Aránzazu (Arantxa) Isabel Maria Sanchez Vicario (born December 18, 1971, in Barcelona) is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Spain. She won four Grand Slam singles titles, six Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles.

Career

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

Sanchez 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.)

Sanchez 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.

Sanchez Vicario's most successful year as a singles player was 1994, when she won both the French Open and US Open singles titles. She won eight tournaments that year.

Sanchez 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. Out of the 58 Grand Slam singles tournaments she played, she reached at least the quarterfinals 35 times. At the French Open, she reached at least the quarterfinals 13 times in 16 attempts and compiled a 72-14 win-loss record.

Sanchez Vicario was the World No. 1 singles player in 1995 for 12 weeks. She was the first woman since Martina Navratilova in 1987 to simultaneously hold the top ranking in both singles and doubles.

Sanchez Vicario won six women's doubles Grand Slam titles, including the US Open in 1993 (with Helena Sukova) and Wimbledon in 1995 (with Jana Novotna). She also won four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles.

In 1991, Sanchez 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. Sanchez 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).

Sanchez 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, Sanchez 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.

In 2007, Sanchez Vicario was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She was only the third Spanish player (and the first Spanish woman) to be inducted.

Career statistics

Grand Slam singles finals

Wins (4)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1989	French Open	Steffi Graf	7–6, 3–6, 7–5
1994	French Open (2)	Mary Pierce	6–4, 6–4
1994	US Open	Steffi Graf	1–6, 7–6, 6–4
1998	French Open (3)	Monica Seles	7–6, 0–6, 6–2

Runner-ups (8)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1991	French Open	Monica Seleš	6–3, 6–4
1992	US Open	Monica Seleš	6–3, 6–3
1994	Australian Open	Steffi Graf	6–0, 6–2
1995	Australian Open (2)	Mary Pierce	6–3, 6–2
1995	French Open (2)	Steffi Graf	7–5, 4–6, 6–0
1995	Wimbledon	Steffi Graf	4–6, 6–1, 7–5
1996	French Open (3)	Steffi Graf	6–3, 6–7, 10–8
1996	Wimbledon (2)	Steffi Graf	6–3, 7–5

Grand Slam women's doubles finals

Wins (6)

Year	Championship	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1992	Australian Open	Helena Sukova	Mary Joe Fernandez Zina Garrison	6–4, 7–6
1993	US Open	Helena Sukova	Amanda Coetzer Ines Gorrochategui	6–4, 6–2
1994	US Open (2)	Jana Novotna	Katerina Maleeva Robin White	6–3, 6–3
1995	Australian Open (2)	Jana Novotna	Gigi Fernandez Natalia Zvereva	6–3, 6–7, 6–4
1995	Wimbledon	Jana Novotna	Gigi Fernandez Natalia Zvereva	5–7, 7–5, 6–4
1996	Australian Open (3)	Chanda Rubin	Lindsay Davenport Mary Joe Fernandez	7–5, 2–6, 6–4

Runner-ups (5)

Year	Championship	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1992	French Open	Conchita Martínez	Gigi Fernandez Natalia Zvereva	6–3, 6–2
1994	French Open (2)	Jana Novotna	Gigi Fernandez Natasha Zvereva	6–7, 6–4, 7–5
1994	Wimbledon	Jana Novotna	Gigi Fernandez Natasha Zvereva	6–4, 6–1
1996	US Open	Jana Novotna	Gigi Fernandez Natasha Zvereva	1–6, 6–1, 6–4
2002	Australian Open	Daniela Hantuchova	Anna Kournikova Martina Hingis	6–2, 6–7, 6–1

Grand Slam mixed doubles finals

Wins (4)

Year	Championship	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1990	French Open	Jorge Lozano	Nicole Provis Danie Visser	7–6, 7–6
1992	French Open (2)	Mark Woodforde	Lori McNeil Bryan Shelton	6–2, 6–3
1993	Australian Open	Todd Woodbridge	Zina Garrison Rick Leach	7–5, 6–4
2000	US Open	Jared Palmer	Anna Kournikova Max Mirnyi	6–4, 6–3

Runner-ups (4)

Year	Championship	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1989	French Open	Horacio de la Peña	Manon Bollegraf Tom Nijssen	6–3, 6–7, 6–2
1991	US Open	Emilio Sanchez	Manon Bollegraf Tom Nijssen	6–2, 7–6
1992	Australian Open	Todd Woodbridge	Nicole Provis Mark Woodforde	6–3, 4–6, 11–9
2000	Australian Open (2)	Todd Woodbridge	Jared Palmer Rennae Stubbs	7–5, 7–6

WTA Tour Championships singles finals

Singles

Runner-up (1)

Year	Location	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1993	New York City	Steffi Graf	6–1, 6–4, 3–6, 6–1

Doubles

Wins (2)

Year	Location	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1992	New York City	Helena Sukova	Larisa Neiland Jana Novotna	7–6, 6–1
1995	New York City	Jana Novotna	Gigi Fernandez Natasha Zvereva	6–2, 6–1

Runner-ups (4)

Year	Location	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1990	New York City	Mercedes Paz	Kathy Jordan Elizabeth Smylie	7–6, 6–4
1994	New York City	Jana Novotna	Gigi Fernandez Natasha Zvereva	6–3, 6–7, 6–3
1996	New York City	Jana Novotna	Mary Joe Fernandez Lindsay Davenport	6–3, 6–2
1999	New York City	Larisa Neiland	Martina Hingis Anna Kournikova	6–4, 6–4

Grand Slam performance timelines

Singles

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
US Open	1R	4R	QF	SF	QF	F	SF	W	4R	4R	QF	QF	4R	4R	3R	1R	1 / 15
Grand Slam 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.

