Claudia Kohde-Kilsch

During her tennis career, she won two women's doubles Grand Slam titles. She also won eight singles titles and a total of 25 doubles titles.

Claudia Kohde-Kilsch

Country (sports)	Germany
Born	(1963-12-11) 11 December 1963 (age 60) Saarbrücken, West Germany
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro	1980
Retired	1994
Plays	Right-handed (one handed-backhand)
Prize money	$2,227,116
Singles
Career record	408–224 (64.6%)
Career titles	8
Highest ranking	No. 4 (2 September 1985)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	SF (1985, 1987, 1988)
French Open	SF (1985)
Wimbledon	QF (1987)
US Open	QF (1985, 1987)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	2R (1988)
Doubles
Career record	438–175
Career titles	25
Highest ranking	No. 3 (17 August 1987)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	F (1982, 1984, 1985)
French Open	F (1984, 1985, 1988)
Wimbledon	W (1987)
US Open	W (1985)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour Finals	F (1983, 1985, 1986(Mar), 1986(Nov), 1987)
Olympic Games	SF (1988)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	28–12
Medal record Olympic Games 1988 Seoul Doubles

Kohde-Kilsch was born Claudia Kohde in Saarbrücken, but added the hyphenated "-Kilsch" to her name which came from her adoptive father Jürgen Kilsch, an attorney. She has a younger sister, Katrin. She began playing tennis aged 5, and was soon a rising junior player.

Kohde-Kilsch campaigned for Oskar Lafontaine of Die Linke at the 2012 Saarland state election. With the party winning over 16% of the vote, it was announced that as of 1 May 2012 she would become the new spokesperson for the Landtag parliamentary group.

She currently lives in Saarland with her partner and her son Fynn from her previous marriage with the singer Chris Bennett, from whom she divorced in 2011. Bennett died in 2018. The couple operated CeKay Music, a music publishing house and production company.

Kohde-Kilsch turned professional on 1 January 1980, and by 1981, she had defeated Martina Navratilova in Oakland. In 1982, she captured the title at Pittsburgh, and in 1984, she triumphed at the German Open, defeating Kathleen Horvath of the United States, 7–6, 6–1.

In 1985, she reached the Australian Open and French Open semifinals as well as won in Los Angeles. Later that year, she defeated Navrátilová in the quarterfinals at the Canadian Open, eventually losing to Chris Evert, 2–6, 4–6 in the final. In 1987, she again reached the finals of the German Open, where she lost to Steffi Graf 2–6, 3–6.

In women's doubles, Kohde-Kilsch and Helena Suková won the 1985 US Open and the 1987 Wimbledon Championships.

Between 1984 and 1987, Kohde-Kilsch and Suková, sometimes referred to as the "twin towers" for their height, won 14 doubles tournaments. At the 1988 Summer Olympics, she partnered with Steffi Graf in the doubles competition, and they won the bronze medal in the event.

Grand Slam tournaments

Women's doubles: 8 (2 titles, 6 runners-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1982	Australian Open	Grass	Eva Pfaff	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	4–6, 2–6
Runner-up	1984	French Open	Clay	Hana Mandlíková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	7–5, 3–6, 2–6
Runner-up	1984	Australian Open	Grass	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	3–6, 4–6
Runner-up	1985	French Open	Clay	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	6–4, 2–6, 2–6
Winner	1985	US Open	Hard	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	6–7(5–7), 6–2, 6–3
Runner-up	1985	Australian Open	Grass	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	3–6, 4–6
Winner	1987	Wimbledon	Grass	Helena Suková	Betsy Nagelsen   Elizabeth Smylie	7–5, 7–5
Runner-up	1988	French Open	Clay	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	2–6, 5–7

Olympics

Doubles: 1 bronze medal

Outcome	Year	Location	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Bronze	1988	Seoul	Hard	Steffi Graf	Tied	DNP

Graf and Kohde-Kilsch lost in the semifinals to Jana Novotná and Helena Suková 5–7, 3–6. In 1988, there was no bronze medal play-off match, both beaten semifinal pairs received bronze medals.

