Sheila McInerney (born February 22, 1958) is an American former professional

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player.

Biography

McInerney is originally from

Rome, New York Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States, located in the central part of the state. The population was 32,127 at the 2020 census. Rome is one of two principal cities in the Utica–Rome Metropolitan Statistical Area, which lie ...

and began playing tennis at the age of eight. A former student at the

Rome Free Academy Rome Free Academy (commonly abbreviated as RFA) is a four-year public high school in Rome, New York, United States. It is a part of the Rome City School District. As it is the sole comprehensive high school in its school district, it serves as ...

, she later moved to Miami to further her tennis and attended Palmetto High School. She received a tennis scholarship to the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

(USC Trojans) in 1976. As an amateur, McInerney qualified for the main draw of the 1977 US Open and made it through to the third round, where she was beaten in three sets by

Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943), also known as BJK, is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in w ...

. In 1978 she partnered with USC teammate Barbara Hallquist to a runner-up finish in the doubles at the U.S. Clay Court Championships. By the time she graduated from USC in 1980, she had achieved four

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n selections and was captain of the Trojans in her senior year. From 1980 to 1983, McInerney competed professionally and featured in the doubles main draws of the

French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...

and

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

. Now a tennis coach, McInerney led the American women's teams at the

1986 Goodwill Games The 1986 Goodwill Games was the inaugural edition of the international multi-sport event created by Ted Turner, which was held from 5 – 20 July 1986. The main stadium was the Luzhniki Stadium, Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Sov ...

and

1987 Pan American Games The 1987 Pan American Games, officially known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on August 7–23, 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas ...

. Since 1985, she has been the long serving head coach of

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the sport, athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's Varsity team, varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Divisi ...

women's tennis.

WTA career finals

Doubles: 1 runner-up

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McInerney, Sheila 1958 births Living people American female tennis players American tennis coaches USC Trojans women's tennis players Tennis players from New York (state) Arizona State Sun Devils women's tennis coaches Sportspeople from Rome, New York Tennis coaches from New York (state) 20th-century American sportswomen