Tennis
Number 2 in the WTA, she became a nun
This is the story of Andrea Jaeger. After having shone in the world of women’s tennis in the 80s, the American changed her life radically.
Posted12 July 2023, 06:05
Andrea Jaeger became a nun in 2006 after a brilliant tennis career.
Twitter The Sun
Now 58 years old. Andrea Jaeger has completely disappeared from sports radar. And for good reason, she now devotes her existence to others and to God. But before that, she shone very young on the courts. She turned professional tennis when she was just 14 years old.
The American played in two Grand Slam finals: Roland-Garros in 1982 and Wimbledon in 1983, at the age of 17 and 18. Each time she met Martina Navratilova who left her no chance. Results: 7-6 6-1 in Paris and 6-1 6-1 in London. Andrea Jaeger did everything very quickly, since she retired from sport at the age of 19, in 1985, due to a shoulder injury. In the meantime, she had managed to reach 2nd place in the world rankings and won several million dollars in prize money and advertising contracts.
On June 5, 1982, Andrea Jaeger and Martina Navratilova pose at the end of the Roland-Garros final.
AFP
University degrees in hand
Once she hung up her racket, the tennis player went to university to study theology, then she became a nun. “After graduating in 2006 in theology, I entered a Dominican fraternity program. None of my family knew that I prayed every day of my life. As for me, I always knew that God existed, that we were friends and that we had a special relationship. I will always be a nun, I love life and it’s easier to express it in this area, ”explained Andrea Jaeger to the Daily Mail.
A life devoted to sick children
She also chose to care for others. In 1990, she established the Silver Lining Foundation, which cares for children with cancer. “I apply strict discipline to myself. I wake up at 4 am, I do my prayers and my spiritual study. Then I start working at 5 or 6 in the morning fundraising, creating and managing programs. Every day, there is something to do in the world for children, ”explains the former world No. 2.
Andrea Jaeger in 2007, when she had long since traded in her snowshoes for a nun’s dress.
Getty Images via AFP
Andrea Jaeger ended her interview on a slightly lighter note: “How often I wear the nun’s habit depends on what I have to do. I have three dresses, they get dirty quickly. They also get stuck on buses and escalators. Once I jumped in a taxi and left half my clothes outside the car.
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2023-07-12 04:05:11
#Number #WTA #nun