Year-end championships

Doubles: 5 runners-up

Outcome	Year	Location	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1983	New York	Carpet (i)	Eva Pfaff	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	5–7, 2–6
Runner-up	1985	New York	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	7–6(7–4), 4–6, 6–7(5–7)
Runner-up	1986 (Mar.)	New York	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Hana Mandlíková   Wendy Turnbull	4–6, 7–6(7–4), 3–6
Runner-up	1986 (Nov.)	New York	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	6–7(1–7), 3–6
Runner-up	1987	New York	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	1–6, 1–6

Singles: 16 (8–8)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	12 January 1981	Toronto	Carpet (i)	Nina Bohm	4–6, 6–2, 7–5
Winner	2.	13 July 1981	Kitzbühel	Clay	Sylvia Hanika	7–5, 7–6
Winner	3.	25 January 1982	Pittsburgh	Carpet (i)	Eva Pfaff	6–4, 6–0
Winner	4.	17 March 1982	Austin	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	7–6(7–0), 0–6, 6–3
Runner-up	1.	9 April 1984	Hilton Head Island	Clay	Chris Evert-Lloyd	2–6, 3–6
Winner	5.	14 May 1984	Berlin	Clay	Kathleen Horvath	7–6(10–8), 6–1
Runner-up	2.	29 October 1984	Zürich	Carpet (i)	Zina Garrison	1–6, 6–0, 2–6
Runner-up	3.	10 December 1984	Tokyo	Carpet (i)	Manuela Maleeva	6–3, 4–6, 4–6
Winner	6.	29 July 1985	Los Angeles	Hard	Pam Shriver	6–2, 6–4
Runner-up	4.	5 August 1985	Toronto	Hard	Chris Evert-Lloyd	2–6, 4–6
Runner-up	5.	13 January 1986	Worcester	Carpet (i)	Martina Navratilova	6–4, 1–6, 4–6
Runner-up	6.	31 March 1986	Marco Island	Clay	Chris Evert-Lloyd	4–6, 2–6
Runner-up	7.	14 April 1986	Amelia Island	Clay	Steffi Graf	4–6, 7–5, 6–7(3–7)
Runner-up	8.	11 May 1987	Berlin	Clay	Steffi Graf	2–6, 3–6
Winner	7.	6 June 1988	Birmingham	Grass	Pam Shriver	6–1, 6–2
Winner	8.	10 September 1990	Kitzbühel	Clay	Rachel McQuillan	7–6(7–5), 6–4

