By Foster Niumata
Ever since she was a toddler and given a tennis racket and ball to entertain herself while Dad played her older sister, Mary Joe Fernandez has kept proving everyone wrong.
Too skinny, too fragile, too nice to be a top tennis player, were tags put on her. Yet she
became one.
Which brings her to Auckland for next week's $210,000 ASB Bank Classic.
Having recovered from the worst injury of her injury-plagued career - a torn wrist ligament which was operated on a year ago - Fernandez is here to kick-start a career that has long been underestimated.
Even now, some observers see the 27-year-old in the twilight of her career, a player always ranked in the top 15 but who never won a Grand Slam title.
"What motivates me is being able to compete," Fernandez said after practice yesterday. "I love to compete, I definitely hate to lose. I want to stop on my own terms, not be forced out by injury. Now it's a challenge to come back and stay positive."
The call last week to confirm she was entering the Auckland tournament came as the director, Richard Palmer, was landing a trout at Lake Taupo. He is not sure which was the bigger catch.
Fernandez has not needed a wildcard or special exemption, getting in on late withdrawals.
Her 76th-place world ranking - she played only eight events all year - belies her status as the most dangerous player in the field. Everyone will be sweating on today's draw.
Being unseeded, Fernandez could be matched with top seed and titleholder Dominique van Roost, who has yet to beat Fernandez.
While rehabilitating her wrist, Fernandez continued studies of her Catholic faith and got into her first serious weightlifting to give her muscles some definition that has long been missing.
She was not always considered slight. After winning the United States national 12s in 1982 at the age of 10, she was so much bigger than the other kids that jealous parents accused her of having a false birth certificate.
When she reached the French Open quarters at 14, a local newspaper doubted her age, saying her feet were too big.
Thoughtful and steady, an American blend of Spanish and Cuban parentage, Fernandez had a strict upbringing and was taught self-discipline.
While attending a private Miami Catholic school, she played on the circuit part-time and remains the youngest person to win a match at the US Open.
Six months after graduating, she reached the Australian Open final.
The full-time schedule put her model-thin body under strain, and she has long been prone to injury. Early on she could not do one push-up. Despite a body which keeps breaking down, her brave heart has glowed.
At the 1993 French Open which defines her career, she rallied from 1-6 1-5 and rescued five match-points to beat Gabriela Sabatini, then Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, before losing to Steffi Graf in the final after leading 4-3 and 30-15 in the third set.
That hurt more than losing the Australian Open final of 1990 to Graf and of 1992 to Monica Seles.
She no longer thinks about winning a Grand Slam event, but she does not discount it.
"I think anything is possible. You never know when. Opportunities are there now because so many good players knock each other off," she said. "Last year Arantxa won the French, and Jana at Wimbledon. It's definitely more interesting now.
"It's nice to go into a tournament not knowing who's going to win all the time."
Pictured: Mary Joe Fernandez (right) and Lisa Raymond take time out during practice yesterday. HERALD PICTURE / KENNY RODGER
By Foster Niumata
Ever since she was a toddler and given a tennis racket and ball to entertain herself while Dad played her older sister, Mary Joe Fernandez has kept proving everyone wrong.
Too skinny, too fragile, too nice to be a top tennis player, were tags put on her. Yet she
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