Manuela Maleeva

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Manuela Maleeva Tennis player
Manuela Maleeva
Nation: BulgariaBulgaria Bulgaria
–1989 Switzerland 1990–1994
SwitzerlandSwitzerland 
Birthday: February 14, 1967
Size: 173 cm
1st professional season: 1982
Resignation: 1994
Playing hand: Right, two-handed backhand
Prize money: $ 3,191,557
singles
Career record: 475: 187
Career title: 19 WTA , 0 ITF
Highest ranking: 3 (February 4 1985)
Grand Slam record
Double
Career record: 129: 131
Career title: 4 WTA, 1 ITF
Highest ranking: 11 (August 2 1993)
Grand Slam record
Mixed
Grand Slam record
Olympic games
Sources: official player profiles at the ATP / WTA and ITF (see web links )

Manuela Maleeva ( Bulgarian Мануела Малеева ; born February 14, 1967 in Sofia ) is a former Bulgarian tennis player who played for Switzerland from 1990 .

She was a professional tennis player from 1982 to 1994 and one of the most successful players of the 1980s. She won 19 individual titles on the WTA Tour in her career . She married the Swiss François Fragnière in 1987 and then competed for the first time in the Fed Cup for Switzerland in 1991 , and the following year at the Olympic Games in Barcelona.

Life

Manuela Maleeva is the eldest daughter of Julia Berberjan and Georgi Maleev. Her mother was the best Bulgarian tennis player in the 1960s. All three daughters reached the top 10 in the world rankings and broke several records. All three were in the top 15. In 1993 they were all among the 16 seeded players at the Australian Open , the French Open and Wimbledon . At the French Open they made Grand Slam history when they reached the round of 16 in 1993.

Manuela was the most successful of the trio. She made it to position 3 in the world, the youngest sister Magdalena was listed as number 4 and Katerina achieved her best ranking with position 6. The three sisters were all coached by their mother.

Manuela Maleeva-Fragnière lives with her husband and three children on the Vaudois Riviera .

Career

Maleeva won the Junior French Open in 1982 and turned pro that same year. Two years later she was already among the top ten in the WTA world rankings . In the 1984 season she won seven titles, after her victory in Indianapolis she climbed to 3rd place in the ranking. Until 1992 she was one of the ten best players in the world without interruption.

She won her only Grand Slam title in 1984 with Tom Gullikson in mixed at the US Open . At the 1988 Olympic Games , she won the bronze medal in singles. She celebrated her greatest successes in 1992 and 1993 at the US Open, when she reached the semi-finals. In 1992, she had previously defeated her sister Magdalena in the quarter-finals. In 1993 she lost the semi-finals in three sets against Steffi Graf .

She won the most valuable title in Zurich in 1993 with a final victory over Martina Navrátilová , whom she was able to defeat for the third time. She has also won over Chris Evert , Gabriela Sabatini , Mary Joe Fernández , Arantxa Sánchez Vicario , Jana Novotná and Zina Garrison .

Manuela Maleeva also won four double titles, one of them alongside her sister Katerina.

In 1994 she was deleted from the world rankings, she was number 5 in the world at that time. She won her last tournament in 1994 with a final win over Iva Majoli in Osaka . In her 41st and last Grand Slam appearance, she narrowly failed in the quarter-finals in Melbourne at the then world number two Arantxa Sánchez Vicario.

