American tennis player
This article is about the American tennis player and coach. For the American physicist, see
Laurie McNeil .
Lori McNeil Country (sports) United States Residence Houston , TexasBorn (1963-12-18 ) December 18, 1963 (age 60) San Diego , CaliforniaHeight 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) Turned pro 1983 Retired 2002 Plays Right-handed (one handed-backhand) Prize money $3,441,604 Career record 436–309 (58.5%) Career titles 10 Highest ranking No. 9 (July 4, 1988) Australian Open QF (1987 ) French Open 3R (1988 , 1992 , 1994 ) Wimbledon SF (1994 ) US Open SF (1987 ) Career record 605–335 (64.4%) Career titles 33 Highest ranking No. 4 (November 9, 1987) Australian Open F (1987 ) French Open QF (1987 , 1992, 1993) Wimbledon SF (1987) US Open SF (1995, 1996) Career titles 1 Australian Open SF (1997 ) French Open W (1988 )Wimbledon F (1994 ) US Open QF (1992 )
Lori McNeil (born December 18, 1963) is an American tennis coach and former top 10 player. McNeil was a singles semifinalist at the US Open in 1987 and Wimbledon in 1994, a women's doubles finalist at the Australian Open in 1987 with Zina Garrison and French Open mixed-doubles winner in 1988 with Jorge Lozano .
Personal [ edit ] McNeil was born the youngest of four siblings to mother Dorothy and father Charlie McNeil , who played professional football with the San Diego Chargers during the 1960s. Moving from San Diego to Houston, McNeil developed her tennis skills at MacGregor Park playground , a public facility in the Third Ward district. It was there she became close childhood friends with fellow future professional tennis player, Zina Garrison .[1]
Lori McNeil attended Oklahoma State University for two years and played tennis for the Cowgirls, reaching the 1983 NCAA quarterfinals (losing to eventual champion Beth Herr from USC ).
McNeil played on the WTA Tour for 19 years from 1983–2002. She won a total of ten singles titles and 33 doubles titles during her career. Her career-high world rankings were No. 9 in singles (in 1988) and No. 4 in doubles (in 1987).
In 1987, McNeil was awarded the WTA Most Improved Player of the Year .
McNeil is perhaps best remembered for her results against Steffi Graf . In 1992, she defeated Graf 7–6, 6–4 in the first round of the WTA Tour Championships , marking the first time since 1985 that Graf had lost in the opening round of a tournament. Then, in 1994, McNeil beat Graf 7–5, 7–6 in the first round at Wimbledon , the first time in Grand Slam history that a defending champion had suffered a first-round loss.
That year, McNeil went on to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon before losing to eventual-champion Conchita Martínez 3-6, 6-2, 10-8. This equalled McNeil's best-ever Grand Slam singles performance – she also reached the semifinals at the US Open in 1987 (after defeating six-time champion Chris Evert in the quarterfinals) where she lost to Graf 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Despite never winning a women's doubles Grand Slam title, she reached the quarterfinal stage or better on 22 occasions at major level, and won multiple WTA Tour doubles titles with many of the leading doubles players of the era, including Martina Navratilova , Gigi Fernández , Rennae Stubbs , Katrina Adams , Zina Garrison and Helena Suková .
From 2001-2004, McNeil coached former top-5 player Amanda Coetzer . Partnering together, coach and student reached the doubles quarterfinals of the 2002 Australian Open . In 2004 and 2008, McNeil was also Assistant Coach to the US Olympic tennis teams.[2]
In 2006, McNeil was inducted into the ITA Hall of Fame.
