Spartanburg, S. C.
Inducted 2022
Mary Carlisle grew up in Spartanburg, S. C. in the 1980’s and 1990’s and was one of the state’s best junior and college tennis players. She graduated from Spartanburg Day School in 1996 and was named the 1993 Athlete of the Year.
She was ranked #1 in South Carolina in her respective age division five straight years between 1991 and 1995 and was ranked #1 in the South in the 18U in 1995. She won four consecutive singles titles at the Palmetto Championships in Belton from 1991 to 1994 as well as numerous other state tournaments. She played on several South Carolina Junior Wightman Cup and Southern Intersectional teams. She received the 1992 USTA South Carolina Junior Girl Player of the Year Award.
Mary Carlisle competed at the national tournaments her last several junior years with outstanding results and rankings:
- Won the singles championship at the 1994 USTA National Indoor Championships
- Played on the team that won the 1994 National City Team Championships
- Ranked in the top five 18U girls in the nation in 1995
- Singles silver medalist at the 1995 U. S. Junior Olympic Festival
- Doubles semi-finalist at the 1995 Canadian Open Juniors
- Member of the USTA National Team in 1995 and 1996
- Competed in the U. S. Open Juniors in 1995 and 1996
- Finished third in singles at the 1996 USTA National Hardcourt Championships
- Competed in all four Grand Slam Junior Championships in 1996 and was a doubles semi-finalist at Wimbledon
- Played on the 1998 United States Wightman Cup team which competed in Europe
She attended the University of Florida and graduated in three years and received a number of academic honors, including the 1997 Neal Anderson Scholastic Award, GTE first team Academic All-American and was named to the SEC Honor Roll three years. Her on-court accomplishments included:
- Selected to play on the 1997 USTA All-American Collegiate Summer Team
- Had a 27-3 dual match singles record and 41 total singles victories her freshman year
- Ranked #13 in ITA singles as a freshman and ranked as high as #9 in singles and #19 in doubles during her college career
- Won the Georgia Invitational defeating four straight ranked opponents
- Named first team All-Southeastern Conference at #3 Doubles
- A finalist at the 1997 NCAA Singles Championships
- Earned All-American honors in 1997
- Florida won the 1997, 1998 and 1999 SEC Championships and the 1998 NCAA Championships
Mary Carlisle worked for the USTA from 2003 to 2006 as Manager of Special Events overseeing all aspects of the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympics, and Pan Olympics events and teams. She was also a member of the team managing and operating the U. S. Open each year.
