Andrea Jaeger


Andrea Jaeger is a former World No. 2 professional tennis player from the United States whose brief but highly successful tennis career ended prematurely due to major shoulder injuries. Jaeger reached the singles final of Wimbledon in 1983 and the French Open in 1982. She reached the singles semifinals of the Australian Open in 1982 and of the U.S. Open in 1980 and 1982. She also won 10 singles titles. In mixed doubles, Jaeger won the French Open with Jimmy Arias in 1981. During her career, Jaeger won U.S. $1.4 million in prize money and millions more in endorsements. After retirement in 1987, she has prominently dedicated her life to public service, charities, and philanthropy. In 2006, she became "Sister Andrea" as a member of the Anglican Order of Preachers. She is a member of the Episcopal Church and based in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, U.S.

Tennis career

While a student at Stevenson High School in suburban Chicago, Jaeger was the top ranked player in the United States in the 18-and-under age group. She won 13 U.S. national junior titles, including the most prominent junior titles in tennis: the 1979 Orange Bowl and 1979 Boca Raton.
In 1980, she became the youngest player ever to be seeded at Wimbledon, a record that was broken by Jennifer Capriati in 1990. After defeating former champion Virginia Wade, she became the youngest quarter-finalist in the history of the tournament. Later in the year, she became the youngest semifinalist in US Open history.
In 1981, Jaeger won the U.S. Clay Court Championships, defeating Virginia Ruzici in the final.
At the French Open in 1982, Jaeger defeated Chris Evert in a semifinal 6–3, 6–1 but lost the final to Martina Navratilova. She then reached the semifinals of both the US Open and the Australian Open, losing both matches to Evert in straight sets.
At Wimbledon in 1983, Jaeger defeated six-time Wimbledon singles champion Billie Jean King 6–1, 6–1 in a semifinal on Centre Court, which was King's last career singles match at that tournament and her most lopsided singles defeat ever at Wimbledon. Jaeger then lost the final to Navratilova. In 2003, Jaeger said that the night before the final, she had a heated argument with her father over practicing and was locked out of her apartment by him. Eventually, Jaeger asked Navratilova to convince her father to let her back in. She stated that emotional fatigue might have contributed to her lackluster performance in the final. On July 4, 2008, Jaeger claimed in the British paper The Daily Mail that she threw the final against Navratilova.
Jaeger competed in the tennis demonstration event at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. In 2006, Jaeger exchanged gifts with an Army Ranger serving in the Iraq War. He gave her his dog tags, and she gave him her Olympic ring.
Jaeger's career win-loss record against other top players was 3–17 against Evert, 4–11 against Navratilova, 2–8 against Tracy Austin, 6–8 against Hana Mandlíková, and 2–4 against Pam Shriver.
In an interview in 2003, Jaeger stated that she was never committed to being the top ranked player in the world and tanked matches to avoid the top spot. As she rose toward the top of the game, she started visiting hospitals during tournaments. She stated that she found it, in the words of a USA Today columnist, "difficult to reconcile the narrow-minded focus of a top tennis player with her desire to help others."
Jaeger won eight of the nine singles matches she played for the U.S. in Fed Cup. She also won two of the three Wightman Cup singles matches she played for the U.S.
A major shoulder injury at the age of 19 ended Jaeger's career prematurely in 1985. Seeing this career-ending injury as a door to a spiritual awakening, she went to college and obtained a degree in theology.

Philanthropy

Jaeger used her winnings from tennis to create the Silver Lining Foundation with her close friend and business partner Heidi Bookout in 1990. Located in Aspen, Colorado, the organization transported groups of young cancer patients to Aspen for a week of support and activities, including horseback riding and whitewater rafting. The foundation also provided money for reunions, family campouts, college scholarships, medical internships, and other programs for children who could not travel. The organization had other powerful backers, both in the world of sports and elsewhere. The first contributor was John McEnroe. Many high-profile celebrities were also involved, including Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, and David Robinson. In 1996, Jaeger received the Samuel S. Beard Award for Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Under, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.
Jaeger's autobiography, First Service, was published in 2004. In the book she wrote about her teenage years as a tennis player and her later decision to focus on serving God. All proceeds from the book were donated to children's charities.
Jaeger later established the "Little Star Foundation", claiming to reach on average 4,000 kids annually. Jaeger ran into financial issues with the nonprofit in 2009. As a result, she tried to sell the foundation’s property in Aspen for $13.5 million, but neighbors said she was breaking homeowners association covenants, which resulted in a lawsuit. She moved to a much larger property in Hesperus, Colorado, where she claimed she would expand her programs. Ms. Jaeger sold the ranch to an unknown buyer in November of 2018. In January of 2019, the State of Colorado revoked Little Star Foundation's property tax exemption on the basis that an investigation had revealed that the group had falsified records, and had never actually conducted any charitable activities since relocating to Hesperus.
On September 16, 2006, at the age of 41, Jaeger became Sister Andrea, an Anglican Dominican nun. She reportedly left the order in 2009.
In April 2007, Jaeger and several former athletes, including Andre Agassi, Lance Armstrong, Tony Hawk, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and Muhammad Ali, appeared on the American morning television talk show Good Morning America to announce their formation of a new charity entitled "Athletes for Hope" with the goal of encouraging their fellow athletes to think philanthropically.
As of Early 2020, Ms. Jaeger has relocated to Florida and continues to fundraise.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 2 runner-ups

