On Monday, the United States Tennis Association awarded Mary Joe Fernández with its 2014 USTA President's Award at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.

The USTA President's Award is given to those who contribute exemplary service to the public interest of the sport of tennis.

Fernández is the current U.S. Fed Cup Captain and has ranked as high as No. 4 in the world in both the singles and doubles category.

"It's such an honor to be recognized with the President's Award," she said in a statement. "Tennis has been in my life for 40 years now and I am so lucky to be able to stay involved in this great sport."

The 43-year-old tennis star, who was born in the Dominican Republic, according to the Women's Tennis Association, is also an Olympic gold medalist. She took home a gold medal in the women's doubles during the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics and another in the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. Fernández also earned the women's singles bronze medal in Barcelona. Her most recent Olympic feat was serving as U.S. women's team captain in the 2012 London Olympics.

Fernández retired from professional competition in 2000, but her achievements did not stop then. She became captain of the U.S. Fed Cup team in 2009 and took the team to the Fed Cup Final during her first two years in the role. Fernández was the first U.S. captain to do this since Marty Riessen in 1986 and 1987.

"Mary Joe Fernández is truly one of the game's greats and has been a major contributor in our efforts to grow the game," said David Haggerty, USTA chairman of the board and president, in a statement. "She also has been an integral part of the U.S. Fed Cup team, both as a player and captain, and the entire tennis community has benefitted from her incredible passion, dedication and commitment."

Being captain is not Fernández's first experience with the U.S. Fed Cup team. She played on the team during its championship year of 1996, when she finished with a Fed Cup record-breaking record of 12 losses and eight wins in singles and four wins and twp losses in doubles.

Currently, Fernández is a sports analyst for ESPN, as well as for CBS during the Emirate Airline U.S. Open Series and Grand Slam events. She lives with her husband, Tony Godsick, and her two children, Isabella and Nicholas, in Ohio, Cleveland.

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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

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