Country (sports) | Germany |
---|---|
Born |
Saarbrücken, West Germany |
11 December 1963
Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) |
Turned pro | 1 January 1980 |
Retired | 1994 |
Plays | Right-handed (one handed-backhand) |
Prize money | US$ 2,227,116 |
Singles | |
Career record | 368–228 |
Career titles | 8 |
Highest ranking | No. 4 (2 September 1985) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | SF (1985, 1987, 1988) |
French Open | SF (1985) |
Wimbledon | QF (1987) |
US Open | QF (1985, 1987) |
Other tournaments | |
Olympic Games | 2R (1988) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 438–175 |
Career titles | 25 |
Highest ranking | No. 3 (17 August 1987) |
Grand Slam Doubles results | |
Australian Open | F (1982, 1984, 1985) |
French Open | F (1984, 1985, 1988) |
Wimbledon | W (1987) |
US Open | W (1985) |
Other doubles tournaments | |
Tour Finals | F (1983, 1985, 1986(Mar), 1986(Nov), 1987) |
Olympic Games | SF (1988) |
Team competitions | |
Fed Cup | 28–12 |
Medal record
|
Claudia Kohde-Kilsch (born 11 December 1963) is a former German tennis player and member of the Die Linke. During her tennis career, she won two women's doubles Grand Slam titles. She also won eight singles titles and a total of 25 doubles titles.
Kohde-Kilsch was born Claudia Kohde in Saarbrücken, but added the hyphenated "-Kilsch" to her name which came from her adoptive father Jürgen Kilsch, an attorney. She has a younger sister, Katrin. She began playing tennis aged 5, and was soon a rising junior player.
Kohde-Kilsch turned professional on 1 January 1980, and by 1981 she had handed a first round defeat to Martina Navratilova in Oakland. She went on to win four singles titles 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 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 1984 and 1987, Kohde-Kilsch and Suková, sometimes referred to as the "twin towers" for their height, paired to win 14 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.