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FCG International Sports 2007: ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO

“Because she is an historical referent for Spanish female sports, because of the success she has achieved in high competition and because of her ability to excel and commit herself.” The Jury also valued her humaneness and her outstanding contribution to the popularity of national tennis.” According to the jury that met in Valladolid on June 25, 2007, chaired by, Mr. Conrado Durántez Corral; President of the Spanish Olympics Academy and made up by the following members: Mr. José Ángel de la Casa Tofiño; Director of Sports Programs of RTVE [Spanish National Radio and Television], Mr. Manuel Erice Oronoz; International News Coordinator for ABC Newspaper,  Mr. José Miguel Ortega Bariego; President of the Valladolid Association of Sports Press; Mrs. María Angeles Porres, Deputy Mayor and Councillor for Education, Sports and Citizen Participation of the Valladolid City Council.

 ARANTXA SANCHEZ VICARIO – Biography

Aranzazu Arantxa Isabel María Sánchez Vicario (18 December 1971, Barcelona, Spain) is a former Spanish professional tennis player, a previos World Number 1. During her career she won tour Grand Slam titles in the individual category, six in the doubles category and four in mixed doubles. At the beginning of 2007, the International Tennis Hall of Fame announced the entry of Arantxa Sánchez Vicario as a new member of the prestigious Hall of Legends of world tennis.

 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario was born in Barcelona in 1971, the youngest of four siblings of a family who were great fans of tennis. When she was only 4 years old she started to play tennis, following in the footsteps of her older brothers, Emilio and Javier. In 1985, when she was only 14 years old, she became a professional player.

 Arantxa shook the world of tennis when, in 1989 and while she was 10th in the world and barely known, she beat the World Number 1, Steffi Graf, in the final of the Roland Garros. With this victory, as well as winning the title, Arantxa became the youngest player up then to have won the French Open (the record only lasted a year since in the following edition, the Serbian Monica Seles won the title when she was only 16 years old). From that moment onwards, the matches between the German and Spanish players became a classic of female tennis because of their difficulty and the great games played.

 Sánchez-Vicario quickly Developer a reputation on the circuit for her strong fighting spirit and her willpower on the court, fighting for all the points that were in play. Known lovingly as the "el abejorro de Barcelona", she “bit” all the main competitors of her era.

 The most successful year for the Spanish player (in the individual category) was 1994 when she won 8 tournaments, among them the French Open (for the second time) and the US Open. In 1998, she won her third French title, completing her “quartet” of individual Grand Slam awards.  It must be highlighted that she was also a finalist in the individual category of the four Grand Slam tournaments.  That same year she was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports.

Sánchez Vicario became the World Number 1 player in the individual category in 1995 (for 12 weeks). This classification coincided with her first position in the category of doubles, and she thus became the second player in history (the first was Martina Navratilova in 1987) to simultaneously maintain Number 1 in both categories. Only two other players have since then repeated this distinction, Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport.

 In the category of doubles, Sánchez Vicario won the titles in Australia in 1992 (along with Helena Sukova), 1995 (with Jana Novotna) and 1996 (with Chanda Rubin), in the US Open, in 1993 (with Helena Sukova) and 1994 (with Jana Novotna), and in Wimbledon in 1995 (with Jana Novotna). She also won four Grand Slam awards in the category of mixed doubles.

 In 1991, Arantxa helped Spain win the Federation Cup Award, beating the US team in the final.  She was a player in the Spanish teams that won the Federation Cup four times, in 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1998. Sánchez Vicario holds the record of the greatest number of wins in the individual and doubles categories obtained by any placer in the Federation Cup, with 72 victories. She also holds the record of the greatest number of matches played (100 matches, of which 72 were individual and 28 doubles), and also the greatest number of editions played (16).

Arantxa Sánchez Vicario also took part in the Spanish teams that won the Hopman Cup in 1990 and 2002.

She represented Spain in the five editions of the Olympic Games. Her first participation was in the Soeul Olympics in 1988, where she participated only in the individual category and lost in the 1^st round. In her second participation, in Barcelona, she competed in individuals (she lost in the semi-finals against Jennifer Capriati) and in doubles (winning the silver medal along with Conchita Martínez). Four years later, in Atlanta 1996, she lost in the individual final against Lindsay Davenport and she reached the semi-finals in the doubles category along with Conchita Martínez. In Sydney 2000 she lost in the quarter finals in the individual category and reached teh 2nd round in the doubles category. Finally, in Athens 2004, she lost in the 1str round in the doubles category. In those 5 participations, the Spanish tennis player wond two silver and two bronze medals.

Arantxa Sánchez Vicario announced her retirement from tennis in November 2002. However, she returned in 2004 to play some doubles tournaments and be able to participate in her fifth Olympic Games.

There is a current proposal in the Spanish Congress to put Arantxa Sanchez Vicario’s face on the Spanish Euro coins.