Claudia Kohde-Kilsch (néeKohde; born 11 December 1963) is a former German
tennis player and member of the
Die Linke. 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.
Personal life
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.[2]
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.
Career
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.
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.
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.
Claudia Kohde-Kilsch (néeKohde; born 11 December 1963) is a former German
tennis player and member of the
Die Linke. 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.
Personal life
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.[2]
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.
Career
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.
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.
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.