Sarah Fitz-Gerald

Sarah Elizabeth Fitz-Gerald AM (born 1 December 1968) is an Australian former professional squash player who won five World Open titles – 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2002. She ranks alongside Janet Morgan, Nicol David, Susan Devoy, Michelle Martin and Heather McKay as the sport's greatest female players of all time.

Sarah Fitz-Gerald

Fitz-Gerald in 2015
Country	Australia
Born	Sarah Elizabeth Fitz-Gerald (1968-12-01) 1 December 1968 (age 55) Melbourne, Australia
Turned pro	1988
Retired	2003
Coached by	Roger Flynn & Mike Johnson
Racquet used	Dunlop
Women's singles
Highest ranking	1 (November 1996)
Medal record Women's squash Representing  Australia World Championships 1996 Petaling Jaya Singles 1997 Sydney Singles 1998 Stuttgart Singles 2001 Melbourne Singles 2002 Doha Singles 1995 Hong Kong Singles 1989 Warmond Singles 2000 Edinburgh Singles World Team Championships 1987 Auckland Team 1992 Vancouver Team 1994 Guernsey Team 1996 Petaling Jaya Team 1998 Stuttgart Team 2000 Sheffield Team 2002 Odense Team 2004 Amsterdam Team 2010 Palmerston Team World Doubles Championships 2006 Melbourne Doubles World Games 1997 Lahti Singles Commonwealth Games 2002 Manchester Singles 1998 Kuala Lumpur Singles 1998 Kuala Lumpur Doubles
Updated on 12 April 2022.

Career

Fitz-Gerald was born in Melbourne, Australia, a hotspot for squash talent. In 1987, she won the female World Junior Championship and was the Australian Junior Female Athlete of the Year. It was also during this year that she represented Australia at the 1987 Women's World Team Squash Championships, finishing runner-up to England.^[1] In 1992 she was selected once again to represent Australia in the 1992 Women's World Team Squash Championships and this time Australia became the world champions. Remarkably, Fitzgerald would go on to win a total of seven World Team Championships.

She won numerous titles in the early 1990s, but 1996 proved to be her breakthrough year. She beat England's Cassie Jackman in the World Open final. The next two years she beat the resurgent Michelle Martin in successive finals.

The next two years did not bring the same level of success, owing largely to knee surgery. In 2000, she lost an epic semi-final against Carol Owens. However, she came back in 2001 to beat New Zealand's Leilani Joyce emphatically 9–0, 9–3, 9–2.

2002 saw her win her last World Open, beating Natalie Pohrer 10–8, 9–3, 7–9, 9–7. She also won a gold medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England.

In January 2004, Fitz-Gerald was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her achievements and services to women's squash, and the promotion of sport and a healthy lifestyle. She was Chairwoman and President of the Women's International Squash Players Association from 1991 to 2002. In 2010, she was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.^[2]

Fitz-Gerald announced her retirement from the Women's International Squash Players Association (WISPA) world tour in February 2003.^[3]

In 2010, she came out of retirement to be part of the Australian team that won the gold medal at the 2010 Women's World Team Squash Championships.^[4]

In 2018, she won her fourth World Masters title.

Career statistics

Professional Tour Titles (60)

All results for Sarah Fitzgerald in WISPA World's Tour tournament^[5][6][7]

Legend WISPA Platinum Series (2) WISPA Gold Series (9) WISPA Silver Series (14) WISPA Tour Series (35)

