Women of
the Halls of Fame
Pam Shriver
Female Tennis Player
Born: July 4, 1962
Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland
Handed: Right
Year Inducted: 2002
Pam Shriver was born on July 4, 1962 in Baltimore, Maryland. Shriver’s accomplished career started when she was only sixteen. In 1978, she managed to be the only amateur to reach the finals in the U.S. Open. This was only a hint at what was about to come for Shriver. During the early 1980s, she and her doubles partner, Martina Navratilova, were named the Women’s Tennis Association Tour Doubles Team of the Year. The pair won this honor each year until 1989, giving them a nine year streak. Shriver also had an impressive career in women’s singles and was ranked in the top ten in the world for most of the 1980s.
In 1984, Shriver and Navratilova won the Grand Slam in women’s doubles. They also broke the record for the most consecutive wins in doubles matches with 109 uninterrupted wins. This streak lasted from April of 1983 to July of 1985. From 1985 to 1987 and then again in 1989 and 1992, Shriver played on the U.S. Fed Cup Teams. Her team won the title three out of the five years she was a member. She also brought home a gold medal in the 1988 Olympics when her and her partner, Zina Garrison, won the doubles competition. In 1991, the Women’s Tennis Association nominated Shriver as the league’s “comeback player of the year.” That same year, Shriver played in the Pan American games and won gold medals in the singles, doubles and mixed categories.
Over the course of her career, Shriver received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Thurman Munson Award (1989), Billie Jean King Award (1992), and the WTA Tour Player Service Award (1993). By the time she retired from the game, she had won an amazing 21 singles titles and 112 doubles titles. As a singles player, she had accumulated a total of 620 wins and was one of only five women win more than 100 career titles.
After retiring, Shriver became a sports commentator for some of the most popular television stations, including ABC, CBS, ESPN and BBC. In 1990, Shriver was elected as Vice President of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, a position she currently still holds. She also held the position as President of the Women’s Tennis Association from 1991-1994 and as a Player Representative on the U.S. Tennis Association Executive Committee from 1995-1996.
Shriver was also elected to the U.S. Tennis Association’s Board of Directors in 1997 and is still a member of this committee as well. In addition, she is currently the President of the USA Tennis Foundation. Shriver also co-authored a book called Passing Shots: Pam Shriver on Tour.
Each year, Shriver sponsors a tennis exhibition in her hometown of Baltimore that benefits local children’s charities. Over $3 million has been raised for various organizations since the event’s first year in 1986.