UF tennis great Lisa Raymond back atop WTA doubles rankings - at 38
Tuesday, April 24, 2012 | Women's Tennis, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Not sure which of these number is more incredible -- 1 or 38?
Remarkably, both now apply to Lisa Raymond, one of the most dominant athletes in University of Florida history, who this week ascended to the No. 1 WTA Doubles ranking, along with partner Liezel Huber.
At 38, Raymond (left) is the oldest player ever to hold the world's top ranking in either singles or doubles.
Raymond, who won back-to-back NCAA singles titles in 1992-93 and led the Gators to their first team champioship as a freshman, last shared a WTA No. 1 ranking with a doubles partner on July 7, 2007.
All told, it's Raymond's fifth time atop the doubles rankings. The first was June 12, 2000, the same year she teammed to win her first Grand Slam event at the Australian Open.
“[The ranking] is definitely a lot more special this time than ever before," Raymond told WTAtennis.com as she started a week atop the doubles rankings for the 118th time. “I'm the fittest I've ever been in my career, and I found the right partner too.”
Raymond and Huber (pictured right after winning the 2011 U.S. Open) joined forces a year ago and have won eight titles together, including four consecutive events this year.
“Liezel and I always say, it's about the team. You win together and you lose together, and you work hard together,” she said. “This is gratifying for both of us -- and for me at 38, to be back to No. 1 after such a long road, it feels amazing.”
Raymond, out of Norristown, Pa., signed with UF in 1991 and instantly became the best player in the country. She was the first player in NCAA history to win three collegiate Grand Slam championships in a season, capturing the singles titles at the ITCA National Clay Championships, the Rolex National Indoor and the NCAA Championship, finishing her freshman year with a 35-4 mark.
Her sophomore record was a perfect 34-0, including a second straight NCAA singles title, and made her 69-4 (.945) for her Gators career.
Since turning pro in 1993, Raymond has won more than $9 million in tournament earnings and become one of the best doubles players in the world. She has 78 doubles titles with 10 different partners during her 19-year career, the sixth-most all time behind only Martina Navratilova (177), Rosemary Casals (112), Pam Shriver (106), Billie Jean King (101) and Natasha Zvereva (80).
Scattered in those titles are trophies from each of the four Grand Slam events, but Raymond and Huber hope to add a new piece of hardware to their collection this year -- at the Summer Olympics in London.
