Sports: USF tennis coach can't wait to start

[Times photo: Stefanie Boyar]
Gigi Fernandez, 38, is USF's new women's tennis coach.

An undergraduate psychology major is South Florida's new women's tennis coach.

Oh, she also has 17 Grand Slam titles.

Gigi Fernandez, one of the all-time great doubles players, surreptitiously enrolled at USF during the spring of 2001. On Wednesday, she not-so-quietly was introduced before a horde of television cameras and other media.

"There's a great team spirit about this university, and there's also a great commitment to athletics," Fernandez said. "I'm really excited to be a part of this team, and I'm looking forward to the thrill of a ride that we're going to have."

Fernandez, 38, a native of Puerto Rico, retired in 1997 and moved to Tampa a few years later for the warm weather and to be closer to her mother. She played one year at Clemson before embarking on a 14-year pro career.

Fernandez was ranked as high as No.17 in singles and reached the semifinals at Wimbledon in 1994. But she became a legend in doubles.

She won six French Opens, five U.S. Opens, four Wimbledons and two Australian Opens. Fourteen of her titles, including six in a row from 1992-93, came with Natasha Zvereva.

She also represented the United States at the Olympics, pairing with Mary Joe Fernandez to win gold medals in 1992 and '96. Among her other frequent partners were Martina Navratilova, Jana Novotna and Martina Hingis.

Fernandez succeeds Sherry Bedingfield, who retired after 23 seasons and went 348-258 with 11 conference titles. But USF is 15-30 during the past two seasons.

Fernandez was taking classes when an athletic department intern spotted her in class and asked if she would donate a racket for a USF athletic auction. One thing led to another.

"Since I retired, I've wanted to coach," she said. "I always felt the need to pass it on."

Fernandez believed because she hadn't graduated, she couldn't coach in college. But because she is working toward her degree, USF pursued her.

"My first goal is to build a tennis center at the tennis courts, a place where we can bring top recruits. Anybody got $100,000?" Fernandez said, tongue partly in cheek. "My goal is to turn this team into a top 10 contender. I know it's not going to happen overnight. I think I'm on a five-year plan."

Fernandez is a 1-handicap and considered pursuing a pro golf career. She has been coaching standout doubles player Rennae Stubbs and the Puerto Rican Federation Cup team.

She will take a reduced class load while coaching.

"When I went to (Clemson), I had no idea I was going to be a professional tennis player, but that one year kind of catapulted me," Fernandez said. "I feel like I can do that for players who are wanting to make the transition (to pro tennis) and need maybe two, three, four years to develop their games.

"I love coaching, and I love working with talent and developing it."

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