Doubles: 64 (25–39)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1.	21 July 1980	Kitzbühel	Clay	Eva Pfaff	Hana Mandlíková   Renáta Tomanová	w/o
Winner	2.	13 July 1981	Kitzbühel	Hard	Eva Pfaff	Elizabeth Little   Yvonne Vermaak	6–4, 6–3
Runner-up	1.	17 May 1982	Berlin	Clay	Bettina Bunge	Liz Gordon   Beverly Mould	3–6, 4–6
Runner-up	2.	15 November 1982	Brisbane	Grass	Eva Pfaff	Billie Jean King   Anne Smith	3–6, 4–6
Runner-up	3.	22 November 1982	Sydney	Grass	Eva Pfaff	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	3–6, 6–2, 6–7
Runner-up	4.	29 November 1982	Australian Open	Grass	Eva Pfaff	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	4–6, 2–6
Winner	3.	21 February 1983	Oakland	Carpet (i)	Eva Pfaff	Rosie Casals   Wendy Turnbull	6–4, 4–6, 6–4
Runner-up	5.	23 March 1983	Virginia Slims Championships	Carpet (i)	Eva Pfaff	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	5–7, 2–6
Runner-up	6.	16 May 1983	Berlin	Clay	Eva Pfaff	Jo Durie   Anne Hobbs	4–6, 6–7(2–7)
Winner	4.	4 July 1983	Hittfeld	Clay	Bettina Bunge	Ivanna Madruga   Catherine Tanvier	7–5, 6–4
Winner	5.	9 April 1984	Hilton Head Island	Clay	Hana Mandlíková	Anne Hobbs   Sharon Walsh	7–5, 6–2
Winner	6.	23 April 1984	Orlando	Clay	Hana Mandlíková	Anne Hobbs   Wendy Turnbull	6–0, 1–6, 6–3
Runner-up	7.	28 May 1984	French Open	Clay	Hana Mandlíková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	7–5, 3–6, 2–6
Runner-up	8.	20 August 1984	Montreal	Hard	Hana Mandlíková	Kathy Jordan   Elizabeth Sayers	1–6, 2–6
Winner	7.	15 October 1984	Filderstadt	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Bettina Bunge   Eva Pfaff	6–2, 4–6, 6–3
Runner-up	9.	29 October 1984	Zürich	Carpet (i)	Hana Mandlíková	Andrea Leand   Andrea Temesvári	1–6, 3–6
Winner	8.	19 November 1984	Sydney	Grass	Helena Suková	Wendy Turnbull   Sharon Walsh	6–2, 7–6(7–4)
Runner-up	10.	29 November 1984	Australian Open	Grass	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	3–6, 4–6
Winner	9.	10 December 1984	Tokyo	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Elizabeth Smylie   Catherine Tanvier	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	11.	7 January 1985	Washington	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Gigi Fernández   Martina Navratilova	3–6, 6–3, 3–6
Runner-up	12.	18 March 1985	Virginia Slims Championships	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	7–6(7–4), 4–6, 6–7(5–7)
Winner	10.	13 May 1985	Berlin	Clay	Helena Suková	Steffi Graf   Catherine Tanvier	6–4, 6–1
Runner-up	13.	27 May 1985	French Open	Clay	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	6–4, 2–6, 2–6
Winner	11.	29 July 1985	Los Angeles	Hard	Helena Suková	Hana Mandlíková   Wendy Turnbull	6–4, 6–2
Runner-up	14.	12 August 1985	Mahwah	Hard	Helena Suková	Kathy Jordan   Elizabeth Smylie	6–7(6–8), 3–6
Winner	12.	26 August 1985	US Open	Hard	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	6–7(5–7), 6–2, 6–3
Runner-up	15.	28 October 1985	Zürich	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Hana Mandlíková   Andrea Temesvári	4–6, 6–3, 5–7
Runner-up	16.	11 November 1985	Brisbane	Grass	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	4–6, 7–6(8–6), 1–6
Runner-up	17.	25 November 1985	Australian Open	Grass	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	3–6, 4–6
Winner	13.	9 December 1985	Tokyo	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Marcella Mesker   Elizabeth Smylie	6–0, 6–4
Runner-up	18.	6 January 1986	Washington	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	3–6, 4–6
Runner-up	19.	13 January 1986	Worcester	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	3–6, 1–6
