994, winning her first WTA title in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

and reaching the fourth round of the Australian and U.S. Opens. At the latter event, she beat reigning Wimbledon champion

Conchita Martínez "Conchita" Martínez Bernat (born 16 April 1972) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. She was the first Spaniard to win the women's singles title at The Championships, Wimbledon, Wimbledon, doing so in 1994 Wimbledon Championships � ...

for her biggest career victory. Her ranking hit the top 30 as a result of her breakthrough season. She reached the final of Auckland again in 1995, but a serious wrist injury at a tournament in

Amelia Island Amelia Island is a part of the Sea Islands chain that stretches along the East Coast of the United States from South Carolina to Florida; it is the southernmost of the Sea Islands, and the northernmost of the barrier islands on Florida's Atlantic ...

put her out for the rest of the 1995 season. She returned in March 1996, but wasn't able to make it back into the top 100 in singles. She played her last match at the US Open qualifying tournament in 1998, where she reached the second round. In addition to her win over Martínez, she also recorded victories over

Helena Suková Helena Suková () (born 23 February 1965) 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 doub ...

Mary Joe Fernández Mary Joe Fernández Godsick (born María José Fernández; August 19, 1971) is an American former professional tennis player, who reached a career-high ranking of world No. 4 in both singles and doubles. In singles, Fernández was the runner-up ...

Gigi Fernández Beatriz "Gigi" Fernández (born February 22, 1964) is a Puerto Rican 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 do ...

Anke Huber Anke Huber (born 4 December 1974) is a German retired top-five professional tennis player. She was the runner-up in women's singles at the 1996 Australian Open – Women's singles, 1996 Australian Open and the 1995 WTA Tour Championships, 1995 W ...

Lori McNeil Lori McNeil (born December 18, 1963) is an American tennis coach and former top 10 professional tennis 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 ...

Sabine Appelmans Sabine Appelmans (born 22 April 1972) is a former professional tennis player from Belgium. She was Belgium's Fed Cup captain from 2007 until 2011. Career Appelmans started playing at the neighbour's court at the age of seven. Her first traine ...

Sabine Hack Sabine Hack (; born 12 July 1969) is a former professional tennis player from Germany. She began her career on the WTA Tour in 1983. She won four singles and one doubles titles in her career. Her best Grand Slam performance was reaching the quar ...

and

Natasha Zvereva Natallia Marataŭna Zvierava ( be, Наталля Маратаўна Зверава; russian: Наталья Маратовна Зверева, Natalia Maratovna Zvereva; born 16 April 1971) is a former professional tennis player from Belarus. ...

. In 2009, she was inducted into the USTA Northern Hall of Fame, having already been inducted into the Pepperdine Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008. Helgeson-Nielsen now lives in

Alpine, California Alpine is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Cuyamaca Mountains of San Diego County, California. Alpine had a population of 14,696 at the 2020 census, up from 14,236 at the 2010 census. The town is largely surrounded by the Cleveland National ...

, with her two boys. She runs her own professional tennis instruction business.

WTA career finals

Singles: 1 title, 1 runner-up

Doubles: 2 runner-ups

Best Grand Slam results details

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Helgeson-Nielsen, Ginger 1968 births American female tennis players American people of Danish descent Sportspeople from Edina, Minnesota People from Alpine, California Sportspeople from St. Cloud, Minnesota Pepperdine Waves women's tennis players Tennis players from California Tennis players from Minnesota Living people Edina High School alumni