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Houston Matters

Retired Tennis Star Zina Garrison Reflects on Her Career — and Talking to the Queen

In June of last year, we presented the 2016 Houston Matters Road Show in front of a live audience at the Asia Society Texas Center, including a conversation with Houstonian and longtime tennis star Zina Garrison. In the 1980s and 90s, Garrison was a fixture in professional tennis, routinely among the top women’s singles players […]

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Photo: Michael Hagerty, Houston Public Media

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In June of last year, we presented the 2016 Houston Matters Road Show in front of a live audience at the Asia Society Texas Center, including a conversation with Houstonian and longtime tennis star Zina Garrison.

In the 1980s and 90s, Garrison was a fixture in professional tennis, routinely among the top women's singles players in the world. She made the Wimbledon final in 1990. But it was in doubles tennis that she really stood out, taking the gold at the 1988 Olympics and winning three Grand Slam mixed doubles tournaments in her long and successful career.

After retiring from the pro tour, she established the Zina Garrison Foundation for the Homeless, and the Zina Garrison All-Court – now ZGA Tennis Program, supporting inner-city tennis here in Houston.

She talks with Craig Cohen about how she got interested in tennis, about her career and about that time she talked to the Queen of England when she wasn’t supposed to.