Cara Cavell Black, born on 17 February 1979 in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe), is a former professional tennis player who represented Zimbabwe.
The daughter of Donald and Velia Black, she grew up in a tennis-oriented family and turned professional in 1998.
Primarily known as a doubles specialist, she stood 5 feet 6 inches tall, played right-handed with a two-handed backhand, and resided at times in London.
Black competed until her retirement around 2015 after a career spanning nearly two decades on the WTA Tour.
Siblings
Cara is the younger sister of two older brothers, Wayne Black and Byron Black, both of whom also pursued professional tennis careers and specialized largely in doubles.
Their father, Donald Black, was himself a tennis player and coach who trained the siblings on the family’s grass courts in Zimbabwe.
Byron Black achieved significant success, winning the 1994 French Open men’s doubles title and reaching the world No. 1 ranking in doubles.
Wayne Black claimed the 2001 US Open and 2005 Australian Open men’s doubles titles.
The three siblings formed one of the most notable tennis families from Zimbabwe, with Cara often partnering her brother Wayne in mixed doubles events, including victories at the 2002 French Open and 2004 Wimbledon Championships.
Career
Black began her professional journey in the late 1990s and quickly established herself as a doubles expert while also competing in singles.
In singles she reached a career-high ranking of world No. 31 in March 1999 and captured one WTA Tour title along with several ITF titles.
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Her true prominence came in doubles, where she amassed 60 WTA Tour titles and additional ITF successes, compiling a strong win-loss record.
She formed successful long-term partnerships with players including Elena Likhovtseva, Rennae Stubbs, Liezel Huber, and later Sania Mirza.
Highlights included multiple deep runs at Grand Slam tournaments and consistent presence near the top of the rankings.
She also excelled in mixed doubles, frequently teaming with her brother Wayne early on and later with partners such as Leander Paes.
Black represented Zimbabwe in team competitions and appeared in Olympic tennis events.
After a brief break around 2011–2012 following the birth of her son, she returned to the tour before fully retiring.
Her career prize money exceeded $7.7 million.
Accolades
Black’s most distinguished achievements came in doubles and mixed doubles.
She won five Grand Slam women’s doubles titles: the Australian Open in 2007 (with Liezel Huber), Wimbledon in 2004 (with Rennae Stubbs), 2005 and 2007 (both with Huber), and the US Open in 2008 (with Huber).
In mixed doubles she secured five major titles—the 2002 French Open and 2004 Wimbledon with brother Wayne Black, plus the 2008 US Open, 2010 Australian Open, and 2010 Wimbledon with Leander Paes—completing a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles and becoming only the third woman in the Open Era to achieve this feat after Martina Navratilova and Daniela Hantuchová.
She reached world No. 1 in doubles on 17 October 2005 and held the top ranking for a total of 163 weeks, ranking among the longest tenures.
Additional honors include three WTA Finals doubles titles (2007, 2008, and 2014) and numerous other WTA titles across various levels of the tour.
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