Sarah Elizabeth Fitz-Gerald AM (born 1 December 1968) is an Australian women's

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

player who won five World Open titles – 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2002. She ranks alongside Janet Morgan, Nicol David, Susan Devoy,

Michelle Martin Michelle Susan Martin, OAM (born 29 April 1967) is an Australian former professional squash player who was one of the game's leading players in the 1990s. She was ranked number one in the world from 1993 to 1996 and again in 1998 and 1999, a ...

and Heather McKay as the sport's greatest female players of all time.

Career

Fitz-Gerald was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia, a hotspot for squash talent. In 1987, she won the female World Junior Championship and was the Australian Junior Female Athlete of the Year. It was also during this year that she represented Australia at the

1987 Women's World Team Squash Championships The 1987 Women's Honda World Team Squash Championships were held in Auckland, New Zealand and took place from October 7 until October 14, 1987. Seeds Results First round Pool A Pool B Semi finals Third Place Play Off Fina ...

finishing runner-up to England. In 1992 she was selected once again to represent Australia in the

1992 Women's World Team Squash Championships The 1992 Women's Silver Unicorn World Team Squash Championships were held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and took place from October 12 until October 17, 1992. Results First round Pool A Pool B Pool C Pool C Qu ...

and this time Australia became the world champions. Remarkably Fitzgerald would go on to win a total of seven World Team Championships. She won numerous titles in the early 1990s, but 1996 proved to be her breakthrough year. She beat

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Cassie Jackman Cassandra "Cassie" Jackman (born 22 December 1972 and competing in some years as Cassie Campion) is a former English squash player who won the World Open in 1999. She was England's leading player throughout much of the 1990s and early 21st ce ...

in the World Open Final. The next two years she beat the resurgent

in successive finals. The next two years did not bring the same level of success, owing largely to knee surgery. In 2000, she lost an epic semi-final against Carol Owens. However, she came back in 2001 to beat

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

's Leilani Joyce emphatically 9–0, 9–3, 9–2. 2002 saw her win her last World Open, beating Natalie Pohrer 10–8, 9–3, 7–9, 9–7. She also won a gold medal at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. In January 2004, Fitz-Gerald was awarded the

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Order (distinction), honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of Australia, Queen of Aus ...

(AM) for her achievements and services to women's squash, and the promotion of

sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

and a healthy

lifestyle Lifestyle often refers to: * Lifestyle (sociology), the way a person lives * ''Otium'', ancient Roman concept of a lifestyle * Style of life (german: Lebensstil, link=no), dealing with the dynamics of personality Lifestyle may also refer to: Bu ...

. She was Chairwoman and President of the Women's International Squash Players Association from 1991 to 2002. In 2010, she was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser th ...

. In 2010, she came out of retirement to be part of the Australian team that won the gold medal at the 2010 Women's World Team Squash Championships. In 2018, she won her fourth

World Masters The World Masters, known for sponsorship reasons as the Mita/Sky World Masters, was a snooker tournament held between 13 and 26 January 1991. Conceived by promoter Barry Hearn, the tournament had a similar format to the Grand Slam events in tenn ...

title.

Career statistics

Professional Tour Titles (60)

All Results for Sarah Fitzgerald in WISPA World's Tour tournament

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitz-Gerald, Sarah 1968 births Living people Australian female squash players Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in squash Squash players at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Squash players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games World Games gold medalists Competitors at the 1997 World Games Members of the Order of Australia Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees People educated at MacGregor State High School Sportspeople from Melbourne Sportswomen from Victoria (Australia) People educated at Star of the Sea College, Melbourne

Career

Career statistics

Professional Tour Titles (60)

See also

References

External links