Marianne Werdel

Marianne Werdel
Country (sports)	United States
Born	October 17, 1967 (age 54); Los Angeles, California
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Turned pro	1986
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$1,044,641
Singles
Career record	237–227
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 21 (October 9, 1995)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	SF (1995)
French Open	2R (1989, 1994)
Wimbledon	3R (1991, 1993)
US Open	2R (1985, 1986, 1994, 1995)
Doubles
Career record	179–202
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 45 (May 25, 1992)

Marianne Werdel (born October 17, 1967) is an American former professional tennis player.

Werdel was born in Los Angeles and played on the WTA Tour from 1982 to 1997. She is also known as Marianne Witmeyer or Werdel-Witmeyer.

She won 19 national junior titles. In 1988 Werdel suffered a partially herniated disc, forcing a two-month absence from the tour.^[1]

At the 1995 Australian Open, unseeded Marianne Werdel defeated fifth-seeded Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina in a first-round match. Werdel won the first set, but Sabatini raced out to a 3–0 lead in the second set before twice losing her serve. Werdel won four consecutive games to close out the match in straight sets, dismissing Sabatini 6–4, 6–4.^[2] Werdel had also beaten Sabatini two years earlier at a tournament in Japan. After she had disposed of Sabatini, Werdel continued to work her way through the draw beating Park Sung-hee, Elena Makarova, Barbara Paulus and Angélica Gavaldón en route to a semifinal encounter with the top-seed and world No. 1 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario. In their two previous meetings, Werdel had lost both times to Sánchez Vicario. This time proved no different as Sánchez Vicario defeated Werdel in two sets. In reaching the semifinals, the 1995 Australian Open proved to be the best result Werdel would have in Grand Slam singles competition. She defeated Sánchez Vicario two months later in the third round of the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne.^[3]

Werdel was coached by Woody Blocher.^[1]

On 21 November 1992, she married Major League Baseball player Ron Witmeyer.^[1]^[2]

WTA career finals[]

Legend
Grand Slam
Tier I
Tier II
Tier III
Tier IV & V

Singles: 6 runner-ups[]

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Jul 1989	Schenectady, U.S.	Hard	Laura Gildemeister	4–6, 3–6
Loss	0–2	Aug 1990	Schenectady, U.S.	Hard	Anke Huber	1–6, 7–5, 4–6
Loss	0–3	Oct 1990	Scottsdale, U.S.	Hard	Conchita Martínez	5–7, 1–6
Loss	0–4	Apr 1993	Pattaya Open, Thailand	Hard	Yayuk Basuki	3–6, 1–6
Loss	0–5	Sep 1993	Hong Kong Open	Hard	Wang Shi-ting	4–6, 6–3, 5–7
Loss	0–6	Jan 1997	Hobart, Australia	Hard	Dominique Van Roost	3–6, 3–6

Doubles: 6 runner-ups[]

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	May 1992	Swiss Open	Clay	Karina Habšudová	Amy Frazier Elna Reinach	5–7, 2–6
Loss	0–2	May 1993	Swiss Open	Clay	Lindsay Davenport	Mary Joe Fernandez Helena Suková	2–6, 4–6
Loss	0–3	Sep 1993	Hong Kong Open, China	Hard	Debbie Graham	Karin Kschwendt Rachel McQuillan	6–4, 4–6, 2–6
Loss	0–4	Feb 1995	Chicago Cup, U.S.	Carpet (i)	Tami Whitlinger-Jones	Gabriela Sabatini Brenda Schultz	7–5, 6–7, 4–6
Loss	0–5	May 1996	Strasbourg, France	Clay	Tami Whitlinger-Jones	Yayuk Basuki Nicole Bradtke	7–5, 4–6, 4–6
Loss	0–6	Feb 1997	Oklahoma Cup, U.S.	Hard	Tami Whitlinger-Jones	Rika Hiraki Nana Miyagi	4–6, 1–6