The Open Era

Meredith McGrath

United States · born Midland, Michigan, 1971 · Eastbourne champion 1994, Birmingham champion 1996 and Wimbledon semi-finalist

A painted still life of a grass court in the open era, not a portrait of the player
A period scene. No freely licensed photograph of this player has been found yet.

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2

Grass singles titles, Eastbourne 1994 and Birmingham 1996

1996

Unseeded Wimbledon singles semi-finalist

1996

Wimbledon doubles finalist with Larisa Neiland, the same fortnight

1989

Wimbledon girls' doubles champion with Jennifer Capriati, and girls' singles runner-up

1990

NCAA doubles champion in her one season at Stanford

Playing career

Meredith McGrath was born in Midland, Michigan, in 1971 and was one of the leading juniors of the late 1980s. At Wimbledon in 1989 she was runner-up in the girls' singles and won the girls' doubles with Jennifer Capriati.

She spent one season at Stanford, winning the 1990 NCAA doubles title with Teri Whitlinger and helping the team to the NCAA title, before turning professional. She won three WTA singles titles, two of them on grass, and was a leading doubles player; she won the 1995 US Open mixed doubles and was named the WTA Tour's Comeback Player of the Year in 1994 after earlier injuries.

Her best season came in 1996, when she won Birmingham and then reached the Wimbledon singles semi-finals unseeded and the doubles final. An injury suffered shortly before that Wimbledon ended her career, and she later returned to Stanford to complete her degree.

On grass

Eastbourne 1994Beat Linda Harvey-Wild 6-2, 6-4 in the final
Birmingham 1996Seeded 10th, beat the second seed Nathalie Tauziat 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the final
Wimbledon 1996, singlesUnseeded, beat Mana Endo, the 14th seed Amanda Coetzer 7-6, 2-6, 6-3, Nancy Feber, Katarína Studeníková and the ninth seed Mary Joe Fernandez 6-3, 6-1, then lost the semi-final to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6-2, 6-1
Wimbledon 1996, doublesWith Larisa Neiland, seeded four, lost the final to Martina Hingis and Helena Suková 5-7, 7-5, 6-1
Wimbledon juniors, 1989Girls' singles runner-up to Andrea Strnadová, 6-2, 6-3; girls' doubles champion with Jennifer Capriati, beating Strnadová and Eva Švíglerová 6-4, 6-2

Every grass title: 2

Show every title, tournament by tournament
Eastbourne
1994 Women's singles
Birmingham
1996 Women's singles

Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. † single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions

Anecdotes

The person behind the player.

Wimbledon 1989

A junior double with Capriati

At 18 she reached the girls' singles final, losing to Andrea Strnadová, and won the girls' doubles with Jennifer Capriati.

Source: Wimbledon Compendium 2025

Stanford, 1989 to 1990

One season on the Farm

In her only college season she went 20-1 in dual matches, mostly at No. 2, won the NCAA doubles title with Teri Whitlinger unbeaten in duals and led Stanford to the 1990 NCAA team title. She later went back to Stanford to finish her degree.

Source: Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame

Birmingham, June 1996

Beating the next finalist

Her opponent in the 1996 Birmingham final was Nathalie Tauziat, the second seed. Tauziat would reach the Wimbledon final two years later; McGrath beat her from a set down.

Source: LTA, Birmingham 1996 draw

Wimbledon 1996

Two finals, almost

She was the only unseeded semi-finalist in the ladies' singles in 1996. In the doubles final she and Larisa Neiland took the first set from Martina Hingis and Helena Suková and led 5-2 in the second before losing in three sets.

Source: Wimbledon Compendium 2025; Wikipedia

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Page updated 4 November 2026. Spotted an error? Send a correction.

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