Grand Slam tournament finals [ edit ] Doubles: 1 (runner-up) [ edit ] Mixed doubles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-ups) [ edit ] WTA Tour finals [ edit ] Singles: 21 (10 titles, 11 runner-ups) [ edit ] Legend Tier I (0–1) Tier II (1–0) Tier III (2–2) Tier IV (2–1) Tier V (3–2) Virginia Slims (2–5)
Finals by surface Hard (4–3) Grass (4–2) Clay (0–1) Carpet (2–5)
Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score Loss 0–1 Feb 1986 Oklahoma City Carpet (i) Marcella Mesker 4–6, 6–4, 3–6 Loss 0–2 Jul 1986 Newport Grass Pam Shriver 4–6, 2–6 Win 1–2 Sep 1986 Tampa Hard Zina Garrison 2–6, 7–5, 6–2 Win 2–2 Sep 1986 Tulsa Hard Beth Herr 6–0, 6–1 Loss 2–3 Feb 1987 Oklahoma City Hard Elizabeth Smylie 6–4, 3–6, 5–7 Loss 2–4 Mar 1987 Piscataway Carpet (i) Helena Suková 0–6, 3–6 Loss 2–5 Sep 1987 New Orleans Carpet (i) Chris Evert 3–6, 5–7 Win 3–5 Feb 1988 Oklahoma City Carpet (i) Brenda Schultz 6–3, 6–2 Loss 3–6 May 1988 Geneva Clay Barbara Paulus 4–6, 7–5, 1–6 Win 4–6 Jul 1988 Newport Grass Barbara Potter 6–4, 4–6, 6–3 Loss 4–7 Jan 1989 Tokyo Carpet (i) Martina Navratilova 7–6(7–3) , 3–6, 6–7(5–7) Win 5–7 Aug 1989 Albuquerque Hard Elna Reinach 6–1, 6–3 Win 6–7 Feb 1991 Denver Carpet (i) Manon Bollegraf 6–3, 6–4 Win 7–7 Apr 1991 Tokyo Hard Sabine Appelmans 2–6, 6–2, 6–1 Loss 7–8 Jul 1991 Westchester Hard Isabelle Demongeot 4–6, 4–6 Loss 7–9 Feb 1992 Oklahoma City Hard (i) Zina Garrison 5–7, 6–3, 5–7(10) Win 8–9 Jun 1992 Eastbourne Grass Linda Wild 6–4, 6–4 Win 9–9 Jun 1993 Birmingham Grass Zina Garrison 6–4, 2–6, 6–3 Win 10–9 Jun 1994 Birmingham Grass Zina Garrison 6–2, 6–2 Loss 10–10 Jun 1995 Birmingham Grass Zina Garrison 3–6, 3–6 Loss 10–11 Nov 1995 Philadelphia Carpet (i) Steffi Graf 1–6, 6–4, 3–6
Doubles: 64 (33 titles, 31 runner-ups) [ edit ] Legend Grand Slam (0–1) Tier I (3–2) Tier II (4–8) Tier III (8–5) Tier IV (4–2) Tier V (4–3) Virginia Slims (10–10)
Finals by surface Hard (13–9) Grass (4–3) Clay (6–7) Carpet (10–12)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score Win 1. September 26, 1983 Bakersfield Hard Kyle Copeland Ann Henricksson Patricia Medrado 6–4, 6–3 Loss 1. April 1, 1985 Seabrook Island Clay Elise Burgin Svetlana Parkhomenko Larisa Savchenko 1–6, 3–6 Win 2. October 21, 1985 Brighton Carpet (i) Catherine Suire Barbara Potter Helena Suková 4–6, 7–6(3) , 6–4 Loss 2. February 24, 1986 Memphis Carpet (i) Catherine Suire Marcella Mesker Pascale Paradis 6–2, 6–7(1) , 1–6 Loss 3. October 6, 1986 Zürich Carpet (i) Alycia Moulton Steffi Graf Gabriela Sabatini 6–1, 4–6, 4–6 Win 3. October 27, 1986 Indianapolis Hard (i) Zina Garrison Candy Reynolds Anne Smith 4–5 ret. Win 4. November 10, 1986 San Juan Hard Mercedes Paz Gigi Fernández Robin White 6–2, 3–6, 6–4 Win 5. December 1, 1986 Buenos Aires Clay Mercedes Paz Manon Bollegraf Nicole Jagerman 6–1, 2–6, 6–1 Loss 4. January 12, 1987 Australian Open Grass Zina Garrison Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver 