Fernández
first came to the tennis world's attention as an outstanding
junior player who won four straight Orange Bowl junior titles.
In 1985, aged 14 years and 8 days, Fernández became
the youngest player to win a main draw match at the U.S.
Open when she defeated Sara Gomer in the first round.
Fernández turned professional in 1986. She won her
first tour doubles title in 1989 at Dallas, partnering with
Betsy Nagelsen. Her first top-level singles title came in
1990 at the Tokyo Indoor championships.
Fernández reached her first Grand
Slam singles final in 1990 at the Australian
Open, where she was defeated 6-3, 6-4 by
Steffi Graf. She finished 1990 ranked a
career-high World No. 4 in singles.
In 1991, Fernández teamed with Patty Fendick to
win the women's doubles title at the Australian Open. Fernández
was back in the Australian Open singles final in 1992. This
time, she lost to Monica Seles 6-2, 6-3.
Fernández was selected to represent
the United States at the 1992 Olympic Games
in Barcelona. She won a gold medal in women's
doubles, partnering Gigi Fernández
(no relation), and a bronze medal in women's
singles.
In the quarterfinals of the 1993 French
Open, Fernández staged a dramatic
comeback against Gabriela Sabatini after
Sabatini took a 6-1, 5-1 lead. Fernández
saved five match points during the 3-hour,
36-minute match and eventually won 1-6,
7-6(7-4), 10-8. She then defeated Arantxa
Sánchez Vicario 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals
to reach her third Grand Slam singles final.
In a close match against Graf, Fernández
lost 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Fernández won her second Grand Slam
doubles title in 1996 at the French Open,
partnering Lindsay Davenport. The pair went
on to capture the year-end WTA Tour Championships
doubles title later that year.
Fernández was a late replacement
for Chanda Rubin on the United States team
for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. She
won a second straight women's doubles gold
medal, again in partnership with Gigi Fernández.
She was also entered in the singles competition
due to a withdrawal and reached the semifinals,
where she was defeated in the bronze medal
match by Jana Novotná. Later that
year, Fernández was a member of the
U.S. team that won the Fed Cup.
Fernández won her final tour singles
title in 1997 at the German Open in Berlin.
Her final doubles title also came that year
in Madrid. She retired from the tour in
2000, having won 7 singles titles, 17 WTA
doubles titles, and 2 ITF women's doubles
titles.
Since retiring from the tour, Fernández
has served as a tennis commentator for ESPN
and joined CBS Sports as an analyst for
the 2005 U.S. Open.
