Kathy Rinaldi-Stunkel (born March 24, 1967) is a former professional American

tennis player 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 cove ...

, who retired in September 1997. In her career, she won three singles and two doubles titles 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 tourna ...

, and reached the semifinals of the

1985 Wimbledon Championships The 1985 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 99th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held from ...

Career

Rinaldi reached her highest career ranking on May 26, 1986, when she was ranked world No. 7. The recipient of WTA Most Impressive Newcomer Award in 1981 and WTA Comeback Player of the Year Award in 1989, she had career wins over top players such as

Steffi Graf Stefanie Maria Graf ( , ; born 14 June 1969) is a German former professional tennis player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 for a record 377 weeks and won 22 major singles titles, ...

Jana Novotná Jana Novotná (; 2 October 1968 – 19 November 2017) was a Czech professional tennis player. She played a serve and volley game, an increasingly rare style of play among women during her career. Novotná won the women's singles title at Wimbled ...

Sue Barker Sue or SUE may refer to: Music * Sue Records, an American record label * ''Sue'' (album), an album by Frazier Chorus * "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)", a song by David Bowie Places * Sue Islet (Queensland), one of the Torres Straits island ...

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 ...

Hana Mandlíková Hana Mandlíková (born 19 February 1962) is a former professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia who later obtained Australian citizenship. During her career she won four Grand Slam singles titles - the 1980 Australian Open, 1981 French Op ...

Wendy Turnbull Wendy Turnbull, , (born 26 November 1952) is a retired tennis player from Australia. During her career, she won nine Grand Slam titles, four of them in women's doubles and five of them in mixed doubles. She also was a three-time Grand Slam runn ...

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 re ...

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 ...

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 ...

Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Claudia Kohde-Kilsch (''née'' Kohde; born 11 December 1963) is a former German tennis player and member of the Die Linke. During her tennis career, she won two women's doubles Grand Slam titles. She also won eight singles titles and a total of ...

Zina Garrison Zina Lynna Garrison (born November 16, 1963) 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 m ...

Sylvia Hanika Sylvia Hanika (born 30 November 1959) is a former professional tennis player from Germany. She is best remembered for finishing runner-up at the French Open in 1981, and for winning the Year End Championships in 1982. She was ranked as high as N ...

Kathy Jordan Kathryn "Kathy" Jordan (born December 3, 1959) is a former American tennis player. During her career, she won seven Grand Slam titles, five of them in women's doubles and two in mixed doubles. She also was the 1983 Australian Open women's single ...

Jo Durie Joanna Mary Durie (born 27 July 1960) is a former world No. 5 tennis player from the United Kingdom. During her career, she also reached No. 9 in doubles, and won two Grand Slam titles, both in the mixed doubles with Jeremy Bates. Born in Bris ...

, 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. ...

. Rinaldi was the youngest player to win a match at Wimbledon (14 years, 91 days) in 1981, a record that stood until 1990. After the

1987 French Open The 1987 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament was held from 25 May until 7 June. It was the 91st staging of the French Open, and the second Gran ...

, she suffered a freak injury in Monte Carlo, slipping on stairs, and in trying to catch herself, fracturing her right thumb. This injury sidelined her for rest of the year. She was a member of the US

Wightman Cup The Wightman Cup was an annual team tennis competition for women contested from 1923 through 1989 (except during World War II) between teams from the United States and Great Britain. History U.S. player Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman wanted to generate ...

Team in 1983, 1985, and 1986.

Fed Cup

In December 2016, Rinaldi was appointed as the captain of the

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 ...

, succeeding

Mary Joe Fernandez Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

. In her first year as Fed Cup captain, the U.S. won the

2017 Fed Cup The 2017 Fed Cup was the 55th edition of the most important tournament between national teams in women's tennis. The final took place on 11–12 November and was won by the United States . World Group Seeds Draw Final Belarus v ...

Family

Rinaldi married Brad Stunkel, her high school sweetheart, on December 11, 1993, and adopted his surname. She gave birth to a son, Bradley Benton Stunkel Jr., on February 8, 1995. The family currently resides in

Palm City, Florida Palm City is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Martin County, Florida, United States. The population was 25,883 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Port St. Lucie Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Palm City is i ...

Awards and recognitions

* 1981: WTA Most Impressive Newcomer of the Year * 1989: WTA Comeback of the Year

WTA career finals

Singles: 7 (3–4)

Doubles: 12 (2–10)

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rinaldi, Kathy 1967 births Living people American female tennis players American people of Italian descent People from Palm City, Florida Tennis people from Florida 21st-century American women