Brenda Schultz-McCarthy


Brenda Anne Marie Schultz-McCarthy is a former Dutch tennis player. Primarily known by her maiden name Brenda Schultz, she married Sean McCarthy, a former American football player at University of Cincinnati, on 8 April 1995 and took his name. Schultz is known for her fast serve; she has the eighth-fastest serve ever recorded by a female tennis player.

Tennis career

Schultz' career high was in 1996 when she reached World No. 9. She reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the US Open in 1995. She retired from tennis in 1999 with longstanding injuries. She came out of retirement in 2005, playing Fed Cup and WTA tournaments in 2006. The best result of her comeback came in June 2006 at the Tier III Ordina Open in the Netherlands, reaching the quarterfinals with wins over two players ranked in the top 70 on the WTA Tour.
In July 2006, Schultz-McCarthy claimed her place as the fastest server in WTA history, recording a 130 mph serve in the first round of the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open qualifying tournament, held in Cincinnati, Ohio. Venus Williams previously held the women's record set in 1998 of 127 mph in a match in a quarter-finals win against Mary Pierce in Zurich. Williams would tie the record in 2008. In June 2007, Schultz-McCarthy won an ITF tournament in Surbiton.

Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 1 (0–1)

Mixed doubles: 1 (0–1)

WTA career finals

Singles (7 wins, 9 losses)

ResultW/LDateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–11988 [Virginia Slims of Oklahoma – Singles|Feb 1988]Oklahoma City, U.S.Carpet

Doubles (9 wins - 10 losses)

ResultW/LDateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–0Apr 1989Tampa, U.S.Clay

ITF finals

Singles (3–2)

ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1.5 1 1987Chicago, United StatesHard

Doubles (1–1)

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Tournament1987198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999Career SR
Australian OpenA1988 [Australian Open – Women's singles|1R]4R2R1R1RAA4R4R2RAA0 / 8
French OpenA1988 [French Open – Women's singles|4R]1R2R1R3R4R3R2R3R3R1R1R0 / 12
WimbledonAWimbledon Championships – Women's singles|1R]1R4R4R1R3R2RQF3R3RAA0 / 10
US OpenUS Open – Women's singles|1R]1R1R1R2R3R3R1RQF2R2RAA0 / 11
SR0 / 10 / 40 / 40 / 40 / 40 / 40 / 30 / 30 / 40 / 40 / 10 / 10 / 10 / 41