Claudia Kohde-Kilsch | Country |  Germany[1] |
| Residence | Monte Carlo, Monaco |
| Date of birth | December 11, 1963 (1963-12-11) (age 46) |
| Place of birth | Saarbrücken, West Germany |
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 68 kg (150 lb) |
| Turned pro | January 1, 1980 |
| Retired | 1994 |
| Plays | right-handed |
| Career prize money | US$2,227,116 |
| Singles |
| Career record | 368–228 |
| Career titles | 6 |
| Highest ranking | No. 4 (September 2, 1985) |
| Grand Slam results |
| Australian Open | SF (1985, 1987, 1988) |
| French Open | SF (1985) |
| Wimbledon | QF (1987) |
| US Open | QF (1985, 1987) |
| Doubles |
| Career record | 438–175 |
| Career titles | 26 |
| Highest ranking | No. 3 (August 17, 1987) |
| Grand Slam Doubles results |
| Australian Open | F (1982, 1984, 1985) |
| French Open | F (1984, 1985, 1988) |
| Wimbledon | W (1987) |
| US Open | W (1985) |
| Last updated on: February 9, 2008. |
Claudia Kohde-Kilsch (born December 11, 1963 in Saarbrücken) is a former German tennis player. During her career, she won two women's doubles Grand Slam titles. She also won 6 singles titles and 25 doubles titles.
[edit] Career
Kohde-Kilsch was born Claudia Kohde, but added the hyphenated "-Kilsch" to her name which came from her adoptive father Jurgen Kilsch, an attorney. She has 1 younger sister, Katrin. She began playing tennis when she only 5, and was soon a rising junior player.
Kohde-Kilsch turned professional on January 1, 1980, and by 1981 she had handed a rare first round defeat to Martina Navrátilová in Oakland. She went on to win Gstaad, the Austrian Open, and Toronto that year. In 1982, she captured the title at Pittsburgh and in 1984 she triumphed at the German Open, defeating Kathleen Horvath of the United States, 7–6(8), 6–1.
In 1985, she reached the Australian Open and French Open semi-finals and also won in Los Angeles. Later that year, she defeated Navrátilová in the quarter-finals on the way to a final round match with Chris Evert at the Canadian Open, where she eventually lost to Evert, 6–2, 6–4. In 1987, she again reached the finals of the German Open, where she lost to a rising Steffi Graf 6–2, 6–3.
In women's doubles, Kohde-Kilsch won the 1985 US Open women's doubles championship with Helena Suková and in 1987, partnering again with Suková, she won the 1987 Wimbledon women's doubles championship.
Between 1983 and 1987 Kohde-Kilsch and Suková, sometimes referred to as the "twin towers" for their height, paired to win 19 doubles tournaments. At the 1988 Summer Olympics, she partnered with Steffi Graf in the doubles competition and together they were awarded the bronze medal in the event.
Kohde-Kilsch currently lives in Saarland with her husband, Chris Bennett, and their son, Fynn. The couple operate CeKay Music, a music publishing house and production company.
[edit] Grand Slam finals
[edit] Doubles: 8 (2 titles, 6 runner-ups)
| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents in the final | Score in the final |
| Runner-up | 1982 | Australian Open | Grass | Eva Pfaff |  Martina Navratilova
Pam Shriver | 6–4, 6–2 |
| Runner-up | 1984 | French Open | Clay |  Hana Mandlíková | Martina Navratilova
Pam Shriver | 5–7, 6–3, 6–2 |
| Runner-up | 1984 | Australian Open | Grass | Helena Suková | Martina Navratilova
Pam Shriver | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Runner-up | 1985 | French Open | Clay | Helena Suková | Martina Navratilova
Pam Shriver | 4–6, 6–2, 6–2 |
| Winner | 1985 | US Open | Hard | Helena Suková | Martina Navratilova
Pam Shriver | 6–7(5), 6–2, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 1985 | Australian Open | Grass | Helena Suková | Martina Navratilova
Pam Shriver | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Winner | 1987 | Wimbledon | Grass | Helena Suková | Betsy Nagelsen
 Elizabeth Sayers Smylie | 7–5, 7–5 |
| Runner-up | 1988 | French Open | Clay | Helena Suková | Martina Navratilova
Pam Shriver | 6–2, 7–5 |
[edit] Titles (31)
[edit] Singles (6)
| | | Titles by Surface | | Hard (1) | | Clay (3) | | Grass (1) | | Carpet (1) | |
| No. | Date | Location | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
| 1. | 19 July 1981 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Clay | Sylvia Hanika | 7–5, 7–6 |
| 2. | 21 March 1982 | Austin, USA | Carpet (I) | Helena Suková | 7–6, 0–6, 6–3 |
| 3. | 20 May 1984 | Berlin, West Germany | Clay | Kathleen Horvath | 7–6, 6–1 |
| 4. | 4 August 1985 | Manhattan Beach, USA | Hard | Pam Shriver | 6–2, 6–4 |
| 5. | 12 June 1988 | Birmingham, UK | Grass | Pam Shriver | 6–2, 6–1 |
| 6. | 16 September 1990 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Clay | Rachel McQuillan | 7–6, 6–4 |
[edit] Doubles (25)
Grand slam events in boldface.
- 1980: Kitzbühel (with Eva Pfaff)
- 1981: Kitzbühel (with Eva Pfaff)
- 1983: Oakland (with Eva Pfaff)
- 1983: Hamburg (with Bettina Bunge)
- 1984: Hilton Head (with Hana Mandlíková)
- 1984: Orlando (with Hana Mandlíková)
- 1984: Filderstadt (with Helena Suková)
- 1984: Sydney (with Helena Suková)
- 1984: Tokyo Pan Pacific (with Helena Suková)
- 1985: Berlin (with Helena Suková)
- 1985: Los Angeles (with Helena Suková)
- 1985: US Open (with Helena Suková)
- 1985: Tokyo Pan Pacific (with Helena Suková)
| - 1986: Dallas (with Helena Suková)
- 1986: Amelia Island (with Helena Suková)
- 1996: Chicago (with Helena Suková)
- 1987: Tokyo Bridgestone Doubles (with Helena Suková)
- 1987: Berlin (with Helena Suková)
- 1987: Wimbledon (with Helena Suková)
- 1987: Hamburg (with Jana Novotná)
- 1987: Chicago (with Helena Suková)
- 1988: Adelaide (with Sylvia Hanika)
- 1991: Oslo (with Silke Meier)
- 1991: Hilton Head (with Natasha Zvereva)
- 1992: Indian Wells (with Stephanie Rehe)
|
[edit] Singles runner-ups (8)
| | - 1986: Worcester (lost to Martina Navratilova)
- 1986: Marco Island (lost to Chris Evert)
- 1986: Amelia Island (lost to Steffi Graf)
- 1987: Berlin (lost to Steffi Graf)
|
[edit] Grand Slam singles performance timeline
| Tournament | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | Career SR |
| Australian Open | 1R | 1R | 3R | 3R | 3R | SF | NH | SF | SF | QF | 1R | 1R | 2R | 0 / 12 |
| French Open | 1R | 1R | 2R | 3R | 4R | SF | 4R | QF | 3R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 0 / 13 |
| Wimbledon | A | 2R | 4R | 4R | 4R | 2R | 3R | QF | A | 3R | 3R | 3R | 2R | 0 / 11 |
| US Open | A | 1R | 3R | 2R | 4R | QF | 4R | QF | 3R | 1R | A | 1R | A | 0 / 10 |
| SR | 0 / 2 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 46 |
- A = did not participate in the tournament.
- NH = tournament not held.
- SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
