Lori McNeil

This article is about the American tennis player and coach. For the American physicist, see Laurie McNeil.

Lori McNeil (born December 18, 1963) is an American tennis coach and former top 10 player. McNeil was a singles semifinalist at the US Open in 1987 and Wimbledon in 1994, a women's doubles finalist at the Australian Open in 1987 with Zina Garrison and French Open mixed-doubles winner in 1988 with Jorge Lozano.

Lori McNeil

Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Houston, Texas
Born	(1963-12-18) December 18, 1963 (age 59) San Diego, California
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Turned pro	1983
Retired	2002
Plays	Right-handed (one handed-backhand)
Prize money	$3,441,604
Singles
Career record	436–309 (58.5%)
Career titles	10
Highest ranking	No. 9 (July 4, 1988)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	QF (1987)
French Open	3R (1988, 1992, 1994)
Wimbledon	SF (1994)
US Open	SF (1987)
Doubles
Career record	605–335 (64.4%)
Career titles	33
Highest ranking	No. 4 (November 9, 1987)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	F (1987)
French Open	QF (1987, 1992, 1993)
Wimbledon	SF (1987)
US Open	SF (1995, 1996)
Mixed doubles
Career titles	1
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open	SF (1997)
French Open	W (1988)
Wimbledon	F (1994)
US Open	QF (1992)

Personal

McNeil was born the youngest of four siblings to mother Dorothy and father Charlie McNeil, who played professional football with the San Diego Chargers during the 1960s. Moving from San Diego to Houston, McNeil developed her tennis skills at MacGregor Park playground, a public facility in the Third Ward district. It was there she became close childhood friends with fellow future professional tennis player, Zina Garrison.^[1]

Career

Lori McNeil attended Oklahoma State University for two years and played tennis for the Cowgirls, reaching the 1983 NCAA quarterfinals (losing to eventual champion Beth Herr from USC).

McNeil played on the WTA Tour for 19 years from 1983–2002. She won a total of ten singles titles and 33 doubles titles during her career. Her career-high world rankings were No. 9 in singles (in 1988) and No. 4 in doubles (in 1987).

In 1987, McNeil was awarded the WTA Most Improved Player of the Year.

McNeil is perhaps best remembered for her results against Steffi Graf. In 1992, she defeated Graf 7–6, 6–4 in the first round of the WTA Tour Championships, marking the first time since 1985 that Graf had lost in the opening round of a tournament. Then, in 1994, McNeil beat Graf 7–5, 7–6 in the first round at Wimbledon, the first time in Grand Slam history that a defending champion had suffered a first-round loss.

That year, McNeil went on to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon before losing to eventual-champion Conchita Martínez, 6–3, 2–6, 8–10. This equalled McNeil's best-ever Grand Slam singles performance – she also reached the semifinals at the US Open in 1987 (after defeating six-time champion Chris Evert in the quarterfinals) where she lost to Graf, 6–4, 2–6, 4–6.

Despite never winning a women's doubles Grand Slam title, she reached the quarterfinal stage or better on 22 occasions at Grand Slam level, and won multiple WTA Tour doubles titles with many of the leading doubles players of the era, including Martina Navratilova, Gigi Fernández, Rennae Stubbs, Katrina Adams, Zina Garrison and Helena Suková.

From 2001-2004, McNeil coached former top-5 player Amanda Coetzer. Partnering together, coach and student reached the doubles quarterfinals of the 2002 Australian Open. In 2004 and 2008, McNeil was also Assistant Coach to the US Olympic tennis teams.^[2]

In 2006, McNeil was inducted into the ITA Hall of Fame.