1–6, 0–6 Loss 5. February 9, 1987 Memphis Hard Kim Sands Svetlana Parkhomenko Larisa Savchenko 4–6, 4–6 Loss 6. March 23, 1987 Washington D.C. Carpet (i) Zina Garrison Elise Burgin Pam Shriver 1–6, 6–3, 4–6 Win 6. March 29, 1987 Piscataway Carpet (i) Gigi Fernández Betsy Nagelsen Elizabeth Smylie 6–1, 6–4 Loss 7. April 6, 1987 Hilton Head Clay Zina Garrison Mercedes Paz Eva Pfaff 6–7(6) , 5–7 Loss 8. April 20, 1987 Houston Clay Zina Garrison Kathy Jordan Martina Navratilova 2–6, 4–6 Win 7. July 13, 1987 Newport Grass Gigi Fernández Anne Hobbs Kathy Jordan 7–6(5) , 7–5 Loss 9. August 10, 1987 Los Angeles Hard Zina Garrison Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver 3–6, 4–6 Win 8. August 17, 1987 Toronto Hard Zina Garrison Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková 6–1, 6–2 Win 9. August 24, 1987 Mahwah Hard Gigi Fernández Anne Hobbs Elizabeth Smylie 6–3, 6–2 Win 10. September 28, 1987 New Orleans Carpet (i) Zina Garrison Peanut Louie Harper Heather Ludloff 6–3, 6–4 Loss 10. October 12, 1987 Filderstadt Carpet (i) Zina Garrison Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver 1–6, 2–6 Loss 11. November 9, 1987 Chicago Carpet (i) Zina Garrison Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková 4–6, 3–6 Win 11. February 8, 1988 Dallas Carpet (i) Eva Pfaff Gigi Fernández Zina Garrison 2–6, 6–4, 7–5 Win 12. February 29, 1988 San Antonio Hard Helena Suková Rosalyn Fairbank Gretchen Magers 6–3, 6–7(5) , 6–2 Win 13. April 4, 1988 Hilton Head Clay Martina Navratilova Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Gabriela Sabatini 6–2, 2–6, 6–3 Loss 12. April 18, 1988 Houston Clay Martina Navratilova Katrina Adams Zina Garrison 7–6(4) , 2–6, 4–6 Loss 13. July 11, 1988 Newport Grass Gigi Fernández Rosalyn Fairbank Barbara Potter 4–6, 3–6 Loss 14. October 3, 1988 New Orleans Hard Betsy Nagelsen Beth Herr Candy Reynolds 4–6, 4–6 Win 14. October 24, 1988 Brighton Carpet (i) Betsy Nagelsen Isabelle Demongeot Nathalie Tauziat 7–6(5) , 2–6, 7–6(4) Win 15. November 7, 1988 Chicago Carpet (i) Betsy Nagelsen Larisa Savchenko Natasha Zvereva 6–4, 3–6, 6–4 Loss 15. November 28, 1988 Adelaide Hard Jana Novotná Sylvia Hanika Claudia Kohde-Kilsch 5–7, 7–6(4) , 4–6 Win 16. February 27, 1989 Memphis Hard (i) Betsy Nagelsen Elise Burgin Elizabeth Smylie w/o Loss 16. March 20, 1989 Key Biscayne Hard Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná Helena Suková 6–7(5) , 4–6 Loss 17. April 24, 1989 Houston Clay Gigi Fernández Katrina Adams Zina Garrison 3–6, 4–6 Win 17. May 22, 1989 Geneva Clay Katrina Adams Larisa Savchenko Natasha Zvereva 2–6, 6–3, 6–4 Win 18. July 17, 1989 Newport Grass Gigi Fernández Elizabeth Smylie Wendy Turnbull 6–3, 6–7(5) , 7–5 Win 19. October 23, 1989 Brighton Carpet (i) Katrina Adams Hana Mandlíková Jana Novotná 4–6, 7–6(7) , 6–4 Win 20. October 30, 1989 Indianapolis Hard (i) Katrina Adams Claudia Porwik Larisa Savchenko 6–4, 6–4 Loss 18. February 11, 1991 