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Conchita Martínez

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There is another tennis player with a similar name, Conchita Martínez Granados.
Conchita Martínez
Conchita Martínez (left), with Luke Jensen (right)
Country (sports) Spain
ResidenceBarcelona, Spain and San Diego, California
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Turned pro1988
RetiredApril 15, 2006
Playsright-handed
Prize moneyU.S. $11,527,977
Singles
Career record739–297
Career titles33
Highest rankingNo. 2 (30 October 1995)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenF (1998)
French OpenF (2000)
WimbledonW (1994)
US OpenSF (1995, 1996)
Doubles
Career record414–232
Career titles13
Highest rankingNo. 7 (11 January 1993)
Last updated on: 19 November 2009.
Olympic medal record
Women’s Tennis
Silver medal – second place 1992 Barcelona Doubles
Silver medal – second place 2004 Athens Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 1996 Atlanta Doubles

Template:Spanish name 2 Inmaculada Concepción ("Conchita") Martínez Bernat (born 16 April 1972) is a former professional tennis player from Monzón, Aragón, Spain. She is the only Spanish woman to have won the singles title at Wimbledon, when she beat Martina Navrátilová in the 1994 Women's Singles. She also was the singles runner-up at the 1998 Australian Open and the 2000 French Open.

Playing style

Martínez used extreme topspin on her forehand and slower topspin and slice on her backhand. She was a patient baseliner who won matches by disrupting her opponents' rhythm through changes of spin, pace, depth, height, and angle. She was known for expending "plenty of time and energy securing the ball with which she had just won the previous point so she could serve it again,"[1] a major irritant to her opponents.

Career

Born in Monzón, Martínez turned professional in 1988. At the age of just 17, she reached the fourth round at the French Open in her third professional tournament. She upset Lori McNeil en route. In 1989, her breakthrough year, Martínez beat Gabriela Sabatini to win the title at Tampa and won two other tournaments. 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. Once again, she 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. In 1993, Martínez became the first Spanish woman since Lilí de Álvarez in 1928 to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon, where she lost to Graf 7–6, 6–3. Martínez beat Graf for the only time in her career, at a tournament in Philadelphia. At the Italian Open, Martínez became the first Spaniard to win the tournament since de Álvarez in 1930. She again reached the quarterfinals at the French Open for the fifth year in a row, losing a 2 hour, 45 minute battle with Anke Huber 6–7, 6–4, 6–4.

Martínez reached the Wimbledon singles final in 1994 already beating Lindsay Davenport in the quarter final and Lori McNeil in the semi final where the third set went to 10-8, where she faced nine-time former Wimbledon champion Martina Navrátilová. Navrátilová'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 6–4, 3–6, 6–3 and became the first Spanish woman ever to win Wimbledon. 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 semi-final before losing to Mary Pierce in the semi-final. At Wimbledon, she beat Sabatini in the quarterfinals before losing to Sanchez Vicario in the semifinals. She also had a new coach that year called Carlos Kimayer.

In 1996, Martínez became the only player to win the Italian Open singles title four consecutive years. She also partnered Sánchez Vicario to claim a women's doubles Olympic bronze medal in Atlanta, Georgia. Two years later, Martínez reached her second career Grand Slam singles final.She beat Lindsay Davenport in the semi-final. She was defeated in the final of the Australian Open by Martina Hingis 6–3, 6–3. She also helped Spain win the Fed Cup that year, beating Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6–3, 2–6, 9–7 in 3 hours, 19 minutes in the final.

Martínez reached the final of the French Open in 2000, where she lost to Mary Pierce 6–2, 7–5 after beating Sanchez Vicario in a semifinal. She also won the German Open, beating Hingis in a semifinal and Amanda Coetzer in the final. In 2001, Martínez was a runner-up in the women's doubles at the French Open (partnering Jelena Dokić). Martínez also reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon for the first time in six years but lost to Justine Henin of Belgium.

Martínez won her second Olympic silver medal in the women's doubles in 2004 in Athens, Greece (partnering Virginia Ruano Pascual). In 2005, Martínez won her first singles title in five years at Pattaya, Thailand, bringing her career total to 33 top-level singles titles, 9 of which were Tier I events, and 13 doubles titles. On April 15, 2006, aged 33 and after 18 years of playing professionally, she announced her retirement, having won more professional singles tournaments than any other Spanish female tennis player.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 3 (1-2)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Winner 1994 Wimbledon Grass United States Martina Navrátilová 6–4, 3–6, 6–3
Runner-up 1998 Australian Open Hard Switzerland Martina Hingis 6–3, 6–3
Runner-up 2000 French Open Clay France Mary Pierce 6–2, 7–5

Doubles: 2 (0-2)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponent in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 1992 French Open Clay Spain Arantxa Sánchez United States Gigi Fernández
Belarus Natasha Zvereva
6–3, 6–2
Runner-up 2001 French Open (2) Clay Serbia and Montenegro Jelena Dokić Spain Virginia Ruano
Argentina Paola Suárez
6–2, 6–1

Titles (46)

Singles (33)

