Kathy Rinaldi-Stunkel (born March 24, 1967) is an American former professional tennis player, who retired in September 1997. In her career she won three singles and two doubles titles on the WTA Tour, and reached the semifinals of the 1985 Wimbledon Championships.

Career

Rinaldi reached her highest career ranking on May 26, 1986, when she was ranked world No. 7. The recipient of WTA Most Impressive Newcomer Award in 1981 and WTA Comeback Player of the Year Award in 1989, she had career wins over top players such as Steffi Graf, Jana Novotná, Sue Barker, Pam Shriver, Hana Mandlíková, Wendy Turnbull, Manuela Maleeva, Dianne Fromholtz, Helena Suková, Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, Zina Garrison, Sylvia Hanika, Kathy Jordan, Jo Durie, and Natasha Zvereva.

In 1981, Rinaldi became the youngest player to win a match at Wimbledon (14 years, 91 days), a record that stood until 1990. After the 1987 French Open, she suffered a freak injury in Monte Carlo, slipping on stairs, and in trying to catch herself, fracturing her right thumb. This injury sidelined her for the rest of the year. She was a member of the US Wightman Cup Team in 1983, 1985, and 1986.

Fed Cup

In December 2016, Rinaldi was appointed as the captain of the United States Fed Cup team, succeeding Mary Joe Fernández.[1][2] In her first year as Fed Cup captain, the U.S. won the 2017 Fed Cup.

Family

Rinaldi married Brad Stunkel, her high school sweetheart, on December 11, 1993, and adopted his surname. She gave birth to a son, Bradley Benton "Duke" Stunkel Jr., on February 8, 1995.[3][4] The family currently resides in Palm City, Florida.

Awards and recognitions

WTA career finals

Singles: 7 (3–4)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
WTA Tour Championships (0–0)
Virginia Slims, Avon, other (3–4)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–1)
Grass (0–0)
Clay (0–2)
Carpet (1–1)
Result W-L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Oct 1981 Tokyo, Japan Hard United States Julie Harrington 6–1, 7–5
Loss 1–1 May 1982 Berlin, West Germany Clay West Germany Bettina Bunge 2–6, 2–6
Loss 1–2 Jul 1982 San Diego, US Hard United States Tracy Austin 6–7(5–7), 3–6
Win 2–2 Aug 1985 Mahwah, US Hard West Germany Steffi Graf 6–4, 3–6, 6–4
Loss 2–3 Sep 1985 Chicago, US Carpet (i) United States Bonnie Gadusek 1–6, 3–6
Loss 2–4 May 1986 Houston, US Clay United States Chris Evert-Lloyd 4–6, 6–2, 4–6
Win 3–3 Nov 1986 Little Rock, US Carpet (i) Soviet Union Natasha Zvereva 6–4, 6–7(7–9), 6–0

Doubles: 12 (2–10)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
Tier I (0–2)
Tier II (1–2)
Tier III (1–3)
Tier IV (0–2)
Tier V (1–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–7)
Grass (0–0)
Clay (1–2)
Carpet (0–1)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1. Mar 1991 San Antonio Hard Canada Jill Hetherington United States Patty Fendick
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Monica Seles		 6–7(2–7), 2–6
Win 1. Apr 1991 Houston Clay Canada Jill Hetherington United States Patty Fendick
United States Mary Joe Fernández		 6–1, 2–6, 6–1
Win 2. Aug 1991 San Diego Hard Canada Jill Hetherington United States Gigi Fernández
France Nathalie Tauziat		 6–4, 3–6, 6–2
Loss 2. Oct 1991 Leipzig Carpet (i) Canada Jill Hetherington Netherlands Manon Bollegraf
France Isabelle Demongeot		 4–6, 3–6
Loss 3. Feb 1992 Auckland Hard Canada Jill Hetherington South Africa Rosalyn Fairbank
Italy Raffaella Reggi		 6–1, 1–6, 5–7
Loss 4. Mar 1992 Indian Wells Hard Canada Jill Hetherington Germany Claudia Kohde-Kilsch
United States Stephanie Rehe		 3–6, 3–6
Loss 5. Mar 1992 Key Biscayne Hard Canada Jill Hetherington Latvia Larisa Neiland
Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario		 5–7, 7–5, 3–6
Loss 6. Apr 1992 Houston Clay Canada Jill Hetherington United States Patty Fendick
United States Gigi Fernández		 5–7, 4–6
Loss 7. Nov 1992 San Juan Hard United States Gigi Fernández South Africa Amanda Coetzer
South Africa Elna Reinach		 2–6, 6–4, 2–6
Loss 8. Feb 1993 Auckland Hard Canada Jill Hetherington France Isabelle Demongeot
South Africa Elna Reinach		 2–6, 4–6
Loss 9. Mar 1993 Key Biscayne Hard Canada Jill Hetherington Latvia Larisa Neiland
Czech Republic Jana Novotná		 2–6, 5–7
Loss 10. May 1993 Strasbourg Clay Canada Jill Hetherington United States Shaun Stafford
Hungary Andrea Temesvári		 7–6(7–5), 3–6, 4–6

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RRQ# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
Tournament1981198219831984198519861987198819891990199119921993199419951996Career W–L
Australian Open A A 1R 3R A NH A A A 2R 1R A 1R 1R A A 3–6
French Open QF 4R 4R 3R 3R QF 3R 1R 2R 1R 2R 1R 3R A A A 24–13
Wimbledon 2R 3R 4R 1R SF 1R A A 1R 1R 1R 2R 2R A A 1R 13–12
US Open 1R 4R 2R 2R 1R 1R A 1R 2R 2R 2R 2R 1R A 1R 1R 9–14
Win–loss 5–3 8–3 7–4 5–4 7–3 4–3 2–1 0–2 2–3 2–4 2–4 2–3 3–4 0–1 0–1 0–2 49–45
Year-end ranking 33 15 14 23 11 8 26 88 52 69 105 111 83 NR NR 225

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ashley Marshall (December 8, 2016). "Rinaldi to lead U.S. Fed Cup team in expanded captaincy role". www.usta.com. United States Tennis Association (USTA).
  2. ↑ Sandra Harwitt (December 9, 2016). "Rinaldi appointed USA Fed Cup captain". www.fedcup.com. International Tennis Federation (ITF). Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  3. ↑ Drucker, Joel. "Kathy Rinaldi and her seamless transition from tennis player to coach". Tennis.com. Retrieved November 15, 2025.
  4. ↑ "USF pitcher Stunkel following in mother's footsteps". FOX 13 Tampa Bay. May 12, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2025.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Rinaldi