Winner	14.	10 March 1986	Dallas	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Hana Mandlíková   Wendy Turnbull	4–6, 7–5, 6–4
Runner-up	20.	17 March 1986	Virginia Slims Championship	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Hana Mandlíková   Wendy Turnbull	4–6, 7–6(7–4), 3–6
Winner	15.	14 April 1986	Amelia Island	Clay	Helena Suková	Gabriela Sabatini   Catherine Tanvier	6–2, 5–7, 7–6(9–7)
Runner-up	21.	16 June 1986	Eastbourne	Grass	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	2–6, 4–6
Runner-up	22.	11 August 1986	Los Angeles	Hard	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	4–6, 3–6
Runner-up	23.	3 November 1986	Worcester	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	5–7, 3–6
Winner	16.	10 November 1986	Chicago	Clay	Helena Suková	Steffi Graf   Gabriela Sabatini	6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–5), 6–3
Runner-up	24.	17 November 1986	Virginia Slims Championship	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	6–7(1–7), 3–6
Winner	17.	30 January 1987	Tokyo	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Elise Burgin   Pam Shriver	6–1, 7–6(7–5)
Runner-up	25.	23 February 1987	Key Biscayne	Hard	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	3–6, 6–7(6–8)
Runner-up	26.	23 February 1987	Rome	Clay	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Gabriela Sabatini	4–6, 1–6
Winner	18.	11 May 1987	Berlin	Clay	Helena Suková	Catarina Lindqvist   Tine Scheuer-Larsen	6–1, 6–2
Winner	19.	22 June 1987	Wimbledon	Grass	Helena Suková	Betsy Nagelsen   Elizabeth Smylie	7–5, 7–5
Runner-up	27.	17 August 1987	Toronto	Hard	Helena Suková	Zina Garrison   Lori McNeil	1–6, 2–6
Winner	20.	21 September 1987	Hamburg	Clay	Jana Novotná	Natalia Bykova   Leila Meskhi	7–6(7–1), 7–6(8–6)
Winner	21.	9 November 1987	Chicago	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Zina Garrison   Lori McNeil	6–4, 6–3
Runner-up	28.	16 November 1987	Virginia Slims Championship	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	1–6, 1–6
Runner-up	29.	28 December 1987	Brisbane	Grass	Helena Suková	Betsy Nagelsen   Pam Shriver	6–2, 5–7, 2–6
Runner-up	30.	4 January 1988	Sydney	Grass	Helena Suková	Ann Henricksson   Christiane Jolissaint	6–7(5–7), 6–4, 3–6
Runner-up	31.	7 March 1988	Boca Raton	Hard	Helena Suková	Katrina Adams   Zina Garrison	6–4, 5–7, 4–6
Runner-up	32.	4 April 1988	Hilton Head Island	Clay	Gabriela Sabatini	Lori McNeil   Martina Navratilova	2–6, 6–2, 3–6
Runner-up	33.	9 May 1988	Berlin	Clay	Helena Suková	Isabelle Demongeot   Nathalie Tauziat	2–6, 6–4, 4–6
Runner-up	34.	23 May 1988	French Open	Clay	Helena Suková	Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver	2–6, 5–7
Runner-up	35.	17 October 1988	Zürich	Carpet (i)	Helena Suková	Isabelle Demongeot   Nathalie Tauziat	3–6, 3–6
Winner	22.	28 November 1988	Adelaide	Hard	Sylvia Hanika	Jana Novotná   Lori McNeil	7–5, 6–7(4–7), 6–4
Runner-up	36.	30 January 1989	Tokyo	Carpet (i)	Mary Joe Fernández	Katrina Adams   Zina Garrison	3–6, 6–3, 6–7(5–7)
Runner-up	37.	7 August 1989	Los Angeles	Hard	Mary Joe Fernández	Martina Navratilova   Wendy Turnbull	2–5 ret.
Winner	23.	4 February 1991	Oslo	Carpet (i)	Silke Meier	Sabine Appelmans   Raffaella Reggi	3–6, 6–2, 6–4
Winner	24.	1 April 1991	Hilton Head Island	Clay	Natasha Zvereva	Mary-Lou Daniels   Lise Gregory	6–4, 6–0
Runner-up	38.	5 August 1991	Toronto	Hard	Helena Suková	Larisa Savchenko   Natasha Zvereva	6–1, 5–7, 2–6
Winner	25.	24 February 1992	Indian Wells	Hard	Stephanie Rehe	Jill Hetherington   Kathy Rinaldi	6–3, 6–3
Runner-up	39.	28 September 1992	Bayonne	Carpet (i)	Stephanie Rehe	Linda Ferrando   Petra Langrová	6–1, 3–6, 4–6

Singles

Doubles