Career
McNeil played on the WTA Tour for 19 years from 1983–2002. During that time she won one Grand Slam mixed doubles title at the French Open in 1988 (partnering Jorge Lozano). She won a total of 10 singles and 33 doubles titles during her career. Her career-high world rankings were World No. 9 in singles (in 1988), and World No. 4 in doubles (in 1987).
McNeil is perhaps best remembered for her results against Steffi Graf. In 1992, McNeil defeated Graf 7–5 6–4 in the first round of the WTA Tour Championships, marking the first time since 1985 that Graf had lost in the opening round of a tournament. Then, in 1994, McNeil beat Graf 7–5 7–6 (7–5) in the first round at Wimbledon, marking the first time in Grand Slam history that a defending-champion suffered a first round loss.
That year, McNeil went on to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon before losing to eventual-champion Conchita Martínez 3–6, 6–2, 10–8. This equalled McNeil's best-ever Grand Slam singles performance – she also reached the semi-finals at the U.S. Open in 1987 (after defeating six-time champion Chris Evert in the quarterfinals) where she lost to Graf 4–6, 6–2, 6–4.
Read more about this topic: Lori Mc Neil
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