Grand Slam tournament finals

Doubles: 1 (runner-up)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1987	Australian Open	Grass	Zina Garrison	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	6–1, 6–0

Mixed doubles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1987	French Open	Clay	Sherwood Stewart	Pam Shriver   Emilio Sánchez	6–3, 7–6^(7–4)
Win	1988	French Open	Clay	Jorge Lozano	Brenda Schultz   Michiel Schapers	7–5, 6–2
Loss	1992	French Open	Clay	Bryan Shelton	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario   Mark Woodforde	6–2, 6–3
Loss	1994	Wimbledon	Grass	T. J. Middleton	Helena Suková   Todd Woodbridge	3–6, 7–5, 6–3

WTA career finals

Singles: 21 (10 titles, 11 runner-ups)

Legend Tier I (0–1) Tier II (1–0) Tier III (2–2) Tier IV (2–1) Tier V (3–2) Virginia Slims (2–5)

Finals by surface Hard (4–3) Grass (4–2) Clay (0–1) Carpet (2–5)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Feb 1986	Oklahoma City	Carpet (i)	Marcella Mesker	4–6, 6–4, 3–6
Loss	0–2	Jul 1986	Newport	Grass	Pam Shriver	4–6, 2–6
Win	1–2	Sep 1986	Tampa	Hard	Zina Garrison	2–6, 7–5, 6–2
Win	2–2	Sep 1986	Tulsa	Hard	Beth Herr	6–0, 6–1
Loss	2–3	Feb 1987	Oklahoma City	Hard	Elizabeth Smylie	6–4, 3–6, 5–7
Loss	2–4	Mar 1987	Piscataway	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	0–6, 3–6
Loss	2–5	Sep 1987	New Orleans	Carpet (i)	Chris Evert	3–6, 5–7
Win	3–5	Feb 1988	Oklahoma City	Carpet (i)	Brenda Schultz	6–3, 6–2
Loss	3–6	May 1988	Geneva	Clay	Barbara Paulus	4–6, 7–5, 1–6
Win	4–6	Jul 1988	Newport	Grass	Barbara Potter	6–4, 4–6, 6–3
Loss	4–7	Jan 1989	Tokyo	Carpet (i)	Martina Navratilova	7–6^(7–3), 3–6, 6–7^(5–7)
Win	5–7	Aug 1989	Albuquerque	Hard	Elna Reinach	6–1, 6–3
Win	6–7	Feb 1991	Denver	Carpet (i)	Manon Bollegraf	6–3, 6–4
Win	7–7	Apr 1991	Tokyo	Hard	Sabine Appelmans	2–6, 6–2, 6–1
Loss	7–8	Jul 1991	Westchester	Hard	Isabelle Demongeot	4–6, 4–6
Loss	7–9	Feb 1992	Oklahoma City	Hard (i)	Zina Garrison	5–7, 6–3, 5–7^(10)
Win	8–9	Jun 1992	Eastbourne	Grass	Linda Wild	6–4, 6–4
Win	9–9	Jun 1993	Birmingham	Grass	Zina Garrison	6–4, 2–6, 6–3
Win	10–9	Jun 1994	Birmingham	Grass	Zina Garrison	6–2, 6–2
Loss	10–10	Jun 1995	Birmingham	Grass	Zina Garrison	3–6, 3–6
Loss	10–11	Nov 1995	Philadelphia	Carpet (i)	Steffi Graf	1–6, 6–4, 3–6

Doubles: 64 (33 titles, 31 runner-ups)

Legend Grand Slam (0–1) Tier I (3–2) Tier II (4–8) Tier III (8–5) Tier IV (4–2) Tier V (4–3) Virginia Slims (10–10)

