Kathryn "Kathy" Jordan (born December 3, 1959) is a former American

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 cov ...

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 singles runner-up and won three singles titles and 42 doubles titles.

College

She received an athletic scholarship to

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

in 1978. While at Stanford, she won the 1979 AIAW Championships in singles and in doubles with her sister

Barbara Jordan Barbara Charline Jordan (February 21, 1936 – January 17, 1996) was an American lawyer, educator, and politician. A Democrat, she was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction and the first Southern African-A ...

. in 1979, she won the Broderick Award (now 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 best female collegiate player.

Career

Jordan turned professional in 1979. Her best performance in a Grand Slam singles tournament was runner-up at the 1983

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Ope ...

, where she lost to

Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova ( cs, Martina Navrátilová ; ; born October 18, 1956) is a Czech–American, former professional tennis player. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Navratilova won 18 major singles titles, 31 maj ...

in straight sets.. She was the first player to defeat

Chris Evert Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954), known as Chris Evert Lloyd from 1979 to 1987, is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. Evert won 18 major singles titles, including a record seven French Open titles and a joint-record ...

before the semifinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament. Jordan defeated Evert 6–1, 7–6 in the third round of Wimbledon in 1983 after Evert had reached at least the semifinals of her first 34 Grand Slam singles tournaments. In women's doubles, Jordan won five Grand Slam titles, four of which were in partnership with Anne Smith. She also won a career Grand Slam in women's doubles, winning the 1980

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ve ...

, 1980 and 1985 Wimbledon, 1981 US Open, and 1981

. In the Wimbledon final on July 6, 1985, Jordan and

Elizabeth Smylie Elizabeth Smylie (née Sayers, born 11 April 1963), sometimes known as Liz Smylie, is a retired Australian tennis player. During her career, she won four Grand Slam titles, one of them in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles. She also w ...

teamed to snap the 109-match winning streak of Navratilova and

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 ...

by defeating them in three sets. In mixed doubles, Jordan won two Grand Slam titles, 1986 French Open and 1986 Wimbledon, both of which were in partnership with

Ken Flach Kenneth Eliot Flach (May 24, 1963 – March 12, 2018) was an American doubles world No. 1 tennis player. He won four Grand Slam men's doubles titles (two Wimbledon and two US Open), and two mixed doubles titles (Wimbledon and the French Ope ...

. Jordan retired in 1991. Her highest singles rank was world number five in 1984 and her highest doubles rank was world number 6 in 1991. She won several awards during her career, including 1979 WTA Most Impressive Newcomer Award, 1980 WTA Doubles Team of the Year Award with Smith, 1984 WTA Most Improved Player of the Year Award, and 1991 WTA Player Service Award After retiring, Jordan returned to Stanford University and received a B.A. in political science in 1991. She was elected vice-president of the WTA in 1992. She also served as chairperson of the WTA Drug Testing Committee and served on WTA executive, deferred compensation, finance/marketing, and insurance committees through 1992. In 2002, Jordan was presented with a Mentor Award by

, on behalf of the WTA Tour, in recognition of her contribution to the Partners for Success program and to the sport of tennis at large.

Personal life

Jordan was one of the top juniors during the 1970s. She also was a top high school basketball player, being named to the All-Conference basketball team while at

Upper Merion Area High School Upper Merion Area High School is a comprehensive public high school, operated by the Upper Merion Area School District, in the King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, King of Prussia census-designated place, in Upper Merion Township, Pennsylvania, in the ...

in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Her sister won the 1979

women's singles title. Her father, Bob Jordan, was instrumental in the development of the WTA

deferred compensation Deferred compensation is an arrangement in which a portion of an employee's income is paid out at a later date after which the income was earned. Examples of deferred compensation include pensions, retirement plans, and employee stock options. The ...

plan. Now, Jordan lives in Palo Alto, California.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner–up)

Women's doubles: 11 (5 titles, 6 runners-up)

Mixed doubles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner–up)

Year-end championships finals

Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner–up)

WTA career finals

Singles 13 (3–10)

Doubles 78 (42–36)

Grand Slam performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

Mixed doubles

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Kathy 1959 births Living people American female tennis players People from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania People from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Stanford Cardinal women's tennis players Tennis people from Pennsylvania Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Wimbledon champions US Open (tennis) champions Australian Open (tennis) champions French Open champions