Arantxa Sánchez Vicario

Aránzazu Isabel María "Arantxa" Sánchez Vicario (; born 18 December 1971) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 12 weeks, as well as the world No. 1 in women's doubles for 111 weeks. A defensive baseliner, Sánchez Vicario won 29 WTA Tour-level singles titles and 69 doubles titles, including 14 major titles: four in singles, six in women's doubles, and four in mixed doubles. She also won four Olympic medals and five Fed Cup titles representing Spain. In 1994, Sánchez Vicario was crowned the ITF World Champion of the year.

Career Arantxa Sánchez Vicario started playing tennis at the age of 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. As a 17-year-old, she became the youngest winner of the women's singles title at the 1989 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 tenacity and refusal to concede a point. Commentator Bud Collins described her as "unceasing in determined pursuit of tennis balls, none seeming too distant to be retrieved in some manner and returned again and again to demoralize opponents" and nicknamed her the "Barcelona Bumblebee".

She won six women's doubles Grand Slam titles, including the US Open in 1993 (with Helena Suková) and Wimbledon in 1995 (with Jana Novotná). She also won four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. In 1991, she helped Spain win its first-ever Fed Cup title, and helped Spain win the Fed Cup in 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1998. Sánchez Vicario holds the records for the most matches won by a player in Fed Cup competition (72) and for most ties played (58). She was ITF world champion in 1994 in singles. She was also a member of the Spanish teams that won the Hopman Cup in 1990 and 2002.

Over the course of her career, she won 29 singles titles and 69 doubles titles before retiring in November 2002. She came out of retirement in 2004 to play doubles in a few select tournaments as well as the 2004 Summer Olympics, where she became the only tennis player to play in five Olympics in the Games' history. Sánchez Vicario was the most decorated Olympian in Spanish history with four medals—two silver and two bronze. Her medal count has since been surpassed by David Cal and Saúl Craviotto with five medals each.

In 2005, TENNIS magazine ranked her in 27th place in its list of 40 Greatest Players of the TENNIS era and in 2007, she was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She was only the third Spanish player (and the first Spanish woman) to be inducted.

In 2009, Sánchez Vicario was present at the opening ceremony of Madrid's Caja Mágica, the new venue for the Madrid Masters. The second show court is named Court Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in her honour.

Personal life She has been married twice: her first marriage to the sports writer Juan Vehils in July 2000 ended in 2001. She then married businessman Josep Santacana in September 2008, with whom she has a daughter (born 2009) and son (born 2011).Wedding Bells: Sanchez-Vicario Gets Married! Tennis.com, 21 September 2008Arantxa Sanchez Vicario gave birth to a baby girl Zimbio.com, 3 March 2009 In 2019, Sánchez Vicario and Santacana divorced.

In 2012, Sánchez Vicario published an autobiography in which she claimed that, despite having earned $60 million over the course of her career, her parents had exerted almost total control over her finances and lost all of her money. The same year, Sánchez Vicario sued her father and older brother Javier for the alleged mishandling of her career earnings. The court case continued over three years and in 2015 concluded in a private settlement.

She has faced multiple court proceedings relating to charges of tax evasion and fraud. Between 1989 and 1993, she had falsely claimed to be resident of Andorra for tax purposes but was actually residing in Barcelona, Spain. As a result, she was ordered to pay back taxes and penalties. In 2009, Sánchez Vicario was found guilty of tax evasion and ordered to repay €3.5 million. In 2015, Banque de Luxembourg successfully filed complaint against her for credit and property fraud amounting to $5.2 million; however, they were unable to recoup it. In 2018, Sánchez Vicario was once again charged with fraud, for deliberately misleading the courts on her financial set-up during the previous case. As of 2021, Barcelona prosecutors are seeking a four-year jail term for Sánchez Vicario, due to further allegations of fraud relating to the transfer of assets to avoid paying her debts from a previous lawsuit. In 2024, she received a suspended sentence.

As well as tennis-playing siblings Javier and Emilio, Sánchez Vicario also has an older sister—Marisa—who briefly played professional tennis, peaking at world no. 368 in 1990.

Career statistics

Grand Slam performance timelines

Singles Tournament19861987198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002SRW–L Australian OpenNHAAAASFSFSFFFQF3RQF2RQFA1R0 / 1141–11 French OpenQ1QFQFW2RFSFSFWFFQFWSFSF2R1R3 / 1672–13 WimbledonA1R1RQF1RQF2R4R4RFFSFQF2R4R2RA0 / 1541–15 US OpenA1R4RQFSFQFFSFW4R4RQFQF4R4R3R1R1 / 1656–15Win–loss0–04–37–315–26–319–416–418–423–221–419–415–419–39-415–44–30–34 / 58210–54

Doubles Tournament 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Career SR Australian OpenAAAA3RWQFSFWWSFQFQF1RAFAAA3 / 11 French Open3R1RQFQFSFFQFAFSFSFSFQF1R1R1RA1R1R0 / 17 Wimbledon1R1R1RQFQFSFQFFWQFQFQF3R3RQFAA1RA1 / 16 US Open2R2R1RQF3RSFWWQFFSF3RSF3RQF1RAAA2 / 16Grand Slam SR0 / 30 / 30 / 30 / 30 / 41 / 41 / 41 / 32 / 41 / 40 / 40 / 40 / 40 / 40 / 30 / 30 / 00 / 20 / 16 / 60

