Tennis Legends - Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario: The greatest female player Spain has ever produced

Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario is the greatest female player Spain has ever produced. Until Rafa Nadal started to own Roland Garros, arguably the best Spanish player of either gender. Four Grand Slam singles titles made her one of the leading players of the 1990s.

Born on December 13th, 1971 in Barcelona, to parents Emilio and Marisa. Her two brothers Emilio and Javier were both professionals but never scaled the heights of their sister. Their father acted as a manager.

Turning professional in 1985, Sanchez-Vicario quickly ascended up the rankings. She broke into the top 100 the following year and made her first tour final in Buenos Aires. A maiden Grand Slam quarter-final came at the 1987 French Open.

The 1988 season witnessed a breakthrough for the tenacious Spaniard. At what was then known as a Category 1 event, Sanchez-Vicario emerged with her first career trophy in Brussels. On clay, she bested Raffaella Reggi, 6-0, 7-5, in the final. This victory underpinned the Spaniard finishing the season placed inside the world's top 20.

Her career trajectory accelerated in 1989. A home success on the Barcelona clay underlined Sanchez-Vicario as one of the principal contenders for the French Open, a few weeks later. Prior to the final, Sanchez-Vicario dropped just one set before a final showdown with World Number One Steffi Graf, also the defending champion. In just one of many marquee clashes between the pair, a 17 year-old Sanchez-Vicario triumphed in three sets. It made her the youngest winner of the women's singles at Roland Garros, although Monica Seles, aged just 16, quickly assumed ownership of the record by winning a year later.

Now firmly established in the top ten, the 1990 season saw Sanchez-Vicario retain her Barcelona crown and win her inaugural non clay court title on the grass of Newport, Rhode Island. A season that saw her generally display greater skill away from her favoured clay, Sanchez-Vicario reached the semi-finals of the US Open on the New York hardcourts. 

The Catalan’s 1991 campaign yielded a solitary title in Washington. She maintained her top ten presence through greater consistency in the majors. A run to the French Open final, losing to Seles, was supplemented by a last four appearance at the Australian Open and making the last eight of both Wimbledon and the US Open.

A couple of titles were added in 1992, at Key Biscayne in March and the Canadian Open trophy in Montreal. Seles again defeated her in a Grand Slam final - this time at the US Open. Semi-final appearances in Melbourne and Paris reinforced her position as best of the rest, behind the Seles/Graf rivalry that was dominating women's tennis at this time.

This pattern of near misses in the Grand Slams continued into the 1993 season. Sanchez-Vicario reached three Grand semi-finals in a season where she accumulated four titles including a trio of tournament glories in April.

Sanchez-Vicario's 1994 season was unquestionably her career zenith. The Spaniard accrued eight titles including Grand Slam successes in the French and US Opens. Her Paris triumph came against home favourite Mary Pierce. In the US Open final, Sanchez-Vicario fought back from a set down to win her first and ultimately only major away from clay. For the second year running, Sanchez-Vicario finished the season at number two.

With Monica Seles now absent due to her recovery from a stabbing incident, on court, the previous year, Sanchez-Vicario had now ascended to being the prime challenger to the supremacy of Steffi Graf.

The 1995 season was a microcosm of Sanchez-Vicario's career: reaching many finals but often failing to convert final appearances into tournament glory. Her year began with defeat to Pierce in the Australian Open final before Graf cemented her World Number One status with successive Grand Slam final victories at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Reaching the SW19 final, Sanchez-Vicario had now featured in all four Grand Slam finals.

Sanchez-Vicario continued to play the bridesmaid in 1996. In a bruising final set loss at the French Open (10-8 to Graf in the third) and then the German toppling her in a second Wimbledon final in a row. Her frustration was compounded by these defeats being followed with a loss in the Atlanta Olympic final.

The 1997 campaign saw Sanchez-Vicario’s level drop notably. Between 1994 and 1996, the Catalan native played in eight of the twelve Grand Slam singles finals contested. A semi-final run at Wimbledon was her best showing in the majors of 1997. A failure to win a title saw Sanchez-Vicario drop down the rankings but still ended the season ensconced inside the top ten.

