Zina Garrison (known for a while as Zina Garrison-Jackson during her married years) was born on November 16th, 1963 in Houston, TX. She picked up the sport of tennis at age 10, thanks to the tutelage of John Wilkerson, who helped to foster both her career and that of another notable player, Lori McNeil (who you will be hearing about very shortly), Zina quickly became one of the world's best junior players at a young age. In 1981, she won the junior Wimbledon and U.S. titles, and was ranked the world's top junior player.
I've already mentioned my fondness for John Feinstein's excellent profile of the 1990 tennis season, Hard Courts, on this blog, and Zina is one of several players that receives extended coverage (which is just as well, considering that it was the year of her biggest achievement - more on that later). In Hard Courts, Zina talks about graduating from high school in 1982 and having to argue with her mother about whether or not to go college or turn professional. Her mother favored college; Zina wanted to turn pro. Having convinced her mother to allow her to try professional tennis, Zina skipped her high school graduation to play at Roland Garros, where she reached the quarterfinals. I think that is one of the coolest stories in tennis! "Why weren't you at graduation?!" "Oh, you know, I was busy reaching the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam!"
Zina finished her first full season as a pro in the world's top 20, but soon after, tragedy struck: her mother, with whom she was very close, passed away in 1983, which sent her into a physical and emotional tailspin. She developed bulimia, and secretly struggled with the disorder even though she routinely ranked among the world's top 10 players - it wasn't until the early 90s that she felt comfortable in overcoming her disorder and speaking out about it. She also struggled to keep her emotions in check (I'm not saying that because I'm making light of the "overly emotional woman" condescending stereotype - she said it herself in Hard Courts), often allowing big leads or huge opportunities to slip because she couldn't control her nerves. The pressure of being labeled "the next Althea Gibson" also got to her; in a 2006 interview, she said, "I felt like I was never going to be allowed to grow into just becoming me." Though she occasionally had big moments, reaching several major quarters and semis - she beat Martina Navratilova for the only time in her career in the 1988 U.S. Open quarterfinals (she was 1-33 against Martina. Ouch!), and the following year, she beat Chris Evert at the same stage, in Evert's final Grand Slam match - she never quite seemed able to coalesce her best tennis on the game's biggest stages.
Zina did have one moment of supreme Grand Slam glory, however; while she finished her career with very respectable numbers of 14 career singles titles and a career high ranking of #4 in 1989, her best known result is reaching the singles final at Wimbledon in 1990, becoming the first black woman to make it that far at the world's most prestigious tournament since Althea Gibson back in the 50s. To reach the final, she had to defeat Monica Seles (who was just coming off her first Roland Garros title) in the quarterfinals in a match where she saved a match point and won 9-7 in the third set. She further shocked the tennis world by holding her nerve in the clutch moments and holding off Steffi Graf, then the two-time defending champion at Wimbledon (and winner of seven overall) in the semifinals. In the finals, the attacking game of Martina Navratilova proved to be too much; Zina won just five games in a 6-4, 6-1 defeat. Still, her accomplishment was remarkable, especially considering the veritable Murderers' Row of all-time great tennis players she had to face and beat just to make it to the final, and the achievement definitely deserves to be celebrated. There's no shame in losing a Wimbledon final to Martina freakin' Navratilova!
Zina retired from the professional tour at the end of 1996, and has since gone on to do some television commentary and, most notably, has served in several coaching functions. She was the captain of the U.S. Fed Cup team for several years, and she also coached the young U.S. player Taylor Townsend for a bit, though I think that relationship has since ended. It sounds like she's also continued to have some weight-related struggles; it's not related to her playing career, but I'm bringing it up because she's talked about it in several interviews and I admire her candor in coming out and trying to openly work out her issues. Whatever the case may be, I hope she's in a good emotional state these days - free of the burdens and expectations, finally able to become herself.
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