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 12 (4 titles, 8 runners-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 1989 French Open Clay Steffi Graf 7–6(8–6), 3–6, 7–5Loss 1991 French OpenClay Monica Seles 3–6, 4–6Loss 1992 US Open Hard Monica Seles 3–6, 3–6Loss 1994 Australian Open Hard Steffi Graf 0–6, 2–6Win 1994 French Open Clay Mary Pierce 6–4, 6–4Win 1994 US Open Hard Steffi Graf 1–6, 7–6(7–3), 6–4Loss 1995 Australian Open Hard Mary Pierce 3–6, 2–6Loss 1995French Open Clay Steffi Graf 5–7, 6–4, 0–6Loss 1995 Wimbledon Grass Steffi Graf6–4, 1–6, 5–7Loss 1996 French Open Clay Steffi Graf 3–6, 7–6(7–4), 8–10Loss 1996 Wimbledon Grass Steffi Graf 3–6, 5–7Win 1998 French Open Clay Monica Seles 7–6(7–5), 0–6, 6–2

Doubles: 11 (6 titles, 5 runners-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1992 Australian Open Hard Helena Suková Mary Joe Fernandez Zina Garrison 6–4, 7–6(7–3)Loss 1992 French Open Clay Conchita Martínez Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva 3–6, 2–6Win 1993 US Open Hard Helena Suková Amanda Coetzer Inés Gorrochategui 6–4, 6–2Loss 1994WimbledonGrass Jana Novotná Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva4–6, 1–6Win 1994US OpenHard Jana Novotná Katerina Maleeva Robin White6–3, 6–3Win 1995Australian OpenHard Jana Novotná Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva6–3, 6–7(3–7), 6–4Loss 1995French OpenClay Jana Novotná Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva7–6(8–6), 4–6, 5–7Win 1995WimbledonGrass Jana Novotná Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva5–7, 7–5, 6–4Win 1996Australian OpenHard Chanda Rubin Lindsay Davenport Mary Joe Fernandez7–5, 2–6, 6–4Loss 1996US OpenHard Jana Novotná Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva6–1, 1–6, 4–6Loss 2002Australian OpenHard Daniela Hantuchová Martina Hingis Anna Kournikova2–6, 7–6(7–4), 1–6

Mixed doubles: 8 (4 titles, 4 runners-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1989French OpenClay Horacio de la Peña Manon Bollegraf Tom Nijssen3–6, 7–6, 2–6Win 1990French OpenClay Jorge Lozano Nicole Provis Danie Visser7–6, 7–6Loss 1991US OpenHard Emilio Sánchez Manon Bollegraf Tom Nijssen2–6, 6–7Loss 1992Australian OpenHard Todd Woodbridge Nicole Provis Mark Woodforde3–6, 6–4, 9–11Win 1992French OpenClay Todd Woodbridge Lori McNeil Bryan Shelton6–2, 6–3Win 1993Australian OpenHard Todd Woodbridge Zina Garrison Rick Leach7–5, 6–4Loss 2000Australian OpenHard Todd Woodbridge Rennae Stubbs Jared Palmer5–7, 6–7Win 2000US OpenHard Jared Palmer Anna Kournikova Max Mirnyi6–4, 6–3

Summer Olympics Singles: 2 medals (1 silver medal, 1 bronze medal) ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScoreBronze1992BarcelonaClayTiedDNPSilver1996AtlantaHard Lindsay Davenport6–7(8–10), 2–6 Note: Arantxa Sánchez Vicario lost in the semi-finals to Jennifer Capriati 3–6, 6–3, 1–6. In 1992, there was no bronze medal play-off match, both beaten semi-final players received bronze medals

Doubles: 2 medals (1 silver medal, 1 bronze medal) ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreSilver1992BarcelonaClay Conchita Martínez Gigi Fernández Mary Joe Fernandez5–7, 6–2, 2–6Bronze1996AtlantaHard Conchita Martínez Manon Bollegraf Brenda Schultz6–3, 6–1

Year-end championships finals Singles: 1 (1 runner-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 1993New York CityCarpet Steffi Graf1–6, 4–6, 6–3, 1–6

Doubles: 6 (2 titles, 4 runners-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1990New York CityCarpet Mercedes Paz Kathy Jordan Elizabeth Smylie6–7(4–7), 4–6Win 1992New York CityCarpet Helena Suková Larisa Neiland Jana Novotná7–6(7–4), 6–1Loss 1994New York CityCarpet Jana Novotná Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva3–6, 7–6(7–4), 3–6Win 1995New York CityCarpet Jana Novotná Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva6–2, 6–1Loss 1996New York CityCarpet Jana Novotná Lindsay Davenport Mary Joe Fernandez3–6, 2–6Loss 1999New York CityCarpet Larisa Neiland Martina Hingis Anna Kournikova4–6, 4–6

Arantxa Sánchez Vicario

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