Finals by surface Hard (13–9) Grass (4–3) Clay (6–7) Carpet (10–12)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1.	September 26, 1983	Bakersfield	Hard	Kyle Copeland	Ann Henricksson   Patricia Medrado	6–4, 6–3
Loss	1.	April 1, 1985	Seabrook Island	Clay	Elise Burgin	Svetlana Parkhomenko   Larisa Savchenko	1–6, 3–6
Win	2.	October 21, 1985	Brighton	Carpet (i)	Catherine Suire	Barbara Potter   Helena Suková	4–6, 7–6^(3), 6–4
Loss	2.	February 24, 1986	Memphis	Carpet (i)	Catherine Suire	Marcella Mesker   Pascale Paradis	6–2, 6–7^(1), 1–6
Loss	3.	October 6, 1986	Zürich	Carpet (i)	Alycia Moulton	Steffi Graf   Gabriela Sabatini	6–1, 4–6, 4–6
Win	3.	October 27, 1986	Indianapolis	Hard (i)	Zina Garrison	Candy Reynolds   Anne Smith	4–5 ret.
Win	4.	November 10, 1986	San Juan	Hard	Mercedes Paz	Gigi Fernández   Robin White	6–2, 3–6, 6–4
Win	5.	December 1, 1986	Buenos Aires	Clay	Mercedes Paz	Manon Bollegraf   Nicole Jagerman	6–1, 2–6, 6–1
Loss	4.	January 12, 1987	Australian Open	Grass	Zina Garrison	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	1–6, 0–6
Loss	5.	February 9, 1987	Memphis	Hard	Kim Sands	Svetlana Parkhomenko   Larisa Savchenko	4–6, 4–6
Loss	6.	March 23, 1987	Washington D.C.	Carpet (i)	Zina Garrison	Elise Burgin   Pam Shriver	1–6, 6–3, 4–6
Win	6.	March 29, 1987	Piscataway	Carpet (i)	Gigi Fernández	Betsy Nagelsen   Elizabeth Smylie	6–1, 6–4
Loss	7.	April 6, 1987	Hilton Head	Clay	Zina Garrison	Mercedes Paz   Eva Pfaff	6–7^(6), 5–7
Loss	8.	April 20, 1987	Houston	Clay	Zina Garrison	Kathy Jordan   Martina Navratilova	2–6, 4–6
Win	7.	July 13, 1987	Newport	Grass	Gigi Fernández	Anne Hobbs   Kathy Jordan	7–6^(5), 7–5
Loss	9.	August 10, 1987	Los Angeles	Hard	Zina Garrison	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	3–6, 4–6
Win	8.	August 17, 1987	Toronto	Hard	Zina Garrison	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch   Helena Suková	6–1, 6–2
Win	9.	August 24, 1987	Mahwah	Hard	Gigi Fernández	Anne Hobbs   Elizabeth Smylie	6–3, 6–2
Win	10.	September 28, 1987	New Orleans	Carpet (i)	Zina Garrison	Peanut Louie Harper   Heather Ludloff	6–3, 6–4
Loss	10.	October 12, 1987	Filderstadt	Carpet (i)	Zina Garrison	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	1–6, 2–6
Loss	11.	November 9, 1987	Chicago	Carpet (i)	Zina Garrison	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch   Helena Suková	4–6, 3–6
Win	11.	February 8, 1988	Dallas	Carpet (i)	Eva Pfaff	Gigi Fernández   Zina Garrison	2–6, 6–4, 7–5
Win	12.	February 29, 1988	San Antonio	Hard	Helena Suková	Rosalyn Fairbank   Gretchen Magers	6–3, 6–7^(5), 6–2
Win	13.	April 4, 1988	Hilton Head	Clay	Martina Navratilova	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch   Gabriela Sabatini	6–2, 2–6, 6–3
Loss	12.	April 18, 1988	Houston	Clay	Martina Navratilova	Katrina Adams   Zina Garrison	7–6^(4), 2–6, 4–6
Loss	13.	July 11, 1988	Newport	Grass	Gigi Fernández	Rosalyn Fairbank   Barbara Potter	4–6, 3–6
Loss	14.	October 3, 1988	New Orleans	Hard	Betsy Nagelsen	Beth Herr   Candy Reynolds	4–6, 4–6
Win	14.	October 24, 1988	Brighton	Carpet (i)	Betsy Nagelsen	Isabelle Demongeot   Nathalie Tauziat	7–6^(5), 2–6, 7–6^(4)
Win	15.	November 7, 1988	Chicago	Carpet (i)	Betsy Nagelsen	Larisa Savchenko   Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 3–6, 6–4
Loss	15.	November 28, 1988	Adelaide	Hard	Jana Novotná	Sylvia Hanika   Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	5–7, 7–6^(4), 4–6
Win	16.	February 27, 1989	Memphis	Hard (i)	Betsy Nagelsen	Elise Burgin   Elizabeth Smylie	w/o
Loss	16.	March 20, 1989	Key Biscayne	Hard	Gigi Fernández	Jana Novotná   Helena Suková	6–7^(5), 4–6
