Born on the 4th of July, Pam Shriver played professional tennis from 1979 to 1997. In 1978, she played as an amateur. "I made the best of 19 great years," Pam said on reflection. In singles, Pam reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam event 7 times (including 3 times at the Australian Open (played on synthetic grass) and 3 times at Wimbledon).
From 1981 to 1992, Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver won 20 Grand Slam doubles titles (including 7 Australian Open titles). As pointed out, "They won 79 of the 104 tournaments they entered and finished with a won-lost record of 390-25." Martina made the observation, "I play a touch game as well as hit the ball very hard. Pam is a solid one, setting the point up and never really missing anything. I think our best strength is our 2nd serve. We had an excellent 2nd serve. In doubles, people get in trouble when their serve doesn't get in."
Talking to Mike Boaz in 1995, Pam observed, "I think in the last 10 years (1985-1995) I have really been able to see tennis from just about every angle. At home (she was raised in the suburbs of Baltimore), I put on a charity event in a big coliseum downtown (at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington) and then I wear my promoter's hat. And, of course, I still wear my players' hat (in 1995). But sometimes I find myself wearing my Union hat because I am an officer in the Players' Union and sometimes I wear my tour hat because I am on the WTA (Women's Tennis Association) Board of Directors. Here toward the end of my career, I have my broadcasting hat on quite a bit. I think having my foot in all these different aspects of the game helps me a lot."
In 1978, Pam became the first player to win an Avon Futures tournament starting from a pre-qualifiying stage. She was also at the time the youngest player (at 16 years old) to reach the final of the U.S. Open women's singles. "At 15 and 16, it was all so easy," Pam told the 'New York Times' in 1981. It was understood Pam crammed the last 2 years of her secondary schooling into one year. She graduated a year ahead of schedule. Pam turned professional in 1979 and played full time tennis on the women's Avon Tour.
Pam remembered, "I was so bogged down with schoolwork I didn’t get a chance to prove myself at tournaments. I had to sit down and study for 4 months. It was different when I came back to play. I put so much pressure on myself."
That pressure reportedly resulted in an inflamed tendon. Pam told Dave Woolford, "The way I look at things now (back in June 1980) is that somebody is testing me as far as how strong I am, to see if I can get over these setbacks. If I can do it at 17, then when problems come up when I'm in my prime, I'll be able to handle them like nothing."
At one time, Pam confessed to Will Grimsley of the Associated Press, "I came close to giving up." It was on a "cold, rainy Friday in Chichester, England, on June 15, at 11:00am." On that day, at that time, the computer ranking showed Pam had slipped from 12 to 37. Pam's highest singles ranking was at No. 3 in 1984. Pam continued, "It was tough, there was no clear sailing. I kept losing to people I shouldn't. I got real down, depressed. I was never sure I could come back."
However her longtime Australian coach Don Candy "kept giving me encouragement. No matter how frustrated and mentally down I got, he was urging me on. He kept saying, 'Come on, you can do it. You expect too much too soon. Take little steps. Play tough.'" When Pam defeated Tracy Austin to reach the semifinals of Wimbledon in 1981, she told the press, "This (her quarterfinals match) means 3 times as much to me as beating Martina (Navratilova) at Flushing Meadows (in 1978 in the semifinals).
"With all the problems I've had, it's a lot bigger that I beat Tracy on the Center Court at Wimbledon. It (the 3rd round in 1978 against Sue Barker) was my only appearance on Center Court until today (in June 1981). I was a set up and led 5-2 in the second when I broke my racket. Then I lost the match. Against Tracy, when I broke my racket in the 2nd set, I said, 'Oh no. I hope this is not an omen.'"
At 5 feet, 11 inches tall and 135 pounds, Pam made known, "They were my tactics (Pam hit her approach shots deep down the middle of the court forcing Tracy to dig the ball out of the dirt, and cutting the angles). I kept saying to myself, 'Come to the net on everything. Make her pass you'. That's what I did, and it worked. I knew the court had been chewed up in the middle where the men had played. I tried to keep the ball there. I thought I was smarter than usual. I played with my brain, not my mouth. If I had a perfect match, it was today (in June 1981)."
