Pamela Shriver is a celebrated former American tennis player. She is known for her unbeaten stint in doubles tennis history. During her career spanning over two decades, she has clinched a total of 133 women’s tennis titles. Out of the 133, 111 titles are doubles titles. Pamela is known for her towering stature and her remarkable agility and strong forehand in the court. After her retirement in 1197, the former tennis star took to sports casting. Pamela is currently a very successful sports host working with ESPN.
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PERSONAL LIFE:
Shriver was born as Pamela Howard Shriver on the 4th of July, 1962 to Margot Shriver and Sam Shriver in Baltimore. She went to the McDonoughSchool which was located in Owing Mills in Maryland. She is related to Maria Shriver whose husband is the former Governor of California. Shriver’s first tryst with stardom was when she broke into the finals of 1978 US Open, after ousting the then defending Wimbledon titleholder Martina Navratilova.
However, she lost in the finals. Since then, she has won over 21 titles in singles matches but the pinnacle of her achievements is in the doubles category. Shriver was formerly married to actor George Lazenby whose claim to fame is for playing James bond in "Your majesty’s service" when he was just 29. The former tennis star has three children with Lazenby namely George Jr, Kim and Sam, the latter being twins. In 2008, the couple announced their separation and divorced shortly thereafter.
CAREER:
After storming the tennis world with her remarkable 1978 US open performance, Shriver continued to play in singles category but eventually started concentrating more on doubles. Her partnership with the legendary Martina Navratilova has been one of the most successful duos in tennis history. The dup won over 79 women’s doubles titles. Her total doubles titles add up to 112 and she is one among the six players in women’s tennis history to have over a 100 titles.
The pair have clinched the US open title 5 times, Australian open 7 times, 5 Wimbledon times and French open 4 times. They were also named “Doubles Team of the Year” by WTA for an astonishing 8 times between 1981-88. Her next successful partnership was with Natasha Zvereva. The duo won the US open in 1991. Shriver also won the French Open mixed doubles with Emilio Sanchez in 1987. In 1991, the tennis stalwart won gold in all categories-Singles. Doubles and Mixed doubles in the Pan American Games held in Cuba. She also ranked as the No.1 seed in WTA doubles rankings for a brief time in 1985.
Pam is known for her strong forehand and being a serve and volleyer. She was also the very first tennis player to use an oversized racquet.The former champion retired from the sport in 1997. Post this, she took to sports commentatory working with CBS, ESPN, ABC and BBC in the UK. Pam is also a member of Up2Us, which aims to help upcoming athletes who are non-affluent backgrounds. She also serves as the brand ambassador of the organization.
Last Modified: Mar 7, 2020
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