BIOGRAPHY

Gigi Fernández

Professional Tennis Player
Lake Mary, FL

Gigi Fernández holds the title as Puerto Rico’s first female professional athlete. After an illustrious career, Fernández retired at the Chase Championship in 1997 as the No. 1-ranked doubles players in tennis. She had been consistently ranked No. 1 or No. 2 since April 1991.

Fernández was best known as a doubles specialist, although she reached the singles semifinals of the 1994 Wimbledon Championships and the singles quarterfinals twice at the U.S. Open. She holds 17 Grand Slam doubles crowns and two Olympic Gold Medals. She also was voted Puerto Rican Female Athlete of the Century.

After retiring, Fernández continued her involvement in tennis by coaching the Puerto Rican Fed Cup team and mentoring several young Puerto Rican aspiring pros. She was the head women’s tennis coach at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida, for three years and coached several top WTA players. She currently holds junior and adult tennis camps in  Puerto Rico.

Fernández has many outside interests, including golf, skiing, web design, fine dining and working with children at special fund-raising events. She recently graduated from Rollins Crummer School of Business with a master’s in business administration. She is the proud mother of infant twins, Madison Jane and Karson Xavier.