Conchita Martínez
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Conchita Martínez Bernat (born 16 April 1972) is a Spanish former professional
A five-time winner of the
During 2020 Australian Open, it was announced that she and Goran Ivanišević will be inducted into Tennis Hall of Fame as Class of 2020.[4]
Career
1988–1992: Breakthrough, top 10, Grand Slam quarterfinals
Born in Monzón, Martínez turned professional in 1988. At the age of just 16, she reached the fourth round at the French Open in her third professional tournament. She upset ninth-seed Lori McNeil en route, before losing to Bettina Fulco in two sets.[5] In 1989, her breakthrough year, Martínez got rid of Sabatini to win the title at Tampa and also won two Tier V tournaments (Wellington, Phoenix). She also reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, losing to Steffi Graf. She finished the year world No. 7. In 1990 and 1991, Martínez won a further six titles and again reached the quarterfinals at the French Open both years (losing to Graf in 1990 and Monica Seles in 1991).
The following year, Martínez was a silver medalist in doubles at the Olympic Games in Barcelona (partnering Arantxa Sánchez Vicario) and the runner-up in women's doubles at the French Open.[6] Once again, Martínez was a quarterfinalist at the French Open, losing a tight match with Sabatini. In 1992 she was runner up in Indian Wells and San Diego.
1993–1996: Highest ranking, Wimbledon singles title
In 1993, Martínez became the first Spanish woman since
Martínez reached the Wimbledon singles final in 1994 beating Rene Simpson, Nana Smith, Nathalie Tauziat, Kristine Kunce and Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinal and Lori McNeil in the semifinals where the third set went to 10–8, where she faced nine-time Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova. Navratilova's last Wimbledon triumph had come four years earlier, but many observers felt that the 37-year-old Czech-born American was the favourite going into the match given her long track record of success on grass courts, whereas Martínez's most significant tournament victories up to that time had been on slower-playing surfaces, particularly on clay courts. Martínez, however, won the match in three sets and became the first Spanish woman to win Wimbledon.[9][10] In 1995, Martínez was a semifinalist at all four Grand Slam tournaments and reached her career-high singles ranking of World No. 2. In the Australian Open she beat Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals before losing to Mary Pierce in the semifinals. At Wimbledon, Martínez beat Sabatini in the quarterfinals before losing to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the semifinals. She also had a new coach that year, Carlos Kirmayr.
In 1996, Martínez became the only player to win the Italian Open singles title four consecutive years, after a straight-sets victory in the final against 15-year-old Martina Hingis.[11][12] She also partnered Sánchez Vicario to claim a women's doubles Olympic bronze medal in Atlanta.[6]
1997–2006: Out of top 10 and return, Australian and French Open runner-up
In 1998, Martínez reached her second career Grand Slam singles final at the
In January 2000 at the
Martínez won her
2008–2010
In 2008, 2009 and 2010, Martínez played at Wimbledon in the Ladies Invitations Doubles. In 2010, her partner in doubles was Nathalie Tauziat.
Playing style
Nicknamed Senorita Topspin, Martínez was a patient, right-handed baseline player who won matches by disrupting her opponents' rhythm through changes of spin, pace, depth, height, and angle. She had a strong backhand, played single-handedly, and used heavy topspin on her forehand and slower topspin and slice on her backhand.[22][23] A characteristic shot of Martínez was to hit a deep, looping forehand with a lot of topspin with the intent to drive her opponent to the back of the court and make her hit the ball at shoulder height.[24][25] She often sought out the ball with which she had won the previous point. This sometimes irritated her opponents; Patty Schnyder once pocketed the ball to prevent Martínez from retrieving it, and rejected the traditional handshake at the end of the match.[26]
Performance timelines
W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
Singles
Tournament | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | Career SR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slam tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||
Australian Open | A | 2R | A | A | 4R | 4R | QF | SF | QF | 4R | F | 3R | SF | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 0 / 15 |
French Open | 4R | QF | QF | QF | QF | QF | SF | SF | SF | 4R | 4R | QF | F | 3R | 2R | QF | 2R | 1R | 0 / 18 |