Doubles

Tournament	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	Career SR
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	3R	W	QF	SF	W	W	SF	QF	QF	1R	A	F	A	A	A	3 / 11
French Open	3R	1R	QF	QF	SF	F	QF	A	F	SF	SF	SF	QF	1R	1R	1R	A	1R	1R	0 / 15
Wimbledon	1R	1R	1R	QF	QF	SF	QF	F	W	QF	QF	QF	3R	3R	QF	A	A	1R	A	1 / 16
US Open	2R	2R	1R	QF	3R	SF	W	W	QF	F	SF	3R	SF	3R	QF	1R	A	A	A	2 / 16
Grand Slam SR	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	1 / 4	1 / 4	1 / 4	2 / 4	1 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 2	0 / 0	0 / 1	6 / 62

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.

Career finals

Singles

Titles (29)

Legend

Grand Slam tournaments (4)

WTA Championships (0)

Tier I (6)

Tier II (12)

Tier III (3)

Tier IV-V (4)

No.	Date	Tournament Name	Location	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	July 11, 1988	Belgian Open	Brussels	Clay	Raffaella Reggi	6–0, 7–5
2.	April 25, 1989	International Championships of Spain (1)	Barcelona	Clay	Helen Kelesi	6–2, 5–7, 6–1
3.	June 11, 1989	French Open (1)	Paris	Clay	Steffi Graf	7–6(6), 3–6, 7–5
4.	April 29, 1990	International Championships of Spain (2)	Barcelona	Clay	Isabel Cueto	6–4, 6–2
5.	July 22, 1990	Virginia Slims of Newport	Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.	Grass	Jo Durie	7–6(2), 4–6, 7–5
6.	August 25, 1991	Virginia Slims of Washington	Washington, D.C.	Hard	Katerina Maleeva	6–2, 7–5
7.	March 22, 1992	Lipton International Players Championships (1)	Key Biscayne, Florida, U.S.	Hard	Gabriela Sabatini	6–1, 6–4
8.	August 23, 1992	Matinee Ltd. - Canadian Open (1)	Montréal	Hard	Monica Seles	6–3, 4–6, 6–4
9.	March 21, 1993	The Lipton Championships (2)	Key Biscayne, Florida, U.S.	Hard	Steffi Graf	6–4, 3–6, 6–3
10.	April 11, 1993	Bausch & Lomb Championships (1)	Amelia Island, Florida, U.S.	Clay	Gabriela Sabatini	6–2, 5–7, 6–2
11.	April 25, 1993	International Championships of Spain (3)	Barcelona	Clay	Conchita Martínez	6–1, 6–4
12.	May 2, 1993	Citizen Cup (1)	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Steffi Graf	6–3, 6–3
13.	April 10, 1994	Bausch & Lomb Championships (2)	Amelia Island, Florida, U.S.	Clay	Gabriela Sabatini	6–1, 6–4
14.	April 24, 1994	International Championships of Spain (4)	Barcelona	Clay	Iva Majoli	6–0, 6–2
15.	May 1, 1994	Citizen Cup (2)	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Steffi Graf	4–6, 7–6(3), 7–6(6)
16.	June 5, 1994	French Open (2)	Paris	Clay	Mary Pierce	6–4, 6–4
17.	August 21, 1994	Matinee Ltd. International - Canadian Open (2)	Montréal	Hard	Steffi Graf	7–5, 1–6, 7–6(4)
18.	September 11, 1994	US Open	New York City	Hard	Steffi Graf	1–6, 7–6(3), 6–4
19.	September 25, 1994	Nichirei International Championships	Tokyo	Hard (I)	Amy Frazier	6–1, 6–2
20.	November 6, 1994	Bank of the West Classic	Oakland, California, U.S.	Carpet (I)	Martina Navratilova	1–6, 7–6(5), 7–6(3)
21.	April 30, 1995	Open Ford International Championships of Spain (5)	Barcelona	Clay	Iva Majoli	5–7, 6–0, 6–2
22.	May 21, 1995	German Open	Berlin	Clay	Magdalena Maleeva	6–4, 6–1
23.	April 7, 1996	Family Circle Magazine Cup	Hilton Head, South Carolina, U.S.	Clay	Barbara Paulus	6–2, 2–6, 6–2
24.	May 5, 1996	Rexona Cup (3)	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Conchita Martínez	4–6, 7–6(4), 6–0
25.	January 18, 1998	Sydney International	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Venus Williams	6–1, 6–3
26.	June 7, 1998	French Open (3)	Paris	Clay	Monica Seles	7–6(5), 0–6, 6–2
27.	April 25, 1999	Dreamland Egypt Classic	Cairo	Clay	Irina Spîrlea	6–1, 6–0
28.	April 8, 2001	Porto Open	Porto, Portugal	Clay	Magüi Serna	6–3, 6–1
29.	May 26, 2001	Open de Espana Villa de Madrid	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Angeles Montolio	7–5, 6–0

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.

Notes

External links

• sportec.com: Tax evasion issue of Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
• Arantxa Sanchez Vicario's induction speech to the Hall of Fame