Fernandez also occasionally joins forces with ex-pro Kathy Rinaldi to conduct clinics and special events for recreational players. She has also coached for the Puerto Rican national team and the University of South Florida. 1 doubles player Rennae Stubbs, Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur. She has coached players including the former World No. Since retiring from the tour, Fernández has worked as a tennis coach. By far the most successful tennis player in the history of Puerto Rico, Fernandez was named Puerto Rico's "Female Athlete of the Century" in 1999. She also won won two top-level titles and reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon in 1994, and the quarter-finals at the US Open in 19.įernández retired from the professional tour in 1997. In singles, Fernandez reached as high as 17th in the world rankings. The two medals are front and center on Gigi's desk, along with a car license plate that reads "DBL GLD." įernández was also on the United States team which won the Fed Cup in 1990. The first gold medal was won against the home team of Conchita Martinez and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario with the King and Queen of Spain in the audience. She teamed-up with Mary Joe Fernandez (no relation) to win the women's doubles Gold Medal on both occasions. She won a total of 69 doubles titles during her career.įernández represented the United States at the Olympic Games in both 1992 ( Barcelona) and 1996 ( Atlanta). 1 doubles ranking in 1991, and held the No. Though she never won a Grand Slam mixed doubles title, Fernández did finish runner-up in three of the four Grand Slam mixed doubles events in 1995 (Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open) partnering Cyril Suk. This makes them the second-most successful women's doubles pair in Grand Slam history after Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver. She won 14 of her 17 Grand Slam titles partnering Natasha Zvereva. Recognized primarily as a doubles specialist during her professional career, Fernández won 17 Grand Slam women's doubles titles – six French Open, five US Open, four Wimbledon and two Australian Open. Prior to turning professional, she played tennis for one season at Clemson University, in 1982–83, where she was a singles and doubles All-American and reached the NCAA singles final. When she turned professional in 1983, she become Puerto Rico's first-ever female professional athlete. Fernández started playing tennis when she was eight. Her cousin José Ferrer was a famous Puerto Rican actor and director. Her father Tuto was a well-known doctor in Puerto Rico. Since retiring from the professional tour, Fernández has been a successful tennis coach and entrepreneur. She was also ranked among the world's top 30 singles players for most of her career. During her career, she won 17 Grand Slam doubles titles and two Olympic Gold Medals, and was ranked the World No. She is widely considered to be one of the greatest doubles players of all time. Highestdoublesranking = 1 (March 4, 1991)īeatriz "Gigi" Fernández (born February 22 1964, in San Juan) is a former professional Puerto Rican/ American tennis player. Highestsinglesranking = 17 (October 6th, 1991) She is an experienced international speaker, presenter, and facilitator.Ī native of the USA, Gigi currently resides in London, England.Weight = convert|65.7|kg|lb st|abbr=on|lk=on Gigi currently serves as the President of the Board for NICU Parent Network (NPN), a PPAB member for European Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants (EFCNI), and a Chair Committee Member for the Global Alliance for Newborn Care (GLANCE). Sector both in the USA and UK health systems and holds global board appointments in the maternal-infant health sector. She has almost 20 years of international clinical, strategic and project management experience within the healthcare Gigi holds a BSc in Occupational Therapy (USA), MSc in Health, Population and Society (UK) and a Diploma in Personal Performance Coaching (UK/USA). She also partners with several consultancy groups to help them deliver on a range of leadership, diversity, and organisational development initiatives and is a vocal advocate for equity in the healthcare and educational realms. Gigi’s clients range from individuals and professional teams to medium to large-size organisations across the healthcare, education, faith-based, government, industry, and corporate sectors. She is passionate about imbedding joy and clarity within leaders in any sector and throughout the workplace culture. Her niche areas are leadership and organisational wellness, NICU leaders/community, diversity, empowerment, and wellbeing. She is both an International Coach Federation (ICF) accredited Professional Coach and a Trauma-Informed Certified Coach, and founder of GKF Coaching and Consulting. Gigi Khonyongwa-Fernandez, is the mother of four angel babies and a surviving twin born at 24 weeks.
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