Katrina Adams

Katrina M. Adams (born August 5, 1968) is an American tennis executive and former professional tennis player from Chicago. She was president and CEO of the United States Tennis Association and chair of the US Open, as well as the chair of the International Tennis Federation Fed Cup and Gender Equality in Tennis committees. As a player, Adams was a doubles specialist, reaching the quarterfinal stage or better at all four Grand Slams as well as achieving a career-high doubles ranking of no. 8 (August 1989). Her book, Own the Arena: Getting Ahead, Making a Difference, and Succeeding as the Only One was published in 2021.

Katrina M. Adams

Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Yonkers, New York United States
Born	(1968-08-05) August 5, 1968 Chicago, Illinois
Height	5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
Turned pro	1988
Retired	1999
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$1,294,235
Singles
Career record	182–194
Career titles	1 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 67 (May 8, 1989)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	3R (1992)
French Open	1R (1988, 1989, 1992, 1996)
Wimbledon	4R (1988)
US Open	3R (1995)
Doubles
Career record	419–226
Career titles	20 WTA, 7 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 8 (August 14, 1989)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	QF (1992)
French Open	QF (1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996)
Wimbledon	SF (1988)
US Open	QF (1991, 1994)

Early life

Adams joined a tennis program on Chicago's West Side when she was six years old. She attended Whitney Young High School, becoming Illinois High School Association the first Chicago Public School and first African American singles champion in 1983 and 1984. While attending Northwestern University, she won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) doubles title with Diane Donnelly in 1987, and was twice voted All-American.

Results

Adams won seven of her 20 WTA doubles titles between 1987 and 1996 partnering Zina Garrison, including the 1988 World Doubles Championships.

Her best Grand Slam singles result was in the 1988 Wimbledon Championships when she reached the fourth round, losing to Chris Evert 5–7, 6–3, 6–0. The same year, she was Wimbledon doubles semifinalist with Zina Garrison.

Awards

Adams twice won the annual WTA Player Service Award in 1996 and 1997.

As alumni, in June 2024, Adams will be presented with an honorary degree during Northwestern’s 166th Commencement ceremony.

Post-retirement

Adams has been a television commentator for the Tennis Channel since 2003, a regular contributor to CBS Sports Network all-female sports panel We Need to Talk and is also an executive director of the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program.

In January 2015, Adams became President, Chairman and CEO of the United States Tennis Association, becoming the first former professional tennis player, first African-American and the youngest person to serve as President in the 135-year history of the organisation.

In 2016, Adams became Chairperson of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Fed Cup committee, which governs the Fed Cup.

Adams also serves on the board of directors for the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

WTA Tour finals

Singles 2 (0–2)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0/0)
WTA Championships (0/0)
Tier I (0/0)
Tier II (0/0)
Tier III (0/0)
Tier IV & V (0/2)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	February 1, 1988	Wellington	Hard	Jill Hetherington	6–1, 6–1
Runner-up	2.	November 4, 1991	Brentwood	Hard (i)	Sabine Appelmans	6–2, 6–4

