Zimbabwean tennis player Kara Black has won many high-profile and prestigious titles and awards during her career. From an early age, her love of tennis has led to a bright future in the world of sports.
Biography
The future popular tennis player was born on February 17, 1979 in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. Since 1982, this city, which is the capital of Zimbabwe, has been called Harare.
In the family of Velia and Don Black, Kara was the third child. Her two older brothers, Byron and Wayne, also played tennis professionally, but have now left their sports careers. Kara's mother worked for a long time as a teacher, and her father, already deceased, was an amateur tennis player. He flew under the flag of Rhodesia and twice reached the third round at Wimbledon.
It was his love for tennis that was passed on to children and became decisive when choosing a future profession. The Black family owned an avocado plantation where Don built grass courts for the children. Kara admitted that they are still her favorite courts.
According to Kara, her main qualities are cheerfulness, relaxation and ease of movement.
Career
The Zimbabwean tennis player in different years wore the title of the first racket of the world in doubles, the finalists of 7 Grand Slam tournaments; was the winner of 10 Grand Slam tournaments (half in doubles, half in mixed), three-time winner of the WTA final tournament in doubles (2007, 2008, 2014) and winner of 61 WTA tournaments.
Junior career
Kara Black made her debut in 1992, winning the Ghana Junior Championship in singles and doubles. Then she begins to gain experience in secondary competitions. In 1994, she already had enough rating to take part in the junior Grand Slam tournament.
The next step is participation in 1997 in the competitions of the second - third category in South America. This is followed by a victory in the Astrid Bowl, a loss in the final to Roland Garros to the future first racket of the world, Justine Henin, and a victory in the next Grand Slam tournament. In the same fall, Kara Black again reaches the Grand Slam final and wins again. Until the end of the year, she chalked up the victory in the tournament in Mexico and the Orange Bowl semi-finals. This allows her to finish 1997 in the status of the first racket of the world junior ranking in singles.
The tennis player's pair career was just as successful. Kara Black and Polish Alexandra Olsha won the 1995 tournament in Belgium, then with Brazilian Miriam D'Agostini she reached the semifinals of Roland Garros. At the end of 1996, she began her collaboration with the Kazakh Irina Selyutina, and already in 1997 the duo won 17 matches in a row.
The end of the junior career of the Zimbabwean tennis player takes place at the Orange Bowl, where the duet together with Selutina reached the semifinals.
Career in adult tour
The first experience at small competitions in his native Harare was unsuccessful. But already in the second tournament, Kara Black wins. By 1996, the young athlete gradually begins to take part in competitions outside Africa, at first insignificant, gradually gaining experience and increasing her own rating.
After a series of victories in tournaments in Brazil at the end of 1996, Kara Black is one of the four hundred strongest singles on the planet. And already in January-February, after a successful performance at ITF tournaments, the athlete rises in the ranking and is included in the Top250 list of the singles rating, but in November she is firmly entrenched in the Top200.
This allows the Zimbabwean to make her debut at the Grand Slam competitions among adult participants in 1998, but Black stops one step away from entering the base, losing to the Canadian Yana Needli. In the same year, she takes part in the WTA, Roland Garros, which allows her to restore the rating, and take part in the French Grand Slam tournament, finally, get into the base and win her first major victory. This again pushes her rating up, allowing her to gain a foothold in the Top100.
In August, after the WTA in Boston and the ITF in the Bronx, Kara Black is the 52nd racket in the world for the US Open. Until the end of the year, she improves this result, ending it in the status of 44 rackets.
In 1999, Karu and Wayne were invited to the Zimbabwe national team for the Holman Cup season. Brother and sister lose all singles rounds and win one in mixed doubles.
This year, Kara hosts many tournaments to consolidate the results already achieved, but as a result, she drops to 57th in the world ranking.
By 2003, Kara Black was consolidated in singles in the status of the middle peasant of the first hundred of the rating, but in subsequent years it was increasingly haunted by failures and losses. By 2006, the situation was getting worse, and the rating dropped to 357th line. Slightly improving it and gaining a foothold in the Rambler's Top100 by the end of the year, the Zimbabwean subsequently only occasionally began to appear in the singles tournament grids.
Her further career was closely associated with doubles, the results of which only improved from year to year.
The most memorable moment of her sports biography Kara Black considers winning the junior Wimbledon.
Personal life
Very little is known about the private life of the famous athlete. She and her family carefully protect their family from outside intrusion. The tabloids know that on December 2, 2006, Kara Black married her fitness trainer Brett Stephens, and on April 26, 2012, the couple had a son, Lachlan Alexander Stephens.
Zimbabwean tennis player loves animals. She has three cats, two parrots and five dogs at home.
