Stacy Margolin (born April 5, 1959) is a former American 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 in the WTA tour and the ITF world tour from 1979 to 1987 whose career-high world singles ranking is No. 18 (career-high end of season ranking of No. 25 in 1979). In her eight professional seasons, Margolin competed in a total of twenty-five grand slam championships, which includes several appearances at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the French Open. She won a gold medal at the

1977 Maccabiah Games At the 10th Maccabiah Games in Israel, more than 2,800 athletes from 34 countries participated in 26 different sports, including chess and bridge. The opening ceremonies were held on July 12, 1977, in Ramat Gan Stadium before a crowd of 50,000 p ...

in Israel. Margolin was a talented junior player, competing in numerous national tournaments, including multiple appearances at the

Ojai Tennis Tournament The Ojai Tennis Tournament, often shortened to The Ojai, is an annual tennis tournament in Ventura County, California, headquartered at Libbey Park in downtown Ojai, about north of Los Angeles. The event, first held in 1896, is the oldest and l ...

. She played for the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

during her collegiate career and led the

Trojans Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * '' Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 189 ...

to a national championship. In her 192 career singles matches and 124 career doubles matches, Margolin won one title and has partnered with other notable players such as

John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court beha ...

and

Anne White Anne White (born September 28, 1961) is an American former professional tennis player from Charleston, West Virginia. She is most famous for wearing a white body suit at Wimbledon in 1985. Early life White attended John Adams Junior High Schoo ...

Early life

Beginning when she was 10 years old, Margolin played in numerous USTA junior tournaments, achieving a rank of No. 6 in the Under-12 division in Southern California. She was ranked No. 17 in the nation after competing in the USTA Under-14 Junior Tennis Team National Competition. In 1975, she reached the No. 1 rank in Southern California Girls Under-16 and continue to win the U.S. Under-18 Indoor Championship in 1976 and become the No. 1 Southern California Girls Under-18 and No. 5 U.S. Girls Under-18. Margolin would win the

, the country's oldest amateur tennis tournament, seven times — U14s, U16s, U18s, Doubles, Women's Open (twice), and Collegiate Division.

High school and collegiate career

Beverly Hills High School Beverly Hills High School (usually abbreviated as Beverly or as BHHS) is the only major public high school in Beverly Hills, California. The other public high school in Beverly Hills, Moreno High School, is a small alternative school located on B ...

, Margolin was not only the No. 1 women's singles player, but joined the men's varsity tennis team and became their No. 1 player as well. She would then go on to be No. 1 women's singles player at the

, where she went undefeated during her freshman and sophomore years in their dual home matches. She helped lead the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ''Trojans'', the women's athletic teams are referred ...

to a USTA (1978) and an

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...

(1979) national team title. Margolin would become a two-time Collegiate All-American during those two years. As a freshman, she would become the USTA Collegiate Singles Champion.

Professional career

In 1977, Margolin was the U.S. 21-and-Under Champion and was a member of the U.S. Team participating in the Junior Wightman Cup. She won the

in women's singles. Additionally, she was the runner-up to

Tracy Austin Tracy Ann Austin Holt (born December 12, 1962) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. She won three Grand Slam titles: the women's singles titles at the 1979 and 1981 US Opens, and the mixed doubles title at the 1980 Wimbledon ...

at Avon Futures of Portland. At the

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

— a competition for Israeli and Jewish athletes — Margolin won gold, silver (in women's singles, losing to Dana Gilbert), and bronze medals at various tennis events. She and

Peter Rennert Peter Rennert (born December 26, 1958) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. He achieved career-high rankings of World No. 40 in singles (in 1980), and World No. 8 in doubles (in 1983). At the 1977 Maccabiah Games in Isr ...

won the gold medal in mixed doubles, defeating South Africa's

Ilana Kloss Ilana Sheryl Kloss (born 22 March 1956) is a former professional tennis player, tennis coach, and commissioner of World TeamTennis from 2001-21. She was the World's No. 1 ranked doubles player in 1976, and World No. 19 in singles in 1979. She w ...

and Graham Silverman. In 1978, she was the U.S. 21-and-under Amateur Hard Court Champion as well as a U.S. Team Member in the Federation Cup held in the United Kingdom. Margolin went on to defeat

to become the Women's Southern California Sectional Champion and was the Southern California Sectional Mixed Doubles Champion with her brother, Mike Margolin. Margolin won her first and only tour championship, the 1978 WTA's Women in Tennis International Singles Champion held in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. After turning professional in 1979, she reached a career-high No. 18 world ranking and finished the 1979 season ranked No. 25. Margolin was consistently ranked in the top 40 between 1980 and 1984, and would go on to be a Wimbledon Plate quarter finalist and a semi-finalist in the Wells Fargo Open in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

. She continued to compete on the tour and participate in 25 grand slam championships, including the 1978 Wimbledon and U.S. Open mixed doubles, in which she was partnered with

. In 1988 she again won the Ojai Tennis Tournament in women's singles.

Personal life

After retiring from professional match play, Margolin earned a sociology degree from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

and a master's degree in clinical psychology from

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 th ...

. She became the Head Tennis Director of the Youth and Adult Recreation Department in Ojai, California, from 1995 to 1998. She then became a nutrition and wellness consultant/lecturer at the Weil Tennis Academy in Ojai, and was the head tennis coach of the boys and girls teams at the Thatcher School. Margolin self-published a book of poetry called ''Thoughts Allowed ... A Journey into a Woman's Mind, Heart & Soul'' in 2009. Currently, she works with her husband as a health coach in their hiking, biking, rock climbing, and tennis company, Trails by Potter.

Awards

Margolin won the Tennis Teaching Pro Outstanding Service Award from 1986 to 1989. She was inducted into the

Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, in Beverly Hills, California, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring American Jewish athletes, other sports personalities, and teams from Southern California who have distinguished themselves ...

in 2004 as well as the Beverly Hills High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009. She entered the ITA Women's Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame in 2014.

WTA Tour finals

Singles (1-0)

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...
record

Singles

The result is on the right. The final opponent is on the left.

Doubles

The result is on the right. The partner is below the result. The final opponent is on the left.

Mixed doubles