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Olympic medalist
[[Image:|Center|100px]] Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
Medal record
Women's Tennis
Silver	1996 Atlanta	Singles
Silver	1992 Barcelona	Doubles
Bronze	1992 Barcelona	Singles
Bronze	1996 Atlanta	Doubles

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 4 Grand Slam singles titles and 6 Grand Slam doubles titles.

Contents 1 Career 2 Grand Slam singles finals 2.1 Wins (4) 2.2 Runner-ups (8) 3 Grand Slam singles performance timeline 4 Singles titles (29) 5 WTA Tour career earnings 6 Note 7 External links

[edit] Career

Sánchez Vicario started playing tennis at age four, when she followed her older brothers Emilio Sánchez and Javier Sánchez (both of whom became professional players) to the court and hit balls against the wall with her first racquet.

Sánchez Vicario surprised the tennis world in 1989 when, as a 17-year-old, she became the youngest winner of the women's singles title at the French Open, defeating World No. 1 Steffi Graf in the final. (Monica Seles broke the record the following year when she 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. She was the ultimate counterpuncher. 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 U.S. Open singles titles. She won eight tournaments that year.

Sánchez Vicario was a singles finalist at least twice in all four Grand Slam singles events. Her win-loss record in Grand Slam singles finals was 4-8 (3-7 against Graf and Seles). Her fourth and final Grand Slam singles title was at the 1998 French Open.

Sánchez Vicario was the World No. 1 singles player in 1995 for 12 weeks. She was 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 U.S. Open in 1993 (with Helena Suková) and 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 that won the Fed Cup four additional 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 that won the Hopman Cup in 1990 and 2002.

She represented Spain in five events at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games, winning two silver and two bronze medals.

Over the course of her career, Sánchez Vicario won 29 singles titles and 69 doubles titles. She married in August 2000 to sports journalist Joan Vehils, but her marriage lasted only 10 months. She separated from her husband in May 2001, then announced her retirement from the game shortly after. She attempted a return to the tour 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.

[edit] Grand Slam singles finals

[edit] Wins (4)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1989	French Open	Image:Flag of Germany.svg Steffi Graf	7-6, 3-6, 7-5
1994	French Open (2)	Image:Flag of France.svg Mary Pierce	6-4, 6-4
1994	U.S. Open	Image:Flag of Germany.svg Steffi Graf	1-6, 7-6, 6-4
1998	French Open (3)	Image:Flag of the United States.svg Monica Seles	7-6, 0-6, 6-2

[edit] Runner-ups (8)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1991	French Open	Monica Seles	6-3, 6-4
1992	U.S. Open	Monica Seles	6-3, 6-3
1994	Australian Open	Image:Flag of Germany.svg Steffi Graf	6-0, 6-2
1995	Australian Open (2)	Image:Flag of France.svg Mary Pierce	6-3, 6-2
1995	French Open (2)	Image:Flag of Germany.svg Steffi Graf	7-5, 4-6, 6-0
1995	Wimbledon	Image:Flag of Germany.svg Steffi Graf	4-6, 6-1, 7-5
1996	French Open (3)	Image:Flag of Germany.svg Steffi Graf	6-3, 6-7, 10-8
1996	Wimbledon (2)	Image:Flag of Germany.svg Steffi Graf	6-3, 7-5

[edit] Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Tournament	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	Career SR
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	SF	SF	SF	F	F	QF	3R	QF	2R	QF	A	1R	0 / 11
French Open	QF	QF	W	2R	F	SF	SF	W	F	F	QF	W	SF	SF	2R	1R	3 / 16
Wimbledon	1R	1R	QF	1R	QF	2R	4R	4R	F	F	SF	QF	2R	4R	2R	A	0 / 15
U.S. Open	1R	4R	QF	SF	QF	F	SF	W	4R	4R	QF	QF	4R	4R	3R	1R	1 / 15
SR	0 / 3	0 / 3	1 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	2 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	1 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 3	4 / 57

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

[edit] Singles titles (29)

• 1988 - Belgian Open
• 1989 - French Open, Barcelona
• 1990 - Barcelona, Newport
• 1991 - Washington DC
• 1992 - Miami, Canadian Open
• 1993 - Miami, Amelia Island, Barcelona, Hamburg
• 1994 - French Open, U.S. Open, Amelia Island, Barcelona, Hamburg, Canadian Open, Tokyo [Nichirei], Oakland
• 1995 - Barcelona, Berlin
• 1996 - Hilton Head, Hamburg
• 1998 - French Open, Sydney
• 1999 - Cairo
• 2001 - Porto, Madrid

[edit] WTA Tour career earnings

Year	Majors	WTA wins	Total wins	Earnings ($)	Money list rank
1991	0	1	1	799,340	5
1992	0	2	2	1,376,355	3
1993	0	4	4	1,938,239	2
1994	2	7	9	No information
1995	0	2	2	1,456,516	2
1996	0	2	2	1,858,444	2
1997	0	0	0	890,512	6
1998	1	1	2	1,468,608	5
1999	0	1	1	807,921	9
2000	0	0	0	819,689	10
2001	0	2	2	725,342	13
2002	0	0	0	441,378	24
Career*	4	26	30	16,942,640	5

* As of August 28, 2006.

[edit] 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, regardless of whether she marries or divorces. 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.

[edit] External links

• WTA Tour profile for Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
• Fed Cup record
• Unofficial fan site
• Tax evasion issue of Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, news in spanish

Preceded by: Steffi Graf Steffi Graf Steffi Graf	World No. 1 February 6, 1995 - February 19, 1995 February 27, 1995 - April 9, 1995 May 15, 1995 - June 11, 1995	Succeeded by: Steffi Graf Steffi Graf Steffi Graf
Preceded by: Steffi Graf	ITF World Champion 1994	Succeeded by: Steffi Graf

French Open women's singles champions*

Women's Tennis Association | World No. 1's in Women's tennis
Tracy Austin | Jennifer Capriati | Kim Clijsters | Lindsay Davenport | Chris Evert | Steffi Graf | Justine Henin-Hardenne | Martina Hingis | Amélie Mauresmo | Martina Navrátilová | Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | Monica Seles | Maria Sharapova | Serena Williams | Venus Williams

* Open Era | Nancy Richey (1968) | Margaret Smith Court (1969–70, 1973) | Evonne Goolagong (1971) | Billie Jean King (1972) | Chris Evert (1974–75, 1979–80, 1983, 1985–86) | Sue Barker (1976) | Mima Jaušovec (1977) | Virginia Ruzici (1978) | Hana Mandlíková (1981) | Martina Navrátilová (1982, 1984) | Steffi Graf (1987–88, 1993, 1995–96, 1999) | Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (1989, 1994, 1998) | Monica Seles (1990–92) | Iva Majoli (1997) | Mary Pierce (2000) | Jennifer Capriati (2001) | Serena Williams (2002) | Justine Henin-Hardenne (2003, 2005–06) | Anastasia Myskina (2004)