Kimberly Lynn Kessaris (born March 27, 1973) is a former professional tennis player from the United States.

Biography

Early life

Kessaris grew up in Hendersonville, North Carolina, the daughter of Jim and Peggy. Her father, a dentist by profession, got her started in tennis when she was five. She attended the local Heritage Hall school.[1]

Considered a tennis prodigy, she was a top ranked junior and trained at Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy in Florida.[2]

Tennis career

Kessaris made her WTA Tour debut at Charleston in 1987, just days after her 14th birthday.

In 1988 she was beaten by Steffi Graf in only 32-minutes at a tournament in Mahwah.[3]

At the 1989 Australian Open she defeated Andrea Farley in the girls' singles final to become the first American to win an Australian Open junior title.[4][5] She also qualified for the main draw of the women's singles and made the third round.

Her best performance on the WTA Tour was a quarter-final appearance at the 1989 Virginia Slims of Houston as a lucky loser and that July she reached her highest ranking of 124 in the world.[6]

Following the 1990 Australian Open she left professional tennis, aged 16.

References

  1. ^ Robb, Sharon (August 11, 1985). "Kessaris Overpowering In Girls' 12s Title Match". Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on March 10, 2018. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  2. ^ Arias, Ron (October 20, 1986). "At Nick Bollettieri's Florida Boot Camp, Tennis Is Played Only One Way—to Win". People. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  3. ^ "Tennis". The Washington Post. August 15, 1989. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  4. ^ "Girls Singles". Reno Gazette-Journal. January 30, 1989. p. 11. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  5. ^ "U.S. contingent ready for Australian Open juniors". USA Today. January 17, 2013. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  6. ^ "Evert Reaches Semis". The Oklahoman. April 29, 1989. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Kessaris
No tags for this post.