Kathleen Horvath


Erica Kathleen "Kathy" Horvath is a retired American professional tennis player.

Career

She was the youngest player to play in the US Open in 1979 at 14 years and five days — this record still stands. Horvath was the youngest player to win the U.S. National 16 and under in 1979. She also is the only player to ever win all four age groups in the U.S. Girls Clay Courts in all consecutive years.
Horvath played on the WTA Tour from 1981 to 1989, winning six singles titles and reaching a career-high ranking of world No. 10 in 1984. She reached the quarterfinals at the French Open in 1983 and 1984. She retired with a 176–154 singles record.
Horvath was the only player to defeat Martina Navratilova in the 1983 season, winning in the fourth round in three sets. Navratilova's coaches argued in the stands over strategy, something Navratilova noticed during the match.
Horvath had career victories over Navratilova, Andrea Jaeger, Manuela Maleeva, Gabriela Sabatini, Dianne Fromholtz, Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, Mary Joe Fernández, Betty Stöve, and Sylvia Hanika. She was a member of the 1984 United States Fed Cup team. Horvath played in the 1984 Olympics when tennis was reintroduced as a demonstration sport and was the first seed. She was coached by Harry Hopman and Nick Bollettieri.
After her tennis career, she got her BS and MBA at the Wharton School of Business and then worked on Wall Street until 2003.

WTA career finals

Singles 9: (6–3)

OutcomeNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Winner1.25 January 1981MontrealCarpet Candy Reynolds6–4, 7–6
Winner2.6 March 1983NashvilleCarpet Marcela Skuherská6–4, 6–3
Runner-up1.23 May 1983BerlinClay Chris Evert-Lloyd4–6, 6–7
Winner3.13 November 1983HonoluluCarpet Carling Bassett4–6, 6–2, 7–6
Runner-up2.29 January 1984Marco IslandClay Bonnie Gadusek6–3, 0–6, 4–6
Runner-up3.20 May 1984BerlinClay Claudia Kohde-Kilsch6–7, 1–6
Winner4.10 March 1985IndianapolisCarpet Elise Burgin6–2, 6–4
Winner5.31 March 1985Palm Beach GardensClay Petra Jauch-Delhees3–6, 6–3, 6–3
Winner6.12 July 1987KnokkeClay Bettina Bunge6–1, 7–6

Doubles 9: (3–6)

OutcomeNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Winner1.9 May 1982PerugiaClay Yvonne Vermaak Billie Jean King
Ilana Kloss
2–6, 6–4, 7–6
Winner2.7 August 1983IndianapolisClay Virginia Ruzici Gigi Fernández
Beth Herr
4–6, 7–6, 6–2
Runner-up1.20 May 1984BerlinClay Virginia Ruzici Anne Hobbs
Candy Reynolds
3–6, 6–4, 6–7
Runner-up2.27 May 1984PerugiaClay Virginia Ruzici Iva Budařová
Helena Suková
6–7, 6–1, 4–6
Winner3.10 March 1985IndianapolisCarpet Elise Burgin Jennifer Mundel
Molly Van Nostrand
6–4, 6–1
Runner-up3.28 April 1985OrlandoClay Elise Burgin Martina Navratilova
Pam Shriver
3–6, 1–6
Runner-up4.24 May 1987StrasbourgClay Marcella Mesker Jana Novotná
Catherine Suire
0–6, 2–6
Runner-up5.12 July 1987KnokkeClay Marcella Mesker Bettina Bunge
Manuela Maleeva
6–4, 4–6, 4–6
Runner-up6.5 October 1987AthensClay Dinky Van Rensburg Andrea Betzner
Judith Wiesner
4–6, 6–7

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Tournament19791980198119821983198419851986198719881989Career SR
Australian OpenAAAAAAANHAA1R0 / 1
French OpenA2R3R3RQFQF3R1R1R1RA0 / 9
WimbledonAAA1RA2RA3R1R1RA0 / 5
US Open2R2R3RA2R1R1R3R1RAA0 / 8
SR0 / 10 / 20 / 20 / 20 / 20 / 30 / 20 / 30 / 30 / 20 / 10 / 23
Year-end rankingNRNR2849152950473785218