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Arantxa Sánchez Vicario1 (b. December 18 1971 in Barcelona, Spain) is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Spain. During her career, she won four Grand Slam singles titles and six Grand Slam doubles titles.
She started playing tennis at age four, when she would follow her older brothers Emilio Sánchez and Javier Sánchez (both of whom went on to become top male players) to the court and hit balls against the wall with her first racquet.
Sánchez Vicario shocked the tennis world in 1989 when, as a virtually unknown 17-year-old, she defeated World No. 1 Steffi Graf in the final to become the youngest-ever winner of the women's singles title at the French Open. (The record was broken the following year by Monica Seles, who won the title at age 16.)
Sánchez Vicario quickly developed a reputation on the tour for her tenacious fighting spirit and willingness to scamper around the court, refusing to concede a point. Affectionately known as the "Barcelona Bumblebee", she "stung" all the major competitors of her era.
Sánchez Vicario's most successful year as a singles player was 1994, when she won both the French Open and US Open titles. (She won a total of eight tournaments that year.)
Her fourth Grand Slam title was won in 1998 at the French Open.
She was a singles finalist in all four the Grand Slams at least twice. She was a Grand Slam singles runner-up eight times in addition to her four wins.
Sánchez Vicario became the World No. 1 singles player in 1995 (for 12 weeks) and, in doing so, became the first woman since Martina Navratilova in 1987 to simultaneously hold the No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles.
Sánchez Vicario won the women's doubles titles at the US Open in 1993 (with Conchita Martinez), and at Wimbledon in 1995 (with Jana Novotna). She also won four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles.
In 1991, Sánchez Vicario helped Spain win its first-ever Fed Cup title, defeating the United States in the final. She was a member of Spanish teams which won the Fed Cup four further times in 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1998. Sánchez Vicario holds the record for the most singles and doubles wins by any player in Fed Cup competition, with 72 victories. She also holds the records for most ties played (58), and most years played (16).
Sánchez Vicario was a also member of the Spanish teams which won the Hopman Cup in 1990 and 2002.
She represented Spain at the Olympic Games five times, and won two silver and two bronze medals.
Over the course of her career, Sánchez Vicario won 29 singles titles and 69 doubles titles. Sánchez Vicario got married in 2002, and announced her retirement from the game shortly after. However she made a return in 2004, playing in selected doubles events.
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Note
1 Vicario is not her married name. It is her mother's maiden name. In the Spanish naming system, the mother's maiden name follows the family name. When she started her professional career, she was known as Sánchez, but later requested that her mother's maiden name be added.
Grand Slam titles
Wins (4)
Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final 1989 French Open Steffi Graf 7-6, 3-6, 7-5 1994 French Open Mary Pierce 6-4, 6-4 1994 US Open Steffi Graf 1-6, 7-6, 6-4 1998 French Open Monica Seles 7-6, 0-6, 6-2
Runner-ups (8)
Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final 1991 French Open Monica Seles 6-3, 6-4 1992 US Open Monica Seles 6-3, 6-3 1994 Australian Open Steffi Graf 6-0, 6-2 1995 Australian Open Mary Pierce 6-3, 6-2 1995 French Open Steffi Graf 7-5, 4-6, 6-0 1995 Wimbledon Steffi Graf 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 1996 French Open Steffi Graf 6-3, 6-7, 10-8 1996 Wimbledon Steffi Graf 6-3, 7-5
External Links
- Official WTA Tour Profile (http://www.wtatour.com/players/playerprofiles/playerbio.asp?PlayerID=190008)
- Unofficial Fan Site (http://members.tripod.com/~CMSTRONG/)bg:Аранча Санчес-Викарио
de:Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario es:Arantxa Sánchez Vicario nl:Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario pt:Arantxa Sánchez Vicario