In 1992, Jennifer Capriati defeated Pam Shriver to reach the 3rd round of Wimbledon. Jennifer "burst onto the tennis world in 1990" at the age of 13. She was described as a "phenom". Ted Tinling enthused at the time, "This wasn't a debut, it was a premiere!"
In 1992 Jennifer told the press, "I'd like a big win every single time I go out there, every tournament. It sure would be nice here (at Wimbledon)."
Pam remarked, "I can relate somewhat to that. She’s about half my age, but I sort of sometimes want to just take her under my wing and say, 'Don’t fret over all that stuff. Just go out and keep really trying to have a great time with your tennis, show your personality, and have a big smile.' . . . I think it's very difficult when you do what she did in the first year (back in 1990) with all the hype. I'm sure in her mind she's thinking, 'Well, I should be winning these Grand Slam tournaments'. Well, they don't start giving Grand Slam tournaments away when you're 16 or 17 years old, especially when you look who's up there (namely Steffi Graf and Monica Seles)."
Jennifer did not win her first Grand Slam until the turn of the 21st century. "If you believe, dreams do come true," Jennifer told fans after winning the 2001 Australian Open women's singles title. Back in 1992, Virginia Wade told the 'Chicago Tribune', "Her (Jennifer's) game is great. Instinctively, she does the right things." However Richard Finn made the point, "Capriati is not expected to catch Seles and Graf for a while." At the time, Virginia believed, "I would be surprised if Jennifer overtook those 2 in the next year (1993), but I think she could in the year after that (1994)."
However Pam begged to differ, "It will take her longer to develop into her prime. It might be a 21-23-year-old prime. (Jennifer won her first Grand Slam at the age of 24.) Don't look for it to happen when she is 17. She is still growing, more emotionally and mentally than anything, where the other 2 (Steffi and Monica) were women when they were 16, 17. The jury is still out (on Jennifer at the time)."
Of being a commentator, Pam told Mike Boaz in 1995, "It started a long time ago back in the early '80s when CBS really didn't have a regular women's tennis analyst. I was one of the Top 5 players in the world then, but if I didn't make it into the semifinals of a major tournament, I would be up in the booth a lot. It's so interesting being on the BBC team, which a lot of people consider the most tradition, most experienced broadcasting unit in the world. The style is difficult to adapt to sometimes.
"On ESPN, they sometimes play up the lighter side with flip humor and sarcasm. They (the BBC) are more serious here. In America, you almost always have an open microphone. Over here (in England) you have to reach forward and flip a switch to say something. It means you have to feel like you have something serious to add before doing it. I think there are only a few people that really interested in all the politics of tennis. I think people want to know what is going on in the players' minds during the match."
However Pam begged to differ, "It will take her longer to develop into her prime. It might be a 21-23-year-old prime. (Jennifer won her first Grand Slam at the age of 24.) Don't look for it to happen when she is 17. She is still growing, more emotionally and mentally than anything, where the other 2 (Steffi and Monica) were women when they were 16, 17. The jury is still out (on Jennifer at the time)."
Of being a commentator, Pam told Mike Boaz in 1995, "It started a long time ago back in the early '80s when CBS really didn't have a regular women's tennis analyst. I was one of the Top 5 players in the world then, but if I didn't make it into the semifinals of a major tournament, I would be up in the booth a lot. It's so interesting being on the BBC team, which a lot of people consider the most tradition, most experienced broadcasting unit in the world. The style is difficult to adapt to sometimes.
"On ESPN, they sometimes play up the lighter side with flip humor and sarcasm. They (the BBC) are more serious here. In America, you almost always have an open microphone. Over here (in England) you have to reach forward and flip a switch to say something. It means you have to feel like you have something serious to add before doing it. I think there are only a few people that really interested in all the politics of tennis. I think people want to know what is going on in the players' minds during the match."