Doubles 36 (22–14)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0/0)
Olympic Gold (0/0)
WTA Championships (0/0)
Virginia Slims (2/0)
Tier I (1/1)
Tier II (4/5)
Tier III (6/4)
Tier IV & V (7/6)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1-0	December 7, 1987	Guarujá	Hard	Cheryl Jones	Jill Hetherington Mercedes Paz	6–4, 4–6, 6–4
Winner	2-0	March 7, 1988	Boca Raton	Hard	Zina Garrison	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková	4–6, 7–5, 6–4
Winner	3-0	April 11, 1988	Amelia Island	Clay	Penny Barg	Zina Garrison Eva Pfaff	4–6, 6–2, 7–6(7–5)
Runner-up	3-1	April 18, 1988	Houston	Clay	Zina Garrison	Lori McNeil Martina Navratilova	6–7(4–7), 6–2, 6–4
Winner	4-1	October 24, 1988	Indianapolis	Hard (i)	Zina Garrison	Larisa Savchenko Natasha Zvereva	6–2, 6–1
Runner-up	4-2	November 25, 1988	Tokyo	Carpet	Zina Garrison	Gigi Fernández Robin White	7–5, 7–5
Winner	5-2	January 30, 1989	Tokyo	Carpet	Zina Garrison	Mary Joe Fernández Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	6–3, 3–6, 7–6(7–5)
Winner	6-2	February 27, 1989	San Antonio	Hard	Pam Shriver	Patty Fendick Jill Hetherington	3–6, 6–1, 6–4
Winner	7-2	April 24, 1989	Houston	Clay	Zina Garrison	Gigi Fernández Lori McNeil	6–3, 6–4
Winner	8-2	May 22, 1989	Geneva	Clay	Lori McNeil	Larisa Savchenko Natalia Zvereva	2–6, 6–3, 6–4
Winner	9-2	June 19, 1989	Eastbourne	Grass	Zina Garrison	Jana Novotná Helena Suková	6–3 ret.
Winner	10-2	October 23, 1989	Brighton	Carpet	Lori McNeil	Hana Mandlíková Jana Novotná	4–6, 7–6(9–7), 6–4
Winner	11-2	October 30, 1989	Indianapolis	Hard (i)	Lori McNeil	Claudia Porwik Larisa Savchenko	6–4, 6–4
Winner	12-2	November 5, 1990	Indianapolis	Hard (i)	Jill Hetherington	Patty Fendick Meredith McGrath	6–1, 6–1
Runner-up	12-3	February 18, 1991	Oklahoma City	Hard (i)	Jill Hetherington	Meredith McGrath Anne Smith	6–2, 6–4
Runner-up	12-4	July 22, 1991	Westchester	Hard	Lori McNeil	Rosalyn Fairbank Lise Gregory	7–5, 6–4
Runner-up	12-5	August 5, 1991	Albuquerque	Hard	Isabelle Demongeot	Lise Gregory Peanut Louie Harper	6–7(2–7), 6–4, 6–3
Winner	13-5	November 11, 1991	Indianapolis	Hard (i)	Mercedes Paz	Patty Fendick Gigi Fernández	6–4, 6–2
Runner-up	13-6	February 10, 1992	Chicago	Carpet	Zina Garrison	Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver	6–4, 7–6(9–7)
Runner-up	13-7	February 17, 1992	Oklahoma City	Hard (i)	Manon Bollegraf	Lori McNeil Nicole Provis	3–6, 6–4, 7–6(8–6)
Runner-up	13-8	November 9, 1992	Indianapolis	Hard (i)	Elna Reinach	Sandy Collins Mary-Lou Daniels	5–7, 6–2, 6–4
Winner	14-8	February 8, 1993	Chicago	Carpet	Zina Garrison	Amy Frazier Kimberly Po	7–6(9–7), 6–3
Winner	15-8	February 15, 1993	Oklahoma City	Hard (i)	Manon Bollegraf	Patty Fendick Zina Garrison	6–3, 6–2
Winner	16-8	March 22, 1993	Houston	Clay	Manon Bollegraf	Eugenia Maniokova Radomira Zrubáková	6–3, 5–7, 7–6(9–7)
Winner	17-8	March 28, 1993	Hilton Head	Clay	Manon Bollegraf	Gigi Fernández Natalia Zvereva	6–3, 6–1
Runner-up	17-9	November 1, 1993	Quebec City	Hard (i)	Manon Bollegraf	Katerina Maleeva Nathalie Tauziat	6–4, 6–4
Winner	18-9	November 8, 1993	Philadelphia	Carpet	Manon Bollegraf	Conchita Martínez Larisa Neiland	6–2, 4–6, 7–6(9–7)
Winner	19-9	February 14, 1994	Oklahoma City	Hard (i)	Manon Bollegraf	Patty Fendick Meredith McGrath	7–6(7–3), 6–2
Runner-up	19-10	March 21, 1994	Houston	Clay	Zina Garrison	Manon Bollegraf Martina Navratilova	6–4, 6–2
Runner-up	19-11	February 13, 1995	Oklahoma City	Hard (i)	Brenda Schultz	Nicole Arendt Laura Golarsa	6–4, 6–3
Runner-up	19-12	October 30, 1995	Oakland	Carpet	Zina Garrison	Lori McNeil Helena Suková	3–6, 6–4, 6–3
Runner-up	19-13	February 19, 1996	Oklahoma City	Hard (i)	Debbie Graham	Chanda Rubin Brenda Schultz-McCarthy	6–4, 6–3
Runner-up	19-14	May 6, 1996	Budapest	Clay	Debbie Graham	Radka Bobková Eva Melicharová	6–3, 7–6(7–3)
Winner	20-14	May 13, 1996	Cardiff	Clay	Mariaan de Swardt	Els Callens Laurence Courtois	6–0, 6–4
Winner	21-14	June 9, 1997	Birmingham	Grass	Larisa Neiland	Nathalie Tauziat Linda Wild	6–2, 6–3
Winner	22-14	January 12, 1998	Sydney	Hard	Meredith McGrath	Martina Hingis Helena Suková	6–1, 6–2

