Erica Kathleen "Kathy" Horvath (born August 25, 1965) is an American former professional
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player. She is best known for upsetting world No. 1
Martina Navratilova in the fourth round of the
1983 French Open, delivering her only defeat for the season.
Career
She was the youngest player to play in the US Open in 1979 at 14 years and five days — this record still stands. Horvath was the youngest player to win the U.S. National 16 and under in 1979.
She also is the only player to ever win all four age groups in the U.S. Girls Clay Courts in all consecutive years.
Horvath played on the
WTA Tour
The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour.
WTA Tour tou ...
from 1981 to 1989, winning six singles titles and reaching a career-high ranking of world No. 10 in 1984.
[ She reached the quarterfinals at the French Open in 1983 and 1984. She retired with a 176–154 singles record.
Horvath was the only player to defeat Martina Navratilova in the 1983 season (at the French Open), winning in the fourth round in three sets.][ Navratilova's coaches (Renee Richards and Nancy Lieberman) argued in the stands over strategy, something Navratilova noticed during the match.]Andrea Jaeger
Andrea Jaeger ( ; born June 4, 1965) is an American former professional tennis player. A world No. 2, Jaeger's brief but highly successful tennis career ended prematurely due to major shoulder injuries. Jaeger started her professional tennis career ...
, Manuela Maleeva
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 r ...
, Gabriela Sabatini
Gabriela Beatriz Sabatini (; born 16 May 1970) is an Argentine-Italian former professional tennis player. A former world No. 3 in both singles and doubles, Sabatini was one of the leading players from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, amassing 41 ...
, Dianne Fromholtz
Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat (née Fromholtz; born 10 August 1956) is an Australian former professional tennis player who reached a highest singles ranking of world No. 4 in 1979.
Career
Fromholtz began playing tennis at the age of seven. She ...
, Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, 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 ...
, Betty Stöve
Betty Flippina Stöve (born 24 June 1945) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. She is best remembered for reaching the ladies' singles final, the ladies' doubles final and the mixed doubles final during the same year at Wimbledon in 19 ...
, and Sylvia Hanika. She was a member of the 1984 United States Fed Cup team
The United States women's national tennis team is the most successful national team in Billie Jean King Cup competition. The team has won 18 titles and finished second a further 11 times, out of 55 participations.
History
The United States won ...
. Horvath played in the 1984 Olympics when tennis was reintroduced as a demonstration sport and was the first seed. She was coached by Harry Hopman and Nick Bollettieri
Nicholas James Bollettieri (July 31, 1931 – December 4, 2022) was an American tennis coach. He pioneered the concept of a tennis boarding school, and helped develop many leading tennis players during the past decades, including Andre Agassi, ...
.
After her tennis career, she got her BS and MBA at the Wharton School of Business and then worked on Wall Street until 2003.
WTA career finals
Singles 9: (6–3)
Doubles 9: (3–6)
Grand Slam singles performance timeline
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Horvath, Kathy
1965 births
Living people
American female tennis players
French Open junior champions
Tennis players from Chicago
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in girls' singles
People from Millburn, New Jersey
21st-century American women