Sandra Birch-Krusos (born September 3, 1969) is a 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 from the United States. She is a member of the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame.

Biography

Birch, who was raised in

Huntington Bay Huntington Bay is a village in the Town of Huntington in Suffolk County, on East Neck on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 1,425 at the time of the 2010 census. History Huntington Bay incorporated ...

on Long Island, was runner-up to

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 the girls' singles at the 1987 US Open. From 1988 to 1991 she played collegiate tennis for Stanford University and was a member of the championship winning teams in each of those four seasons. She was a two-time

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

singles champion. In 1989, she beat

Jennifer Santrock Jennifer Jordan Santrock (born February 26, 1969) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. Biography Santrock was born in West Virginia and grew up in Texas, attending Plano Senior High School. Playing college tennis at Sou ...

to win her first singles championship, and she was runner-up in the doubles. Her second championship was won in 1991 as a senior, over

Lisa Albano Lisa Albano-Fu (born March 24, 1970) is an American former professional tennis player. A native of Peabody, Massachusetts, Albano attended Pingree School and was a collegiate tennis player for UC Berkeley, where she earned four All-American selec ...

in the final. While at Stanford, she won the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...

as the nation's best female tennis player in 1991. Both championship wins earned her a wildcard into the US Open main draw. She was beaten in the first round by

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 � ...

in 1989 and

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 ...

in 1991. While at Stanford, she competed in several WTA Tour professional tournaments, most notably the 1989 OTB Open held in Schenectady, where she was a singles quarterfinalist and runner-up in the doubles with

Debbie Graham Debbie Graham or Debbie Graham Shaffer (born August 25, 1970) is a retired 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 p ...

WTA Tour finals

Doubles (0-1)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Birch, Sandra 1969 births Living people American female tennis players Stanford Cardinal women's tennis players Tennis people from New York (state) Sportspeople from Suffolk County, New York 20th-century American women