Legend
Grand Slam Title (1)
WTA Tour Championships (0)
Tier I (9)
Tier II (7)
Tier III (5)
Tier IV (8)
Tier V (3)
Titles by Surface
Hard (12)
Clay (19)
Grass (1)
Carpet (1)
# Date Location Surface Opponent in Final Score in Final
1. 8 August 1988 Sofia, Bulgaria Hard Austria Barbara Paulus 6–1, 6-2
2. 6 February 1989 Wellington, New Zealand Hard Australia Jo-Anne Faull 6–1, 6–2
3. 17 April 1989 Tampa, USA Clay Argentina Gabriela Sabatini 6–3, 6–2
4. 11 September 1989 Phoenix, USA Hard United States Elise Burgin 3–6, 6–4, 6–2
5. 17 September 1990 Paris, France (Clarins Open) Clay Argentina Patricia Tarabini 7–5, 6–3
6. 15 October 1990 Phoenix, USA Hard United States Marianne Werdel 7–5, 6–1
7. 5 November 1990 Indianapolis, USA (Jello Classic) Hard Soviet Union Leila Meskhi 6–4, 6–2
8. 22 April 1991 Barcelona, Spain Clay Switzerland Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere 6–4, 6–1
9. 15 July 1991 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Austria Judith Wiesner 6–1, 2–6, 6–3
10. 16 September 1991 Paris, France (Clarins Open) Clay Argentina Inés Gorrochategui 6–0, 6–3
11. 6 July 1992 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Switzerland Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere 6–0, 3–6, 6–2
12. 4 January 1993 Brisbane, Australia Hard Bulgaria Magdalena Maleeva 6–3, 6–4
13. 22 March 1993 Houston, USA Clay Germany Sabine Hack 6–3, 6–2
14. 3 May 1993 Rome, Italy Clay Argentina Gabriela Sabatini 7–5, 6–1
15. 26 July 1993 Stratton Mountain, USA Hard United States Zina Garrison 6–3, 6–2
16. 8 November 1993 Philadelphia, USA Carpet Germany Steffi Graf 6–3, 6–3
17. 28 March 1994 Hilton Head Island, USA Clay Belarus Natasha Zvereva 6–4, 6-0
18. 2 May 1994 Rome, Italy Clay United States Martina Navratilova 7–6, 6–4
19. 20 June 1994 Wimbledon, London Grass United States Martina Navratilova 6–4, 3–6, 6–3
20. 31 July 1994 Stratton Mountain, USA Hard Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
21. 27 March 1995 Hilton Head Island, USA Clay Bulgaria Magdalena Maleeva 6–1, 6–1
22. 3 April 1995 Amelia Island, USA Clay Argentina Gabriela Sabatini 6–1, 6–4
23. 1 May 1995 Hamburg, Germany Clay Switzerland Martina Hingis 6–1, 6–0
24. 8 May 1995 Rome, Italy Clay Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6–3, 6–1
25. 31 July 1995 San Diego, USA Hard United States Lisa Raymond 6–2, 6–0
26. 7 August 1995 Manhattan Beach, USA Hard United States Chanda Rubin 4–6, 6–1, 6–3
27. 6 May 1996 Rome, Italy Clay Switzerland Martina Hingis 6–2, 6–3
28. 28 October 1996 Moscow, Russia Hard Austria Barbara Paulus 6–1, 4–6, 6–4
29. 11 May 1998 Berlin, Germany Clay France Amélie Mauresmo 6–4, 6–4
30. 13 July 1998 Warsaw, Poland Clay Italy Silvia Farina Elia 6–0, 6–3
31. 12 July 1999 Sopot, Poland Clay Slovakia Karina Habsudova 6–1, 6–1
32. 8 May 2000 Berlin, Germany Clay South Africa Amanda Coetzer 6–0, 6–3
33. 31 January 2005 Pattaya, Thailand Hard Germany Anna-Lena Grönefeld 6–3, 3–6, 6–3

Doubles (13)

Singles runner-ups (22)

Grand slam events in boldface.

Singles performance timeline

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
U.S. 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 Championship
Virginia Slims or Chase Championships A 1R QF 1R QF QF QF QF QF 1R 1R 1R QF A A A A A 0 / 12
WTA Tier I Tournaments
Rome - - QF SF A W W W W F 3R 3R A SF 2R QF 3R QF 4 / 14
Berlin - - QF A A SF A A A 3R W 3R W QF 2R 1R 1R 3R 2 / 11
Charleston - - QF A F A W W SF SF 2R 3R SF SF 2R 3R F 1R 2 / 14
Philadelphia Not Tier I or Was Not Held W 1R QF Not Tier I or Was Not Held 1 / 3
Boca Raton - - - 2R F Not Tier I or Was Not Held 0 / 2
San Diego Not Tier I or Was Not Held 3R 1R 0 / 2
Tokyo Not Tier I or Was Not Held A A QF SF QF A A A A A A A A 0 / 3
Moscow Not Tier I or Was Not Held SF QF 1R A A A A A A 0 / 3
Miami A A SF A A A A A A A 4R 3R 4R A 2R A A A 0 / 5
Montreal/Toronto - - A A A A A A A SF QF 3R SF A A A A 3R 0 / 5
Zurich Not Tier I or Was Not Held A A A 2R A 2R A A A SF 1R A 1R 0 / 5
Indian Wells Not Tier I or Was Not Held F QF QF 3R QF 2R 2R SF QF QF 0 / 10
Chicago - - A Not Tier I or Was Not Held 0 / 0
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

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.

- = tournament either not held or was not classified as a Tier I event on the Women's Tennis Association tour at the time it was held.

See also

References