Kim Kessaris
{{short description|American tennis player}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox tennis biography
| name = Kim Kessaris
| image =
| fullname = Kimberly Lynn Kessaris
| country_represented = {{USA}}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1973|3|27}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| height =
| plays =
| careerprizemoney = $41,101
| singlesrecord =
| singlestitles =
| highestsinglesranking = No. 124 (July 17, 1989)
| currentsinglesranking =
| AustralianOpenresult = 3R (1989)
| FrenchOpenresult =
| Wimbledonresult = 2R (1989)
| USOpenresult = 1R (1989)
| doublesrecord =
| doublestitles =
| highestdoublesranking = No. 381 (October 24, 1988)
| currentdoublesranking =
| AustralianOpenDoublesresult =
| FrenchOpenDoublesresult =
| WimbledonDoublesresult =
| USOpenDoublesresult =
}}
Kimberly Lynn Kessaris (born March 27, 1973) is a former professional tennis player from the United States.
Biography
=Early life=
Kessaris grew up in Hendersonville, North Carolina, the daughter of Jim and Peggy. Her father, a dentist by profession, got her started in tennis when she was five. She attended the local Heritage Hall school.{{cite news|url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-08-11/sports/8502020164_1_kimberly-kessaris-singles-and-doubles-tennis|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310074148/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-08-11/sports/8502020164_1_kimberly-kessaris-singles-and-doubles-tennis|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 10, 2018|title=Kessaris Overpowering In Girls' 12s Title Match|last=Robb|first=Sharon|date=August 11, 1985|work=Sun-Sentinel|access-date=9 March 2018}}
Considered a tennis prodigy, she was a top ranked junior and trained at Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy in Florida.{{cite web|url=http://people.com/archive/at-nick-bollettieris-florida-boot-camp-tennis-is-played-only-one-way-to-win-vol-26-no-16/|title=At Nick Bollettieri's Florida Boot Camp, Tennis Is Played Only One Way—to Win|last=Arias|first=Ron|date=October 20, 1986|work=People|access-date=9 March 2018}}
=Tennis career=
Kessaris made her WTA Tour debut at Charleston in 1987, just days after her 14th birthday.
In 1988 she was beaten by Steffi Graf in only 32-minutes at a tournament in Mahwah.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1989/08/15/tennis/0c94a7e5-97f6-491d-b1ac-c36c08e14787/|title=Tennis|date=August 15, 1989|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=9 March 2018}}
At the 1989 Australian Open she defeated Andrea Farley in the girls' singles final to become the first American to win an Australian Open junior title.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/152524912/|title=Girls Singles|date=January 30, 1989|work=Reno Gazette-Journal|page=11|access-date=9 March 2018}}{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/tennis/2013/01/17/australian-open-junior-championships/1842633/|title=U.S. contingent ready for Australian Open juniors|date=January 17, 2013|work=USA Today|access-date=9 March 2018}} She also qualified for the main draw of the women's singles and made the third round.
Her best performance on the WTA Tour was a quarter-final appearance at the 1989 Virginia Slims of Houston as a lucky loser and that July she reached her highest ranking of 124 in the world.{{cite news|url=http://newsok.com/article/2264342|title=Evert Reaches Semis|date=April 29, 1989|work=The Oklahoman|access-date=9 March 2018}}
Following the 1990 Australian Open she left professional tennis, aged 16.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{WTA}}
- {{ITF}}
{{Australian Open girls' singles champions}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kessaris, Kim}}
Category:American female tennis players
Category:Tennis players from North Carolina
Category:People from Hendersonville, North Carolina
Category:Australian Open (tennis) junior champions