Erica Kathleen "Kathy" Horvath (born August 25, 1965) is an American former professional tennis player. She is best known for upsetting world No. 1

Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova ( cs, Martina Navrátilová ; ; born October 18, 1956) is a Czech–American, former professional tennis player. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Navratilova won 18 major singles titles, 31 maj ...

in the fourth round of the

1983 French Open The 1983 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 23 May until 5 June. It was the 87th staging of the French Open, and the first Grand Slam ...

, delivering her only defeat for the season.

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

in the 1983 season (at the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

), winning in the fourth round in three sets. Navratilova's coaches (Renee Richards and Nancy Lieberman) 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 Claudia Kohde-Kilsch (''née'' Kohde; born 11 December 1963) is a former German tennis player and member of the Die Linke. During her tennis career, she won two women's doubles Grand Slam titles. She also won eight singles titles and a total of ...

, Mary Joe Fernández, Betty Stöve, and

Sylvia Hanika Sylvia Hanika (born 30 November 1959) is a former professional tennis player from Germany. She is best remembered for finishing runner-up at the French Open in 1981, and for winning the Year End Championships in 1982. She was ranked as high as N ...

. 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 Henry Christian Hopman Order of the British Empire, CBE (12 August 1906 – 27 December 1985) was an Australian tennis player and coach. Early life Harry Hopman was born on 12 August 1906 in Glebe, New South Wales, Glebe, Sydney as the third c ...

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)

Doubles 9: (3–6)

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Horvath, Kathy 1965 births Living people American female tennis players French Open junior champions Tennis players from Chicago Grand Slam (tennis) champions in girls' singles People from Millburn, New Jersey 21st-century American women