PORTRAITS: ANDREA JAEGER

Portraits is a new feature dedicated to the many faces that make up the FILA legacy. They are stories of female and male athletes who stand out for their achievements – not only in the arena.  We kick off the series with an exceptional star; the former US tennis player Andrea Jaeger.

In Latin, fide is a multifaceted word. It expresses blind trust in a value, concept, or truth. It also signifies solitary commitment, loyalty and keeping one’s word. It is most associated with spiritual belief. Over the centuries, exceptional thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther King, Søren Kierkegaard, along with the pop icon George Michael (who named his first solo album Faith in 1987) have nurtured the concept of ‘by faith’. Because after all, one must have it, even after a love affair ends. Is it possible to talk about tennis and ‘fide’? Reading David Foster Wallace’s essay Tennis as a Religious Experience (2006) helps us understand the connection. So does looking at the life of Andrea Jaeger. Born in Chicago in 1965, Jaeger was a child prodigy and a professional player by 14. Her career broke many records. In 1980, she was the youngest player in history to win at Wimbledon, where she beat the favourite Virginia Wade. In the same year, she set a record at the US Open, where she became the tournament’s youngest semi-finalist.

In 1983, at eighteen years old, she was the number two seed, second only to Martina Navratilova. And she didn’t only stand out on the court for her playing technique. Jaeger’s dressed in FILA’s WHITE LINE collection, almost always choosing yellow and black colours. This earned her the nickname ‘bee’. Andrea Jaeger’s sporting odyssey came to a halt in 1985 after a shoulder injury. This moment, however, marked the beginning of a new chapter which saw her enrol in a college to study Theology and embark on Ministry training. The former tennis player took her vows and entered a community of Dominican nuns in 2006. As Jaeger herself said in an interview with The Mail, ‘It’s a strict routine. I wake up at 4 a.m., pray, and by 5-6 a.m. I am already at work raising funds or working on our programmes.’ She left the order in 2009, but kept the faith. She continues her philanthropic work with the Little Star Foundation, an organisation she founded to support children with cancer.