Arantxa Sánchez Vicario

Aranzazu (Arantxa) Isabel Maria Sánchez-Vicario¹ (born 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.

Career

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 professional 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" some of 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 Navrátilová in 1987 to simultaneously hold the No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles.

Sánchez Vicario won six women's doubles Grand Slam titles, including the US Open in 1993 (with Helena Suková), and at Wimbledon in 1995 (with Jana Novotná). 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 also a 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 August 2000 to sports journalist Joan Vehils. Her marriage lasted only 10 months. She separated from her husband in May 2001, then announced her retirement from the game shortly after. However she made an unsuccessful return in 2004, playing in selected doubles events.

In 2005, TENNIS Magazine put her in 27th place in its list of 40 Greatest Players of the TENNIS era. Sánchez Vicario was the ultimate counterpuncher, without a major weapon yet always retrieving and fighting for a point. Her tactic included hitting moonballs to disrupt the opponent's rhythm and never giving up any chances to save every hit. She is a real fighter who has strong willpower and cohesion when competing with her adversaries.

Note

¹ Vicario is not her married name. It is her mother's maiden name. In the Spanish naming system, every person has two surnames: the first one comes from the father, the second from the mother. A woman therefore never changes surnames, no matter whether she gets married or divorced. When she started her professional career, she was known as Sánchez, but later requested that her mother's maiden name be added. Her two brothers, Emilio and Javier, were also known as Sánchez Vicario in the Spanish-speaking world.

Grand Slam singles titles

Wins (4)

Steffi Graf || 7-6, 3-6, 7-5 Mary Pierce ||6-4, 6-4 Steffi Graf ||1-6, 7-6, 6-4 Monica Seles || 7-6, 0-6, 6-2

'''Year

'''Championship

'''Opponent in Final

'''Score in Final

Runner-ups (8)

Monica Seles ||6-3, 6-4 Monica Seles ||6-3, 6-3 Steffi Graf ||6-0, 6-2 Mary Pierce || 6-3, 6-2 Steffi Graf || 7-5, 4-6, 6-0 Steffi Graf ||4-6, 6-1, 7-5 Steffi Graf || 6-3, 6-7, 10-8 Steffi Graf ||6-3, 7-5