ITF Finals

Singles (1–1)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	August 3, 1987	Lebanon, United States	Hard	Shaun Stafford	6–3, 1–6, 3–6
Winner	2.	January 21, 1991	New Braunfels, United States	Hard	María Luciana Reynares	7–6(7), 2–6, 6–2

Doubles (8–3)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1.	June 30, 1986	Tampa, United States	Clay	Heliane Steden	Brenda Niemeyer Karen Schimper	4–6, 6–1, 6–3
Winner	2.	July 14, 1986	Midland, United States	Clay	Sonia Hahn	Alison Scott Ruth Seeman	2–6, 6–3, 6–4
Winner	3.	January 5, 1987	Chicago, United States	Hard	Diane Donnelly	Mary Lou Daniels Yvonne Vermaak	6–4, 6–3
Runner-up	4.	June 15, 1987	Birmingham, United States	Hard	Sonia Hahn	Ingelise Driehuis Lise Gregory	6–7(0), 6–4, 6–2
Winner	5.	July 20, 1987	Philadelphia, United States	Hard	Ingelise Driehuis	Kathy Foxworth Tammy Whittington	6–3, 6–4
Winner	6.	July 27, 1987	Chatham, United States	Hard	Diane Donnelly	Jennifer Fuchs Robyn Lamb	7–5, 6–3
Winner	7.	September 24, 1990	Chicago, United States	Hard	Lynn Nabors	Jill Hetherington Mary Lou Daniels	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	8.	January 28, 1991	Midland, United States	Hard	Helen Kelesi	Meredith McGrath Anne Smith	5–7, 5–7
Winner	9.	September 23, 1991	Chicago, United States	Hard	Mary Lou Daniels	Beverly Bowes-Hackney Cammy Macgregor	6–4, 6–3
Runner-up	10.	February 12, 1996	Midland, United States	Hard	Debbie Graham	Angela Lettiere Corina Morariu	6–7, 6–7
Winner	11.	October 7, 1996	Sedona, United States	Hard	Debbie Graham	Angela Lettiere Shannan McCarthy	6–4, 6–1

Performance timelines

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

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.

Singles

Tournament	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	1R	2R	1R	A	3R	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	1R	4–8
French Open	A	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	A	1R	LQ	4–9
Wimbledon	A	4R	3R	1R	LQ	2R	LQ	1R	1R	2R	LQ	18–10
US Open	LQ	1R	1R	1R	LQ	A	1R	1R	3R	1R	LQ	7–10

Doubles

Tournament	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	3R	3R	3R	A	QF	3R	2R	1R	A	2R	1R	1R	13–10
French Open	A	A	QF	QF	3R	3R	QF	QF	1R	QF	QF	2R	3R	1R	25–12
Wimbledon	A	A	SF	QF	3R	QF	3R	1R	2R	3R	QF	3R	3R	1R	23–12
US Open	1R	1R	2R	3R	3R	QF	A	3R	QF	3R	2R	3R	2R	1R	19–13

External links

• Katrina Adams at the Women's Tennis Association
• Katrina Adams at the International Tennis Federation