Sanchez-Vicario ended her title drought at the beginning of 1998, winning the Australian Open warm-up event in Sydney. Later in the year, a fourth Grand Slam singles title was clinched at Roland Garros. A third French Open success came with a final triumph over Monica Seles. This would prove to be the last of her twelve Grand Slam finals.

Another title was added to her CV in 1999 at a short-lived event in Cairo. No titles in 2000 was followed by the last two of her singles career in 2001. By now, Sanchez-Vicario's stay in the top ten was over. The 2002 season proved to be her last in singles. The Spanish great finished with 29 titles from 77 finals. She also spent 12 weeks as World Number One.

Sanchez-Vicario is the only tennis player to compete at five Olympics. She achieved this unique feat by coming out of retirement in 2004 to participate in the doubles competition. A tally of four Olympic medals was previously the most medals won by a Spanish Olympian. In her home games at Barcelona (1992) Sanchez-Vicario came away with bronze in singles and silver in doubles. She reversed this result at the following Games in Atlanta by losing to Lindsay Davenport in the singles final and taking the bronze in doubles.

Sanchez-Vicario was joined for much of the nineties in the top ten by compatriot Conchita Martinez. These two formed the backbone of a Spanish Fed Cup dynasty in the 1990s. The Spanish team reigned supreme four times in five years (1991, 1993, 1994 and 1995) before adding a fifth title in 1998. At this point, Spain had never won either the Davis Cup or what is now called Billie Jean King Cup before the landmark 1991 success. Individually, Sanchez-Vicario holds the records for most matches won (72) and most ties played (58).

The doubles career of Sanchez-Vicario was littered with even greater success. She pocketed six Grand Slam doubles titles, winning the 1992 Australian Open and 1993 US Open with Helena Sukova, before partnering another Czech Jana Novotna to glory in the 1994 US Open, 1995 Australian Open and Wimbledon crowns. The final success was in tandem with American Chanda Rubin at the 1996 Australian Open. She won 69 doubles titles as a whole.

In mixed doubles, Sanchez-Vicario emerged victorious in four Grand Slams. Partnered by Mexican Jorge Loxano, they claimed the 1990 French Open title. Alongside local favourite Todd Woodbridge, a pair of Australian Open titles were captured in 1992-1993. And, in what was Sanchez-Vicario's final Slam success, she won the US Open alongside Jared Palmer. Sanchez-Vicario is a dual winner of the Hopman Cup. The victories were spaced twelve years apart - in 1990 with brother Emilio and then alongside Tommy Robredo in 2002.

Her playing style was underpinned by a ferocious work ethic on court, retrieving many balls and defending with great tenacity. It earned her the nickname ‘Bumblebee’.

Sanchez-Vicario has been married twice. The first marriage was to journalist Juan Vehils, which lasted only a year. In 2008, she married businessman Josep Santacana. They've had a son and daughter together. A divorce was finalised in 2019.

The triple French Open champion has been embroiled in a string of tax scandals. In the early phase of her career, she tried to evade tax by claiming to be residing in Andorra while still living in Barcelona. She was ordered to pay the taxes back. In 2009, Sanchez-Vicario was convicted of tax evasion and made to repay 3.5 million Euros. The Banque de Luxembourg filed a successful complaint over fraud but never managed to recover over €5million owed. Due to her giving erroneous information, Sanchez-Vicario was being pursued by prosecutors in Barcelona. They also believed there were additional fraud offences over transferring assets to avoid paying her debt from a previous lawsuit.

In 2009, Sanchez-Vicario became the first Spanish woman and only the third Spaniard to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She also one of the show courts named after her at the Madrid Open.

Sanchez-Vicario’s career in singles was successful and four Grand Slams, being number one, spearheading a Fed Cup dynasty and winning 29 titles underlines that, but there's also a nagging feeling she almost as remembered for so many final disappointments. A strike rate below 50% in both major finals and WTA Finals is rare for an all-time great. What can't be denied is she remains a great of Spanish sport who women's tennis on the map in her homeland.