Mixed doubles: 1 title

Year-End Championships finals

Singles: 1 runner-up

WTA career finals

Singles: 36 (10–26)

OutcomeNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Winner1.January 14, 1980:fr:Tournoi de tennis de Las Vegas|Las VegasHard Barbara Potter7–6, 4–6, 6–1
Runner-up1.March 31, 1980:fr:Avon Futures Tennis Championships|EdmondClay Regina Maršíková2–6, 2–6
Winner2.June 2, 1980BeckenhamGrass Jo Durie6–0, 6–1
Runner-up2.August 4, 1980IndianapolisClay Chris Evert-Lloyd4–6, 3–6
Runner-up3.August 18, 1980MahwahHard Hana Mandlíková7–6, 2–6, 2–6
Winner3.September 15, 1980:fr:Tournoi de tennis de Las Vegas|Las VegasHard Hana Mandlíková7–5, 4–6, 6–3
Runner-up4.October 13, 1980Deerfield BeachHard Chris Evert-Lloyd4–6, 1–6
Winner4.November 10, 1980TampaHard Tracy Austinw/o
Runner-up5.January 7, 1981LandoverCarpet Tracy Austin2–6, 2–6
Winner5.January 12, 1981Kansas CityCarpet Martina Navratilova3–6, 6–3, 7–5
Winner6.February 9, 1981OaklandCarpet Virginia Wade6–3, 6–1
Runner-up6.March 2, 1981Los AngelesCarpet Martina Navratilova4–6, 0–6
Runner-up7.March 22, 1981Avon ChampionshipsCarpet Martina Navratilova3–6, 6–7
Runner-up8.April 27, 1981OrlandoClay Martina Navratilova5–7, 3–6
Runner-up9.June 15, 1981EastbourneGrass Tracy Austin3–6, 4–6
Winner7.August 3, 1981IndianapolisClay Virginia Ruzici6–1, 6–0
Runner-up10.October 12, 1981Deerfield BeachHard Chris Evert-Lloyd6–4, 3–6, 0–6
Runner-up11.November 16, 1981PerthGrass Pam Shriver1–6, 6–7
Runner-up12.January 18, 1982SeattleCarpet Martina Navratilova2–6, 0–6
Winner8.February 1, 1982DetroitCarpet Mima Jaušovec2–6, 6–4, 6–2
Winner9.February 22, 1982OaklandCarpet Chris Evert-Lloyd7–6, 6–4
Runner-up13.April 3, 1982Palm Beach GardensClay Chris Evert-Lloyd1–6, 5–7
Runner-up14.April 5, 1982Hilton Head IslandClay Martina Navratilova4–6, 2–6
Runner-up15.April 19, 1982Amelia IslandClay Chris Evert-Lloyd3–6, 1–6
Runner-up16.May 24, 1982French OpenClay Martina Navratilova6–7, 1–6
Runner-up17.August 15, 1982MontrealHard Martina Navratilova3–6, 5–7
Runner-up18.October 4, 1982Deerfield BeachHard Chris Evert-Lloyd1–6, 1–6
Runner-up19.October 11, 1982TampaHard Chris Evert-Lloyd6–3, 1–6, 4–6
Runner-up20.November 15, 1982TokyoCarpet Chris Evert-Lloyd3–6, 2–6
Winner10.January 22, 1983Marco IslandClay Hana Mandlíková6–1, 6–3
Runner-up21.January 30, 1983Palm Beach GardensClay Chris Evert-Lloyd3–6, 3–6
Runner-up22.February 14, 1983ChicagoCarpet Martina Navratilova3–6, 2–6
Runner-up23.April 18, 1983OrlandoClay Martina Navratilova1–6, 5–7
Runner-up24.June 20, 1983WimbledonGrass Martina Navratilova0–6, 3–6
Runner-up25.September 18, 1983TokyoCarpet Lisa Bonder2–6, 7–5, 1–6
Runner-up26.April 30, 1984JohannesburgHard Chris Evert-Lloyd3–6, 0–6

Doubles: 6 (4–2)

OutcomeNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Winner1.August 11, 1980TorontoHard Regina Maršíková Ann Kiyomura
Betsy Nagelsen		6–1, 6–3
Winner2.October 13, 1980Deerfield BeachHard Regina Maršíková Martina Navratilova
Candy Reynolds		1–6, 6–1, 6–2
Winner3.January 22, 1983Marco IslandClay Mary-Lou Piatek Rosie Casals
Wendy Turnbull		7–5, 6–4
Runner-up1.April 4, 1983Hilton Head IslandClay Paula Smith Martina Navratilova
Candy Reynolds		2–6, 3–6
Winner4.August 15, 1983TorontoHard Anne Hobbs Rosalyn Fairbank
Candy Reynolds		6–4, 5–7, 7–5
Runner-up2.January 23, 1984Marco IslandClay Anne Hobbs Hana Mandlíková
Helena Suková		6–3, 2–6, 2–6

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Tournament1979198019811982198319841985Career SR
Australian OpenAAQFSFAAA0 / 2
French OpenA1RSFFSF1R2R0 / 6
WimbledonAQF4R4RFAA0 / 4
U.S. Open2RSF2RSFQFA2R0 / 6
SR0 / 10 / 30 / 40 / 40 / 30 / 10 / 20 / 18
Year End RankingNR743342NR

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number played.