Exploding onto the tennis scene at age 12, Zina Garrison within two years had secured herself as one of the most promising up and coming tennis players. At age 18 she won the US Open juniors tournament as well as the Wimbledon junior title.
She was ranked number one in the world amongst female junior tennis players. In 1982 she went professional, her first event being the French Open. At the 1988 Olympic games in Seoul, South Korea she won the bronze medal in women’s singles and the gold medal in women’s doubles (with Pam Shriver). She finished the next year ranked the number four female player in the world.
After retiring in 1997 she stayed involved with tennis working as a television commentator as well as serving on the United States President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.
She has founded the Zina Garrison Foundation for the Homeless and the Zina Garrison All-Court Tennis Program located in Houston, Texas to foster tennis amongst inner-city populations who might otherwise not have access to the sport.
Photo courtesy of Hard Road to Glory, Russ Adams Productions