Tournament victories

singles

No. date competition category Topping Final opponent Result
1. May 13, 1984 SwitzerlandSwitzerland Lugano WTA sand CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia Iva Budařová 6: 1, 6: 1
2. May 27, 1984 ItalyItaly Perugia WTA sand United StatesUnited States Chris Evert 6: 3, 6: 3
3. August 11, 1984 United StatesUnited States Indianapolis WTA sand United StatesUnited States Lisa Bonder 6: 4, 6: 3
4th November 1984 JapanJapan Tokyo Invitation tournament Carpet (hall) CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia Hana Mandlíková 6: 1, 1: 6, 6: 4
5. December 16, 1984 JapanJapan Tokyo WTA Carpet (hall) Germany Federal RepublicFederal Republic of Germany Claudia Kohde-Kilsch 3: 6, 6: 4, 6: 4
6th December 15, 1985 JapanJapan Tokyo WTA Carpet (hall) United StatesUnited States Bonnie Gadusek 3: 6, 6: 4, 6: 4
7th April 5th 1987 United StatesUnited States Charleston WTA sand ItalyItaly Raffaella Reggi 5: 7, 6: 2, 6: 3
8th. August 30, 1987 United StatesUnited States Mahwah WTA Hard court Germany Federal RepublicFederal Republic of Germany Sylvia Hanika 1: 6, 6: 4, 6: 1
9. March 6, 1988 United StatesUnited States Wichita WTA Hard court (hall) Germany Federal RepublicFederal Republic of Germany Sylvia Hanika 7: 6 5 , 7: 5
10. September 12, 1988 United StatesUnited States Phoenix WTA Hard court South Africa 1961South Africa Dinky Van Rensburg 6: 3, 4: 6, 6: 2
11. March 12, 1989 United StatesUnited States Indian Wells WTA Tier III Hard court AustraliaAustralia Jenny Byrne 6: 4, 6: 1
12. May 28, 1989 SwitzerlandSwitzerland Geneva WTA Tier V sand SpainSpain Conchita Martínez 6: 4, 6: 0
13. February 17, 1991 AustriaAustria Linz WTA Tier V Carpet (hall) CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia Petra Langrová 6: 4, 7: 6 1
14th May 26, 1991 SwitzerlandSwitzerland Geneva WTA Tier IV sand CanadaCanada Helen Kelesi 6: 3, 3: 6, 6: 3
15th September 29, 1991 FranceFrance Bayonne WTA Tier IV Carpet (hall) Georgia 1990Georgia Leila Mes'chi 4: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4
16. 4th October 1992 FranceFrance Bayonne WTA Tier IV Carpet (hall) FranceFrance Nathalie Tauziat 6: 7 4 , 6: 2, 6: 3
17th February 28, 1993 AustriaAustria Linz WTA Tier III Carpet (hall) SpainSpain Conchita Martínez 6: 2, 1: 0 task
18th October 10, 1993 SwitzerlandSwitzerland Zurich WTA Tier I Carpet (hall) United StatesUnited States Martina Navrátilová 6: 3, 7: 6 1
19th February 13, 1994 JapanJapan Osaka WTA Tier III Carpet (hall) CroatiaCroatia Iva Majoli 6: 1, 4: 6, 7: 5

Double

No. date competition category Topping Partner Final opponents Result
1. July 26, 1985 United StatesUnited States Indianapolis WTA World Tour sand Bulgaria 1971Bulgaria Katerina Maleewa United StatesUnited States Penny Barg-Lean Paula Smith
United StatesUnited States 
3: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4
2. July 11, 1987 BelgiumBelgium Knokke-Heist WTA World Tour sand Germany Federal RepublicFederal Republic of Germany Bettina Bunge United StatesUnited States Kathy Horvath Marcella Mesker
NetherlandsNetherlands 
4: 6, 6: 4, 6: 4
3. February 16, 1991 AustriaAustria Linz WTA Tier V Carpet (hall) ItalyItaly Raffaella Reggi CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia Petra Langrová Radka Zrubáková
CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia 
6: 4, 1: 6, 6: 3
4th April 10, 1993 United StatesUnited States Amelia Island WTA Tier II sand Georgia 1990Georgia Leila Mes'chi South Africa 1961South Africa Amanda Coetzer Inés Gorrochategui
ArgentinaArgentina 
3: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4

Performing in Grand Slam tournaments

singles

competition 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 Career
Australian Open 3 - - VF - AF - - - 2 VF AF VF VF
French Open 2 3 AF VF 3 VF 3 VF VF 2 3 3 - VF
Wimbledon 2 2 VF AF AF 2 1 - 1 - 3 2 - VF
US Open 3 3 1 AF VF AF VF VF VF AF HF HF - HF

Double

competition 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 Career
Australian Open - - AF - - - - - AF AF 2 AF AF
French Open 1 2 2 VF 1 2 2 2 2 1 AF - VF
Wimbledon - 1 1 2 1 1 - 1 - 1 - - 2
US Open 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 - 1 - 2

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Volker Kluge : Olympic Summer Games. Chronicle IV. Seoul 1988 - Atlanta 1996. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-328-00830-6 .