Wimbledon
|
A | A | A | A | 2R | SF | W | SF | 4R | 3R | 3R | 3R | 2R | QF | 3R | 3R | 1R | 3R | 1 / 14 |
US Open | 1R | 4R | 3R | QF | 1R | 4R | 3R | SF | SF | 3R | 4R | 4R | 3R | A | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 0 / 17 |
SR | 0 / 2 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 1 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 1 / 64 |
Year-end championships | |||||||||||||||||||
WTA Tour Championships | A | 1R | QF
|
1R
|
QF
|
QF
|
QF
|
QF | QF | 1R | 1R | 1R | QF | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 12 |
Grand Slam Cup | Not held | Men's Only Event | QF | A | Not held | 0 / 1 | |||||||||||||
Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||
Tournaments won | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 33 |
Year-end ranking | 40 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 8 | 15 | 5 | 35 | 34 | 18 | 42 | 32 | N/A |
Doubles
Tournament | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | SR | W–L | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | QF | 3R | 3R | 3R | QF | SF | 1R | 2R | 1R | SF | QF | 3R | 1R | 0 / 13 | 26–13 | ||||
French Open | A | A | 3R | A | F | QF | 1R | 3R | 3R | QF | QF | 3R | QF | F | 1R | 1R | QF | 3R | 0 / 15 | 33–15 | ||||
Wimbledon
|
A | A | A | A | 2R | A | 1R | QF | 3R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 3R | 3R | QF | 3R | 3R | 0 / 13 | 19–13 | ||||
US Open | A | 1R | A | 2R | 3R | A | 3R | QF | 3R | QF | 1R | 3R | QF | A | 3R | QF | QF | SF | 0 / 14 | 29–14 | ||||
Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 8–3 | 6–2 | 4–4 | 10–4 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 6–4 | 5–4 | 7–4 | 7–3 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 10–4 | 8–4 | 0 / 55 | 107–55 | ||||
Year-end championships | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tour Championships
|
A | A | A | A | A | A | A | QF | A | QF | QF
|
QF | A | A | A | A | A | SF | 0 / 5 | 0–5 | ||||
Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year-end ranking | 147 | 67 | 106 | 51 | 8 | 10 | 41 | 17 | 28 | 19 | 16 | 24 | 29 | 19 | 16 | 21 | 14 | 9 |
See also
References
- ^ "Goran Ivanišević and Conchita Martínez to be inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2020". International Tennis Hall of Fame. 28 January 2020.
- ^ "Conchita Martínez". International Tennis Hall of Fame.
- ^ "Conchita Martinez lashes out at Spanish tennis bosses after firing". Tennis.com. 14 September 2017.
- ^ "Conchita Martinez elected to International Tennis Hall of Fame". WTA. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- El Pais(in Spanish).
El año pasado, en su primera aparición en esta competición, también llegó a los octavos, en los que perdió con la argentina Bettina Fulco.
- ^ a b c Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Conchita Martínez". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
- ^ Shulman, Ken (10 May 1993). "Martinez Knows She'll Always Have Rome". The New York Times.
- ^ Crary, David (1 June 1993). "Huber upsets Martinez in reaching semifinals". The Hour. AP.
- ^ Shapiro, Leonard (3 July 1994). "Martinez foils Navratilova's final Wimbledon shot". The Washington Post.
- ^ "Classic Matches: Martinez v Navratilova". BBC Sport. 31 May 2004.
- ^ Collins, Bud (13 May 1996). "Martinez Ends Hingis' Magical Run". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Conchita triunfa en Roma". El País (in Spanish). 13 May 1996.
- ^ Finn, Robin (31 January 1998). "Hingis Defends Australian Open Title". The New York Times.
- ^ "Australian Open TV Vault – 1998 Woman's Finals". Tennis Australia. Archived from the original on 9 October 2015.
- ^ "Martinez wins her first title in 18-month". Hürriyet Daily News. 19 May 1998.
- ^ Clarey, Christopher (11 June 2000). "With Victory, Pierce Finally Finds Herself at Home in Paris". The New York Times.
- ^ Kammerer, Roy (14 May 2000). "Conchita Martinez wins German Open". AP.
- ^ "Martinez hammers Coetzer; rises to No. 3 in rankings". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. AP. 15 May 2000. p. 6C.
- UPI. 21 June 2003.
- ^ "Martinez announces her retirement". CNN. 15 April 2006.
- ^ DeSimone, Bonnie (9 August 2006). "Conchita Martinez stood the test of time". ESPN.
- ISBN 9780007111299.
- ISBN 978-0942257700.
- ISBN 978-1472905772.
- ^ "20 Conchita Martinez". BBC Sport. 19 May 2004.
- ^ Clarey, Christopher (21 June 2008). "Strange Habits of Successful Tennis Players". The New York Times.
External links
- Conchita Martínez at the Women's Tennis Association
- Conchita Martínez at the International Tennis Federation
- Conchita Martínez at the Billie Jean King Cup
- Conchita Martínez at Olympedia
- Conchita Martínez at Olympics.com