Loss	17.	April 24, 1989	Houston	Clay	Gigi Fernández	Katrina Adams   Zina Garrison	3–6, 4–6
Win	17.	May 22, 1989	Geneva	Clay	Katrina Adams	Larisa Savchenko   Natasha Zvereva	2–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win	18.	July 17, 1989	Newport	Grass	Gigi Fernández	Elizabeth Smylie   Wendy Turnbull	6–3, 6–7^(5), 7–5
Win	19.	October 23, 1989	Brighton	Carpet (i)	Katrina Adams	Hana Mandlíková   Jana Novotná	4–6, 7–6^(7), 6–4
Win	20.	October 30, 1989	Indianapolis	Hard (i)	Katrina Adams	Claudia Porwik   Larisa Savchenko	6–4, 6–4
Loss	18.	February 11, 1991	Denver	Carpet (i)	Patty Fendick	Lise Gregory   Gretchen Rush	4–6, 4–6
Win	21.	May 20, 1991	Strasbourg	Clay	Stephanie Rehe	Manon Bollegraf   Mercedes Paz	6–7^(2), 6–4, 6–4
Loss	19.	July 22, 1991	Westchester	Hard	Katrina Adams	Rosalyn Fairbank   Lise Gregory	5–7, 4–6
Win	22.	September 30, 1991	Milan	Carpet (i)	Sandy Collins	Sabine Appelmans   Raffaella Reggi	7–6^(0), 6–3
Loss	20.	October 7, 1991	Zürich	Carpet (i)	Zina Garrison	Jana Novotná   Andrea Strnadová	4–6, 3–6
Loss	21.	October 21, 1991	Brighton	Carpet (i)	Zina Garrison	Pam Shriver   Natasha Zvereva	1–6, 2–6
Win	23.	February 17, 1992	Memphis	Hard (i)	Nicole Provis	Katrina Adams   Manon Bollegraf	3–6, 6–4, 7–6^(6)
Loss	22.	May 18, 1992	Strasbourg	Clay	Mercedes Paz	Patty Fendick   Andrea Strnadová	3–6, 4–6
Win	24.	June 8, 1992	Birmingham	Grass	Rennae Stubbs	Sandy Collins   Elna Reinach	5–7, 6–3, 8–6
Win	25.	August 17, 1992	Montreal	Hard	Rennae Stubbs	Gigi Fernández   Natasha Zvereva	3–6, 7–5, 7–5
Loss	23.	January 11, 1993	Sydney	Hard	Rennae Stubbs	Pam Shriver   Elizabeth Smylie	6–7^(4), 2–6
Loss	24.	February 1, 1993	Tokyo	Carpet (i)	Rennae Stubbs	Martina Navratilova   Helena Suková	4–6, 3–6
Win	26.	June 7, 1993	Birmingham	Grass	Martina Navratilova	Pam Shriver   Elizabeth Smylie	6–3, 6–4
Win	27.	March 28, 1994	Hilton Head	Clay	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	Gigi Fernández   Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 4–1 ret.
Win	28.	May 16, 1994	Strasbourg	Clay	Rennae Stubbs	Patricia Tarabini   Caroline Vis	6–3, 3–6, 6–2
Loss	25.	March 6, 1995	Delray Beach	Hard	Larisa Neiland	Mary Joe Fernández   Jana Novotná	4–6, 0–6
Loss	26.	October 16, 1995	Brighton	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Meredith McGrath   Larisa Neiland	5–7, 1–6
Win	29.	October 30, 1995	Oakland	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Katrina Adams   Zina Garrison	3–6, 6–4, 6–3
Win	30.	November 6, 1995	Philadelphia	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Meredith McGrath   Larisa Neiland	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss	27.	January 8, 1996	Sydney	Hard	Helena Suková	Lindsay Davenport   Mary Joe Fernández	3–6, 3–6
Loss	28.	February 19, 1996	Essen	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Meredith McGrath   Larisa Neiland	6–3, 3–6, 2–6
Loss	29.	June 10, 1996	Birmingham	Grass	Nathalie Tauziat	Elizabeth Smylie   Linda Wild	3–6, 6–3, 1–6
Loss	30.	November 11, 1996	Philadelphia	Carpet (i)	Nicole Arendt	Lisa Raymond   Rennae Stubbs	4–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win	31.	October 26, 1998	Quebec City	Hard (i)	Kimberly Po	Chanda Rubin   Sandrine Testud	6–7^(3), 7–5, 6–4
Win	32.	February 19, 2001	Memphis	Hard (i)	Amanda Coetzer	Janet Lee   Wynne Prakusya	6–3, 2–6, 6–0
Loss	31.	May 21, 2001	Strasbourg	Clay	Amanda Coetzer	Silvia Farina Elia   Iroda Tulyaganova	1–6, 6–7^(0)
Win	33.	September 10, 2001	Bahia	Hard	Amanda Coetzer	Nicole Arendt   Patricia Tarabini	6–7^(8), 6–2, 6–4

