Pam Shriver

Pam Shriver turned professional in 1979, shortly after she had stunned the tennis world by making the final of the 1978 US Open shortly after turning 16-years-old. She lost the final in straight sets to Chris Evert but it was a prelude to a great tennis career, although one for which she would become better known in doubles eventually. Shriver’s top world ranking in singles was #3, which she reached in February 1984. She never made the final of a Grand Slam singles event again, although she was a three-time Wimbledon semi-finalist, and won 21 singles titles in her career. At the 1991 Pan American Games, later in her career, Shriver was a triple gold medalist, winning in singles, doubles, and mixed.

In doubles, Shriver was best known for partnering Martina Navratilova. Together they were the top doubles team in the world for most of the 1980s. Shriver won 21 Grand Slam doubles titles, 20 of them with Navratilova, winning seven times at the Australian Open (1982-85, 1987-89), five times at Wimbledon (1981-84, 1986) and the US Open (1983-84, 1986-87, 1991), and four times at the French Open (1984-85, 1987-88), only the 1991 US Open won with another partner (Natasha Zvereva). During her career, Shriver won 112 professional doubles titles, over 80 of them with Navratilova. In 1984 they won the Calendar Grand Slam, winning all four of the major doubles championships. Together they won 10 WTA Year-End Championships, from 1981-89, and 1991.

Shriver later became well known as a tennis broadcaster on television, having worked for ABC, CBS, and ESPN in the United States, the BBC in the United Kingdom, and the Seven Network in Australia. She has been a minority owner of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team, in her hometown. Shriver was married twice, to Joe Shapiro, a former Walt Disney company lawyer who died young from cancer, and then to George Lazenby, best known for once having played the role of James Bond in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.”