Denver Carpet (i) Patty Fendick Lise Gregory Gretchen Rush 4–6, 4–6 Win 21. May 20, 1991 Strasbourg Clay Stephanie Rehe Manon Bollegraf Mercedes Paz 6–7(2) , 6–4, 6–4 Loss 19. July 22, 1991 Westchester Hard Katrina Adams Rosalyn Fairbank Lise Gregory 5–7, 4–6 Win 22. September 30, 1991 Milan Carpet (i) Sandy Collins Sabine Appelmans Raffaella Reggi 7–6(0) , 6–3 Loss 20. October 7, 1991 Zürich Carpet (i) Zina Garrison Jana Novotná Andrea Strnadová 4–6, 3–6 Loss 21. October 21, 1991 Brighton Carpet (i) Zina Garrison Pam Shriver Natasha Zvereva 1–6, 2–6 Win 23. February 17, 1992 Memphis Hard (i) Nicole Provis Katrina Adams Manon Bollegraf 3–6, 6–4, 7–6(6) Loss 22. May 18, 1992 Strasbourg Clay Mercedes Paz Patty Fendick Andrea Strnadová 3–6, 4–6 Win 24. June 8, 1992 Birmingham Grass Rennae Stubbs Sandy Collins Elna Reinach 5–7, 6–3, 8–6 Win 25. August 17, 1992 Montreal Hard Rennae Stubbs Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva 3–6, 7–5, 7–5 Loss 23. January 11, 1993 Sydney Hard Rennae Stubbs Pam Shriver Elizabeth Smylie 6–7(4) , 2–6 Loss 24. February 1, 1993 Tokyo Carpet (i) Rennae Stubbs Martina Navratilova Helena Suková 4–6, 3–6 Win 26. June 7, 1993 Birmingham Grass Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver Elizabeth Smylie 6–3, 6–4 Win 27. March 28, 1994 Hilton Head Clay Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva 6–4, 4–1 ret. Win 28. May 16, 1994 Strasbourg Clay Rennae Stubbs Patricia Tarabini Caroline Vis 6–3, 3–6, 6–2 Loss 25. March 6, 1995 Delray Beach Hard Larisa Neiland Mary Joe Fernández Jana Novotná 4–6, 0–6 Loss 26. October 16, 1995 Brighton Carpet (i) Helena Suková Meredith McGrath Larisa Neiland 5–7, 1–6 Win 29. October 30, 1995 Oakland Carpet (i) Helena Suková Katrina Adams Zina Garrison 3–6, 6–4, 6–3 Win 30. November 6, 1995 Philadelphia Carpet (i) Helena Suková Meredith McGrath Larisa Neiland 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 Loss 27. January 8, 1996 Sydney Hard Helena Suková Lindsay Davenport Mary Joe Fernández 3–6, 3–6 Loss 28. February 19, 1996 Essen Carpet (i) Helena Suková Meredith McGrath Larisa Neiland 6–3, 3–6, 2–6 Loss 29. June 10, 1996 Birmingham Grass Nathalie Tauziat Elizabeth Smylie Linda Wild 3–6, 6–3, 1–6 Loss 30. November 11, 1996 Philadelphia Carpet (i) Nicole Arendt Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs 4–6, 6–3, 3–6 Win 31. October 26, 1998 Quebec City Hard (i) Kimberly Po Chanda Rubin Sandrine Testud 6–7(3) , 7–5, 6–4 Win 32. February 19, 2001 Memphis Hard (i) Amanda Coetzer Janet Lee Wynne Prakusya 6–3, 2–6, 6–0 Loss 31. May 21, 2001 Strasbourg Clay Amanda Coetzer Silvia Farina Elia Iroda Tulyaganova 1–6, 6–7(0) Win 33. September 10, 2001 Bahia Hard Amanda Coetzer Nicole Arendt Patricia Tarabini 6–7(8) , 6–2, 6–4
Grand Slam performance timelines [ edit ] 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 [ edit ] Doubles [ edit ] Mixed doubles [ edit ] References [ edit ] External links [ edit ]