Wendy Wood-Yang (born April 20, 1964) 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.

Biography

Tennis career

A graduate of Lexington High School in Massachusetts, Wood went on to attend Houston's

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universities ...

on a scholarship. At Rice University, Wood twice earned All-American selection during her four years in collegiate tennis, finishing in 1986. Wood played on the professional tour until 1988. As a qualifier, she featured in the main draw at the 1988 Australian Open and in the first round defeated 14th seed

Dianne Balestrat 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 ...

, saving a match point along the way. The 1988 tournament saw the debut of the new venue of

Melbourne Park Melbourne Park is a sports venue in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Since 1988 Australia's bicentenary, Melbourne Park has been home of the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament played ...

and Wood's match against Balestrat was the first ever played on the center court, now known as

Rod Laver Arena Rod Laver Arena is a multipurpose arena located within Melbourne Park, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The arena is the main venue for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the calendar year. History Replacing ...

Personal life

Wood is the daughter of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher

Wilbur Wood Wilbur Forrester Wood Jr. (born October 22, 1941) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. In a 17-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he pitched for the Boston Red Sox (1961–64), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1964–65), and the Chi ...

, most known for his career at the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

. Now working in the footwear industry, Wood is the President of Performance Lifestyle Group of Deckers Brands overseeing of HOKA ONE ONE, Sanuk and Teva. She married husband Jong Yang in 1990 and has three daughters.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Wendy 1964 births Living people American female tennis players Rice Owls women's tennis players People from Lexington, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Middlesex County, Massachusetts Tennis players from Massachusetts