In the early 1980s, after a four-year professional playing career on the WTA Tour, Mary Carillo began writing articles for World Tennis magazine. Soon after, she commenced work as an analyst for USA Network’s coverage of the WTA. This was groundbreaking work, as it came at a time when no woman regularly commented on tennis on television.
Rapidly, it became clear that Carillo also had the skills to discuss men’s tennis – a breakthrough step for a woman at that time. From there, Carillo worked for PBS, CBS, NBC, ESPN, HBO, TNT, Tennis Channel, and the USTA, regularly covering hundreds of tour events and all four majors. The WTA awarded her its “Broadcaster of the Year” award in 1981 and 1985. Carillo was also named “Best Commentator” by Tennis Magazine from 1988-91.
Carillo’s pioneering efforts subsequently opened the door for many more women to cover tennis on a regular and frequent basis, including Hall of Fame inductees Tracy Austin, Pam Shriver, Martina Navratilova, Chrissie Evert, and Lindsay Davenport, as well as Mary Joe Fernandez, Rennae Stubbs, Kathy Rinaldi, Katrina Adams, Chanda Rubin, Coco Vandeweghe, Andrea Petkovic, and many others.
Carillo has also served as an interviewer on such notable HBO documentaries as Billie Jean King: Portrait of a Pioneer (2006) and Fire and Ice (2011, about the John McEnroe-Björn Borg rivalry).
Beyond tennis, she has covered 17 Olympic Games and, for more than 25 years, was a correspondent for HBO’s “Real Sports” program. A winner of six Emmys and three Peabody Awards (including one for her work on the Billie Jean King documentary), Carillo was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2018.
Notable Highlights
- Winner of six Emmys and three Peabody Awards (the Peabody is the broadcasting world’s highest honor, equivalent to the Pulitzer Prize)
- Co-author of three books: Tennis My Way (Martina Navratilova with Mary Carillo, 1984), Rick Elstein’s Tennis Kinetics (with Navratilova, Elstein, Carillo, 1985), and Tennis Confidential II: More of Today's Greatest Players, Matches, and Controversies (with Paul Fein, 2008)
- Inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2018
- Reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 33 (‘80) and won ’77 Roland-Garros mixed doubles title (with John McEnroe)
- Three-time co-host of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show (2009, 2013, 2016)
- Host of the National Dog Show (2022 to present)
- Named Best Commentator by Tennis Magazine (1988-91)
- WTA Broadcaster of the Year (1981 and 1985)