Grand Slam performance timelines

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

DNQ

A

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles

Tournament	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	Career SR
Australian Open	A	A	2R	LQ	1R	NH	QF	4R	1R	1R	3R	1R	2R	A	3R	2R	1R	A	A	0 / 12
French Open	A	A	A	2R	2R	1R	1R	3R	2R	1R	1R	3R	2R	3R	1R	A	1R	1R	A	0 / 14
Wimbledon	A	A	A	1R	1R	QF	2R	3R	4R	3R	3R	3R	2R	SF	1R	3R	1R	3R	A	0 / 15
US Open	LQ	A	LQ	4R	1R	1R	SF	3R	1R	2R	2R	3R	2R	1R	2R	1R	1R	2R	A	0 / 15
SR	0 / 0	0 / 0	0 / 1	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 0	0 / 56
Year-end ranking	NR	NR	148	97	93	14	11	13	37	52	19	15	25	17	34	83	305	91	869

Doubles

Tournament	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	Career SR
Australian Open	2R	1R	1R	NH	F	A	QF	3R	3R	3R	QF	A	QF	1R	3R	A	A	A	A	QF	0 / 13
French Open	A	1R	2R	1R	QF	3R	2R	3R	1R	QF	QF	3R	1R	A	2R	2R	A	1R	1R	2R	0 / 17
Wimbledon	A	2R	1R	1R	SF	QF	QF	3R	QF	QF	QF	3R	QF	2R	3R	3R	1R	2R	3R	2R	0 / 19
US Open	A	2R	3R	3R	QF	QF	1R	QF	3R	QF	QF	A	SF	SF	1R	1R	2R	3R	2R	1R	0 / 18
SR	0 / 1	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 2	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 67
Year-end ranking		72	33	28	4	10	16	22	19	14	12	15	15	13	37	50	95	58	29	89

Mixed doubles

Tournament	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	Career SR
Australian Open	NH	QF	1R	A	1R	1R	1R	A	A	QF	2R	SF	A	A	A	A	1R	0 / 9
French Open	1R	F	W	1R	1R	1R	F	2R	3R	2R	A	2R	QF	A	A	A	A	1 / 12
Wimbledon	A	1R	QF	SF	3R	1R	SF	2R	F	3R	3R	3R	2R	1R	2R	2R	A	0 / 15
US Open	1R	2R	1R	A	1R	1R	QF	1R	A	1R	1R	1R	A	A	1R	A	A	0 / 11
SR	0 / 2	0 / 4	1 / 4	0 / 2	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 2	0 / 1	0 / 2	0 / 1	0 / 1	1 / 47

References

1. Johnson, Roy (11 September 1987). "Winning Started at Home for McNeil". New York Times. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
2. "Lori McNeil – National Coach, Women's Tennis". USTA website. Retrieved 9 July 2020.

External links

• Lori McNeil at the Women's Tennis Association  
• Lori McNeil at the International Tennis Federation  
• Lori McNeil at the Billie Jean King Cup