Magdalena Maleewa

Magdalena Maleewa
Nickname:	Maggie
Nation:	Bulgaria
Birthday:	April 1, 1975
Size:	168 cm
1st professional season:	1989
Resignation:	2005
Playing hand:	Right, two-handed backhand
Prize money:	$ 4,398,582
singles
Career record:	439: 290
Career title:	10 WTA, 1 ITF
Highest ranking:	4 (January 29 1996)
Grand Slam record
Double
Career record:	121: 133
Career title:	5 WTA, 1 ITF
Highest ranking:	13 (February 2, 2004)
Grand Slam record
Sources: official player profiles at the ATP / WTA and ITF (see web links )

Magdalena Maleewa ( Bulgarian Магдалена Малеева ; born April 1, 1975 in Sofia ) is a former Bulgarian tennis player .

She played on the WTA Tour between 1989 and 2005 . The winner of ten WTA tournaments in singles and five in doubles has two sisters, Manuela and Katerina . All three reached the top ten in the world rankings and broke several records. All three were listed in the top 15 in 1993. At the Australian Open , the French Open and at Wimbledon all were among the 16 seeded players. At the French Open, they made Grand Slam history together when they all reached the last 16 in 1993. Manuela was the most successful of the trio and reached 3rd place in the world rankings in 1984, Katerina was ranked 6th in 1990 and Magdalena was ranked 4th (13th in doubles) as the best ranking.

Career

Magdalena Maleewa celebrated her greatest successes in the hall on the carpet or on her favorite surface "Indoor Hardcourt". She won the WTA tournament in Moscow three times (record winner, 2002 as Tier I) and in 1995 the tournament (also Tier I) in Zurich .

In her best season (1995) she also reached the final of the major tournaments at Hilton Head , Leipzig and Berlin in addition to the three titles . At the end of the year she was in position 6, her best year-end position. The following year, after the final in Madrid , she achieved fourth place, the best ranking of her career.

Between 1996 and 1998 they were increasingly plagued by injuries. A shoulder operation followed, which resulted in a one-year break (1998/1999). After her return, she fought her way among the 15 best in the world again. She was only one win away from returning to the top ten twice in 2003. In the same year she also had her best double season when she won the Tier I tournament in Miami and the Tier II tournament in Warsaw with Liezel Huber , and at the end of the year she was allowed to travel to the Masters of the four best teams as a substitute . She reached the Masters again in 2001 and 2002 after qualifying there in 1993, 1994 and 1995. She achieved her best performance in Grand Slam tournaments when she reached the quarter-finals of the US Open in 1992.

Maleewa had a traumatic experience in 1993 as Monica Seles' opponent in the quarter-final on the day in Hamburg when she was seriously wounded by a knife attack by the mentally ill Graf supporter Günter Parche and put out of action for years.

Maleewa was able to defeat almost all the greats in tennis in her career, so u. a. Martina Navrátilová , Lindsay Davenport , Venus Williams , Monica Seles , Mary Pierce , Conchita Martínez . After a second round loss to Patty Schnyder in Zurich , she announced her resignation at the end of 2005.

Private

Magdalena Maleewa has been married to her long-time boyfriend Lubomir Nakow since 2004. On June 27th, she had her first child, named Yulia after her mother. Today she represents her own clothing line Capasca and is active in various areas such as "organic farming" or tree plants in Sofia.

Tournament victories

singles

• 2003 Birmingham (Tier III grass)
• 2002 Moscow (Tier I - carpet / hall)
• 2001 Budapest (Tier III - clay)
• 1999 Pattaya (Tier IVb - Hard Court)
• 1995 Chicago (Tier II - hard court) / Moscow (Tier III - indoor) / Oakland (Tier II - indoor)
• 1994 Moscow (Tier III - carpet / hall) / Zurich (Tier I - carpet / hall)
• 1992 San Marino (Tier III - hard court)

Double

• 2005 - Gold Coast (with Jelena Lichowzewa , Tier III - hard court)
• 2003 - Miami (with Liezel Huber , Tier I - hard court); Warsaw (also Huber, Tier II - Sand)
• 2002 - Antwerp (with Patty Schnyder , Tier II - carpet / hall)
• 1991 - Bol (with Laura Golarsa , Tier V - sand)

Web links

Commons : Magdalena Maleewa  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• WTA profile Magdalena Maleeva (English)
• ITF profile Magdalena Maleeva (English)
• Fed Cup stats by Magdalena Maleeva (English)