Kathy Rinaldi-Stunkel (born March 24, 1967) is an American former professional tennis player, who retired in September 1997. In her career she won three singles and two doubles titles on the WTA Tour, and reached the semifinals of the 1985 Wimbledon Championships.

Career Rinaldi reached her highest career ranking on May 26, 1986, when she was ranked world No. 7. The recipient of WTA Most Impressive Newcomer Award in 1981 and WTA Comeback Player of the Year Award in 1989, she had career wins over top players such as Steffi Graf, Jana Novotná, Sue Barker, Pam Shriver, Hana Mandlíková, Wendy Turnbull, Manuela Maleeva, Dianne Fromholtz, Helena Suková, Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, Zina Garrison, Sylvia Hanika, Kathy Jordan, Jo Durie, and Natasha Zvereva.

In 1981, Rinaldi became the youngest player to win a match at Wimbledon (14 years, 91 days), a record that stood until 1990. After the 1987 French Open, she suffered a freak injury in Monte Carlo, slipping on stairs, and in trying to catch herself, fracturing her right thumb. This injury sidelined her for the rest of the year. She was a member of the US Wightman Cup Team in 1983, 1985, and 1986.

Fed Cup In December 2016, Rinaldi was appointed as the captain of the United States Fed Cup team, succeeding Mary Joe Fernández. In her first year as Fed Cup captain, the U.S. won the 2017 Fed Cup.

Family and personal life

Rinaldi married Brad Stunkel, her high school sweetheart, on December 11, 1993, and adopted his surname. She gave birth to a son, Bradley Benton "Duke" Stunkel Jr., on February 8, 1995. The family currently resides in Palm City, Florida.

Awards and recognitions 1981: WTA Most Impressive Newcomer of the Year 1989: WTA Comeback of the Year

WTA career finals

Singles: 7 (3–4) Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) WTA Tour Championships (0–0) Virginia Slims, Avon, other (3–4) Finals by surface Hard (2–1) Grass (0–0) Clay (0–2) Carpet (1–1) ResultW-LDate TournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 1–0 Oct 1981 Tokyo, Japan Hard Julie Harrington 6–1, 7–5Loss 1–1 May 1982 Berlin, West Germany Clay Bettina Bunge 2–6, 2–6Loss 1–2 Jul 1982 San Diego, US Hard Tracy Austin 6–7(5–7), 3–6Win 2–2 Aug 1985 Mahwah, US Hard Steffi Graf 6–4, 3–6, 6–4Loss 2–3 Sep 1985 Chicago, US Carpet (i) Bonnie Gadusek 1–6, 3–6Loss 2–4 May 1986 Houston, US Clay Chris Evert-Lloyd 4–6, 6–2, 4–6Win 3–3 Nov 1986 Little Rock, US Carpet (i) Natasha Zvereva 6–4, 6–7(7–9), 6–0

Doubles: 12 (2–10) Legend Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) Tier I (0–2) Tier II (1–2) Tier III (1–3) Tier IV (0–2) Tier V (1–1) Finals by surface Hard (1–7) Grass (0–0) Clay (1–2) Carpet (0–1) Result No. Date Tournament SurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1. Mar 1991 San Antonio Hard Jill Hetherington Patty Fendick Monica Seles 6–7(2–7), 2–6Win 1. Apr 1991 Houston Clay Jill Hetherington Patty Fendick Mary Joe Fernández 6–1, 2–6, 6–1Win 2. Aug 1991 San Diego Hard Jill Hetherington Gigi Fernández Nathalie Tauziat 6–4, 3–6, 6–2Loss 2. Oct 1991 Leipzig Carpet (i) Jill Hetherington Manon Bollegraf Isabelle Demongeot 4–6, 3–6Loss 3. Feb 1992 Auckland Hard Jill Hetherington Rosalyn Fairbank Raffaella Reggi 6–1, 1–6, 5–7Loss 4. Mar 1992 Indian Wells Hard Jill Hetherington Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Stephanie Rehe 3–6, 3–6Loss 5. Mar 1992 Key Biscayne Hard Jill Hetherington Larisa Neiland Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 5–7, 7–5, 3–6Loss 6. Apr 1992 Houston Clay Jill Hetherington Patty Fendick Gigi Fernández 5–7, 4–6Loss 7. Nov 1992 San Juan Hard Gigi Fernández Amanda Coetzer Elna Reinach 2–6, 6–4, 2–6Loss 8. Feb 1993 Auckland Hard Jill Hetherington Isabelle Demongeot Elna Reinach 2–6, 4–6Loss 9. Mar 1993 Key Biscayne Hard Jill Hetherington Larisa Neiland Jana Novotná 2–6, 5–7Loss 10. May 1993 Strasbourg Clay Jill Hetherington Shaun Stafford Andrea Temesvári 7–6(7–5), 3–6, 4–6

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Tournament 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 Career W–L Australian Open A A 1R 3R A NH A A A 2R 1R A 1R 1R A A 3–6 French Open QF 4R 4R 3R 3R QF 3R 1R 2R 1R 2R 1R 3R A A A 24–13 Wimbledon 2R 3R 4R 1R SF 1R A A 1R 1R 1R 2R 2R A A 1R 13–12 US Open 1R 4R 2R 2R 1R 1R A 1R 2R 2R 2R 2R 1R A 1R 1R 9–14 Win–loss5–38–37–45–47–34–32–10–22–32–42–42–33–40–10–10–249–45 Year-end ranking 33 15 14 23 11 8 26 88 52 69 105 111 83 NR NR 225

See also

References

External links