Pam Shriver proved an enduring success on the tennis court. Her 19-year professional career (1978-1997), her numerous doubles championships, the respect she has earned - and kept - in the world of sports, and her upcoming induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame this July all testify to her greatness.

Shriver holds a remarkable 21 singles titles and 112 doubles titles, many of which she won with her long-time doubles partner Martina Navratilova - including sweeping all four majors (the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open) in 1984 to capture the elusive "grand slam" in doubles.

Shriver obviously made a name for herself in the world of tennis. She also has branded her name onto various successful endeavors in the corporate world and excelled in that realm, as well.

The Mind of a Businesswoman
Today, five years after retiring from the pro circuit, Pam Shriver is a busy woman.

She is a well-respected commentator and tennis analyst for CBS, the BBC, and ESPN. She serves on the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Board of Directors and is president of the USA Tennis Foundation.

She also oversees her own company, PHS Ltd., which is involved in charitable activities, and she is a minority partner in the Baltimore Orioles baseball team.

Friendly and outspoken, Shriver is a woman who knows her mind and readily shares her opinions about tennis, the Olympics, running a business, and juggling priorities.

Shriver said she evaluated the offer to invest in the Baltimore Orioles just as she would any other business deal. She said the amount she was asked to invest, "was sizable, but not uncomfortable. I could live with it if it vanished, but it was well into six figures."

Before she could evaluate the offer, Shriver says she had to first overcome the emotional temptation of investing in a ball club like the Orioles.

"My emotions were tied up in it, and that is not always a great thing," she explains. "I had to separate it, to look at the hard-core business."

Shriver says she took the plunge and invested because she believes that sports properties are appreciating in value. She describes her holding in the team as "a very small percentage" and adds that it is "less than 1 percent."

Shriver's approach to the Baltimore Orioles investment offer is not unusual. In fact, she uses that same business acumen on a number of projects, and it has served her well.

For 13 years, she owned a tennis club in Baltimore. Now, she oversees PHS Ltd., a company that plans and publicizes-and arranges for tennis greats and celebrities to participate in-the annual Chevy Chase Bank Tennis Challenge, a charity event that's been held in Baltimore every year for the past 16 years.

Currently, Shriver is working with others on a coalition bid to bring the 2012 Olympics to the Washington, DC-Baltimore area. Shriver says her experiences in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea made her "a real believer" in the spirit of the Olympics and that she is excited about the prospect of the Games being held in and around the nation's capital. (Shriver and doubles partner Zina Garrison won the gold medal in doubles at the 1988 Olympics.)

"I think it would be fantastic for the whole region," she explains. "I am from Baltimore, and it would be good for my home area. The legacy it leaves behind is really important. It affects the lives of young people, not just the bricks and mortar, but the athletic competition. The athletes dedicate themselves to a goal, and they must work hard, survive loss, and be resilient."

"There are a lot of qualities to sports," she adds, "and I really feel some of the intangibles. The Olympics leave a stamp, changing an area forever."

The Heart of a Volunteer
Shriver's company, PHS Ltd., is in its 17th year coordinating the Chevy Chase Bank Tennis Challenge, an event that benefits the Baltimore Community Foundation (BCF). The Challenge has a reputation as a first-class event and is a major part of the charitable and sports schedule in Baltimore. Its popularity is buoyed by the fact that it offers the only high-level tennis played in Baltimore.

Last year, Andy Roddick played Andre Agassi in the Challenge. This year's players will be decided by September. The Challenge also includes a celebrity doubles match every year, which in the past has included athletes such as former Orioles team members Cal Ripken, Jr., Brady Anderson, and B.J. Surhoff.

All funds raised through the Challenge go to the BCF. To date, the Challenge has raised more than $3 million, and the BCF has used the funds to award grants to various charities, including the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Maryland, and the Maryland Special Olympics, among many others.

Shriver says she does not make any money on the event and, in fact, since she personally spends time on it, the event "actually costs me money." But, she says it's still well worth it.

"The main thing I am interested in is seeing tennis growing at the grassroots level," she says. "I am in the business of charity. Lots of athletes do good things.

"I never benefit from the event other than joy. We use a big organization with a board of directors as a guiding light, and the partnership with the Baltimore Community Foundation is important to us. I didn't want to start my own foundation. Why recreate something that already exists?"

A Love of Tennis
The Challenge is not her only tennis-related voluntary effort. In fact, Pam Shriver spends much of her time doing volunteer work. For instance, she is in her third term as one of the 15 members of the Board of Directors of the USTA, the governing body of tennis in the United States.

"The USTA has a $200 million annual budget and, as a member of the Board of Directors, I am involved in a lot of things," Shriver says.

That may be somewhat of an understatement. Shriver herself estimates she spends "50 to 60 days a year" on USTA business, largely because she is such a proponent of the game.

"Tennis is a great lifetime sport," she says. "It is one of the few gender-friendly sports, and it is a global sport. Tennis is played in virtually every country in the world."

The USTA owns the U.S. Open, which is the fourth major every year. Shriver calls the Open "an incredible business." It earns money for the USTA, and the USTA funnels that money back into tennis to grow the sport by providing leagues and other benefits for its 600,000-plus member players.

In addition to her USTA Board duties, Shriver also serves as president of the USA Tennis Foundation, a USTA subsidiary. Shriver says the Foundation focuses on "building lives through tennis and education."

"The skills are very similar between tennis and school," she explains. "Concentration is one skill used in both-you need to concentrate to learn, and you can go to the tennis court and concentrate on applying hand and eye coordination."

Shriver believes there also are many parallels that can be drawn between the skills it takes to be successful at tennis and those it takes to be successful at business.

"It is endless - the similarities," she muses. "How you get a business to grow, how you get what you want. You need really good people skills. So much about business is focusing on problem solving and people skills.

"In a sport, when you have a partner in doubles, for instance, there's how to communicate with your partner and get the best out of them. Being reliable is important. On the doubles court, that means showing up on time and being aware of the strategies to help you win. It is the same end goal in business."

As if she's not busy enough already, Shriver's broadcasting career also keeps her hopping.

She appears most often on ESPN and CBS and covers the Australian Open, the tournament at Indian Wells, CA, the NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne, FL, and the U.S. Open. She also works for the BBC during Wimbledon and this year will cover the French Open for ESPN.

If there's a downside to all her activities, Shriver says it's being on the road so much.

"The travel is no fun anymore," she explains. "After so many years, I'd like to be home a little more. My work has always been on the road."

But, there obviously are many upsides, too, and Shriver remains a wonderful advocate for tennis and what it teaches us, not only about ourselves and our skills, but also about our interactions with others.

LESLIE ATKINS is an award-winning feature writer who specializes in travel, sports and fitness topics. The owner of LA Communications, LLC, a Washington, DC-based advertising and public relations firm, she can be contacted at 202-223-1865 (e-mail: LAtkinsCom@aol.com).