Titles by Major Tournaments World Open (5) British Open (2) Hong Kong Open (0) Qatar Classic (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	13 June 1989	Adelaide Open	Sharon Bradey	Unknown
2.	24 November 1991	Danish Open	Lisa Opie	(3–0)
3.	28 June 1992	Japan Open	Lisa Opie	(3–0)
4.	26 July 1992	ACT Open	Robyn Lambourne	(3–0)
5.	25 July 1993	ACT Open	Carol Owens	15–8, 9–15, 15–13, 15–7
6.	10 July 1994	Adelaide Open	Vicki Cardwell	15–13, 15–9, 15–8
7.	18 June 1995	South Australia Open	Vicki Cardwell	(3–0)
8.	22 July 1995	Victorian Open	Meeghan Bell	(3–0)
9.	22 July 1995	Queensland Open	Liz Irving	(3–0)
10.	10 September 1995	JSM Supersquash	Michelle Martin	9–6, 8–10, 2–9, 9–6, 9–4
11.	16 September 1995	Jain International	Michelle Martin	(3–0)
12.	17 March 1996	Abshot Open	Suzanne Horner	(3–0)
13.	28 July 1996	Victorian Open	Carol Owens	(3–0)
14.	17 August 1996	Singapore Open	Michelle Martin	Walkover
15.	13 October 1996	World Open	Cassie Jackman	9–4, 9–2, 4–9, 9–6
16.	10 November 1996	German Masters	Michelle Martin	9–6, 3–9, 9–4, 9–3
17.	23 November 1996	Monte Carlo Classic	Cassie Jackman	9–4, 9–2, 4–9, 9–6
18.	11 May 1997	Las Vegas Open	Liz Irving	9–3, 9–1, 9–4
19.	17 June 1997	Al-Ahram International	Michelle Martin	9–3, 9–3, 9–0
20.	22 June 1997	Munich Open	Michelle Martin	9–7, 9–7, 9–2
21.	17 August 1997	World Games	Sabine Schoene	9–2, 9–6, 9–7
22.	24 August 1997	Singapore Open	Michelle Martin	9–1, 5–9, 9–1, 9–7
23.	30 August 1997	Malaysian Open	Michelle Martin	9–2, 0–9, 9–2, 8–10, 9–7
24.	19 October 1997	World Open (2)	Michelle Martin	9–5, 5–9, 6–9, 9–2, 9–3
25.	26 October 1997	Australian Open	Michelle Martin	5–9, 9–4, 9–4, 9–0
26.	3 November 1997	Carol Weymuller Open	Michelle Martin	9–3, 7–9, 9–0, 3–9, 10–8
27.	17 November 1997	Hartford Open	Cassie Jackman	9–4, 9–7, 9–3
28.	29 November 1997	Monte Carlo Classic	Sue Wright	9–1, 4–9, 9–1, 9–4
29.	20 April 1998	Munich Open	Michelle Martin	9–2, 9–0, 10–8
30.	10 May 1998	Las Vegas Open	Stephanie Brind	9–0, 9–3, 9–3
31.	9 August 1998	Victorian Open	Carol Owens	(3–1)
32.	8 November 1998	World Open (3)	Michelle Martin	10–8, 9–7, 2–9, 3–9, 10–9
33.	16 January 2000	Glidden Open	Suzanne Horner	9–1, 9–0, 9–7
34.	23 January 2000	Greenwich Open	Suzanne Horner	9–6, 9–0, 4–9, 9–7
35.	5 February 2000	Rosebowl Classic	Sue Wright	9–3, 5–9, 9–4, 10–8
36.	16 April 2000	Munich Open	Carol Owens	9–7, 9–5, 9–0
37.	30 April 2000	Mexican Open	Rachael Grinham	9–7, 9–6, 9–2
38.	24 September 2000	Singapore Open	Claire Nitch	9–1, 9–1, 9–4
39.	8 December 2000	USC Classic	Carol Owens	3–9, 9–3, 9–6, 9–1
40.	28 January 2001	Greenwich Open	Linda Charman-Smith	9–5, 9–2, 9–4
41.	11 March 2001	Munich Open	Leilani Joyce	9–1, 9–2, 9–6
42.	19 April 2001	World Grand Prix Finals	Leilani Joyce	9–6, 9–5, 9–1
43.	12 May 2001	San Francisco Challenge	Cassie Campion	7–9, 9–4, 9–5, 9–2
44.	20 May 2001	Seattle Open	Carol Owens	9–6, 9–7, 9–2
45.	10 June 2001	British Open	Carol Owens	10–9, 9–0, 9–2
46.	4 September 2001	Heliopolis Open	Cassie Campion	9–3, 9–1, 9–1
47.	8 October 2001	Qatar Classic	Leilani Joyce	9–0, 9–2, 9–1
48.	19 October 2001	World Open (4)	Leilani Joyce	9–0, 9–3, 9–2
49.	20 January 2002	Hartford Open	Carol Owens	2–9, 9–4, 9–7, 9–1
50.	1 February 2002	Tournament of Champions	Carol Owens	9–4, 9–0, 9–3
51.	15 April 2002	British Open (2)	Tania Bailey	9–3, 9–0, 9–0
52.	28 April 2002	World Grand Prix Finals	Carol Owens	6–9, 5–9, 9–5, 9–7, 9–4
53.	12 May 2002	San Francisco Challenge	Tania Bailey	9–1, 7–9, 9–1, 9–2
54.	19 May 2002	Las Vegas Open	Vanessa Atkinson	9–4, 9–2, 9–0
55.	26 May 2002	Seattle Open	Carol Owens	9–7, 9–7, 9–1
56.	30 June 2002	Australian Open	Laura Keating	9–0, 9–2, 9–0
57.	14 September 2002	French Open	Linda Elriani	10–8, 5–9, 9–4, 10–8
58.	2 November 2002	World Open (5)	Natalie Grainger	10–8, 9–3, 7–9, 9–7
59.	22 August 2004	Victorian Open	Louise Crome	9–1, 9–4, 9–5
60.	13 May 2007	Top End Open	Peta Hughes	9–1, 9–3, 9–0

See also

• List of WISPA number 1 ranked players
• Official Women's Squash World Ranking

References

1. "Draw and Results" (PDF). Squash New Zealand. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 January 2016.
2. "Sarah Fitz-Gerald". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
3. "Sarah Fitz-Gerald | 5-Time World Squash Champion | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
4. "Australia Reclaim World Team Title in New Zealand". World Squash. 4 December 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
5. SquashInfo: Sarah Fitz-Gerald
6. Women's International Squash Players Association Archived 21 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
7. "WISPA titles earned by Sarah Fitzgerald". Squashtalk.com. Retrieved 17 May 2009.

External links

• Official website

Sporting positions
Preceded by Michelle Martin Leilani Rorani Natalie Grainger	World No. 1 November 1996 – October 1998 October 2001 – October 2002 December 2002 – February 2003	Succeeded by Michelle Martin Carol Owens Carol Owens