I was a Wimbledon finalist at 18 and got razor blades in my trainers, but quit sports to become a nun

Andrea Jaeger embarked on a completely unexpected new career after retiring from tennis.

After turning pro at age 14, Jaeger quickly rose to No. 2 in the world rankings for female tennis players at age 16.

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The American defeated almost all the top tennis stars. In 1980 she became the youngest seeded player ever at Wimbledon, beating favorite Virginia Wade.

Later that same year, she became the youngest ever semifinalist at the US Open.

Jaeger won the 1981 French Open mixed doubles title with Jimmy Arias and reached the 1983 Wimbledon final at age 18, where she lost 6–1, 6–1 to Martina Navratilova.

However, just a year after her impressive performance at the All England Club, she was forced to hang up her racket due to a shoulder injury.

Instead of pursuing a new role in tennis or another sport, she completely changed her current job.

Jaeger, now 59, immediately turned to studying theology and training to be a minister at university, before eventually becoming a nun.

“I just knew that God existed and that we were friends and had a personal relationship,” she said The mail in 2008. “No one in my family knew that I prayed every day of my life.

“In August 2006, I received an associate degree in Ministry Training and Theology. After that, I went to a Dominican Sisterhood Program.

“It is a strict discipline. I wake up at 4 in the morning, do my prayers and my spiritual study, then at 5 or 6 in the morning I start fundraising, planning programs and executing those programs.

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“Every day there is something for children to do somewhere in the world.”

When asked if her religious clothing is a permanent fixture, she said, “How often I wear the nun's habit depends on what I'm doing. I have three of them. They get dirty pretty quickly.

“I keep getting the robes stuck on buses and escalators. Once I jumped in a cab and left half of them outside the door. The first week I wore them, at a big international conference in New York City, a bird came up to me to pee.

“I thought this was God's way of saying, 'Maybe it's okay to be a little dirty around the edges, you're the one who used to dive for balls on the tennis court.'

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“I believe I will always be a Sister. I have a joy and love for life and it is easier to express that in this field.”

Since her retirement, Jaeger has revealed that she was sexually harassed by an unnamed WTA staff member.

She told the Independent in 2022: “I got in the car with her and her friend. The person was swerving while driving and I remember us hitting trash or a mailbox. When we got to my apartment, she walked me to the door and tried something with me.

“She tried to kiss me. I was so sick I crawled up the stairs trying not to throw up so my dad wouldn't see me.

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Her tennis gear was also destroyed while on tour and her experiences led her to avoid the locker rooms when she played a Wimbledon Legends match in 2019.

“I've been in situations where I've gone to get my racket and the strings have been cut,” she added.

“When I put on my shoes, it turned out that someone had left razor blades in them.”

Today, Jaeger focuses on creating positivity in the world, something she has been doing since she retired from tennis.

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After ending her career, she sold her car, jewelry and watches and made charitable donations before setting up her own foundation.

She started organizing activity programs for children with cancer.

Now 38 years later, the Little Star Foundation provides long-term care to sick and neglected children in the US.

Tennis fans probably missed Jaeger's stunning performances on the tennis court.

But she certainly still brings a lot of joy to the people of the US every year.