Manuela Georgieva Maleeva (; born 14 February 1967) is a Bulgarian former professional tennis player. She played on the

WTA Tour The WTA Tour (also known as the Hologic WTA Tour for sponsorship reasons) is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women and organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125 series, and third-tier is the ITF Wome ...

between 1982 and 1994. Through her marriage, Maleeva began representing Switzerland officially from January 1990 until her retirement in February 1994. One of the most consistent players on tour in the 1980s and early 1990s, Maleeva reached her career-high singles ranking of No. 3 in the world in February 1985 and finished with a year-end top 10 ranking for nine consecutive years (1984 till 1992). A winner of 19 WTA singles titles and four doubles titles, she also reached a total of 14 Grand Slam quarterfinals in her career, including two US Open semifinals in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

and

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, which are her career-best Grand Slam results. She was a semifinalist at the 1987 Virginia Slims Championships. Maleeva was the bronze medalist in singles at the

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were repres ...

, winning Bulgaria's first (and thus far, only) Olympic tennis medal. In 1992, she paired up with

Jakob Hlasek Jakob Hlasek (; born 12 November 1964) is a Swiss former professional tennis player of Czech origin. He won a major doubles title at the 1992 French Open, partnering Marc Rosset. Career The major highlights of Hlasek's career came in 1992. He w ...

at the

Hopman Cup The Hopman Cup is an international tennis tournament that plays mixed teams (one male and one female) on a country-by-country basis. It was first held in Perth, Western Australia each year from 1989 to 2019, played on indoor hardcourt, before b ...

where they took home

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

's first ever title at the event.

Career

Maleeva was born in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, the oldest of the three children of Georgi Maleev and Yuliya Berberyan. Her mother, who came from an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

family, was the best Bulgarian tennis player in the 1960s. After she retired from professional tennis in the 1970s, Berberyan started a coaching career. She coached all three of her daughters, Manuela, Katerina, and Magdalena, each of whom became a top six player. In 1982, Maleeva won the junior French Open, and also made her debut on the senior tour, ending the year ranked in the top 100. After ending the 1983 season in the top 40, she won five tournaments in 1984, and made her debut in the top 10 after defeating

Chris Evert Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954) is an American former professional tennis player. One of the most successful players of all time, she was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 2 ...

in the final of the Italian Open. She also won her only Grand Slam title that year – in mixed doubles at the US Open with American

Tom Gullikson Tom Gullikson (born September 8, 1951) is a tennis coach and former professional tennis player born in La Crosse, Wisconsin and raised in Onalaska, Wisconsin in the United States. Career During his career as a player, Gullikson won 15 ATP recogn ...

. In 1988, Maleeva-Fragnière won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

in singles at the

Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. In 1992 and 1993, Maleeva-Fragnière registered her all-time best achievement in Grand Slam singles competition when she reached the semifinals of the US Open both years (in 1992, after beating youngest sister Magdalena in the quarterfinals). In 1994, Maleeva-Fragnière retired from professional tennis, after winning the title in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

where she beat

Iva Majoli Iva Majoli (born 12 August 1977) is a Croatian former professional tennis player who played for both Yugoslavia and Croatia. She won three WTA Tier I singles tournaments and upset the world No. 1, Martina Hingis, to win the women's singles title ...

in the final. During her 12-year career, she won 19 WTA singles titles, four doubles titles, and one

mixed doubles Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis, and badminton (where it is known ...

title. She also teamed with

to help Switzerland win the

in 1992. In

Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...

competition, Maleeva twice helped

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

reach the semifinals (

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

and

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

), and then led

to the quarterfinals in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

Personal life

Maleeva married Swiss tennis coach François Fragnière in December 1987 and from then on, began competing as Manuela Maleeva-Fragnière. She represented Switzerland from 1990 until her retirement. They have three children, Lora, born in 1995, Iva in 1997, Timo in 1999, but divorced in 2003. She currently resides in

La Tour-de-Peilz La Tour-de-Peilz () is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut District in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The city is located on Lake Geneva between Montreux and Vevey (their agglomeratio ...

, about 90 km northeast of Geneva across

Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...

Retirement life

Maleeva has been active in politics back in her home country, being one of the founding members of

Yes, Bulgaria! Yes, Bulgaria! (), is a Bulgarian political party, founded in January 2017 by former Minister of Justice Hristo Ivanov. Yes, Bulgaria! is part of an electoral alliance with the Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria called Democratic Bulgaria. His ...

which was founded in 2017. The party focuses on institutional reforms and an anti-corruption agenda. Prior to that, she also advocated the 2015 Bulgarian electoral code referendum. Outside politics, Maleeva is also active in her foundation, Fondation Swissclinical, which she co-founded in 2008. The foundation focuses on helping handicapped children and children in need by providing them with good medical care and long-term support.

Major finals

Grand Slam tournament finals

Mixed Doubles: 1 (1 title)

Olympics

Singles: 1 bronze medal

Maleeva-Fragnière lost in the semifinals to

Gabriela Sabatini Gabriela Beatriz Sabatini (; born 16 May 1970) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. A former world No. 3 in both singles and doubles, Sabatini was one of the leading players from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, amassing 41 titles a ...

1–6, 2–6. In 1988, there was no bronze medal play-off match; both beaten semifinal players received bronze medals.

Performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

WTA career finals

Singles: 37 (19 titles, 18 runner-ups)

Doubles: 11 (4 titles, 7 runner–ups)

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner–ups)

Doubles: 3 (3 titles)

Junior Grand Slam tournament finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

Fed Cup

Manuela Maleeva debuted for the Bulgaria Fed Cup team in 1983. She has a 21–5 singles record and a 7–10 doubles record (28–15 overall).

Singles (21–5)

Doubles (7–10)

Record against other top players

Maleeva's win–loss record against certain players who have been ranked world No. 10 or higher is as follows: ''Players who have been ranked world No. 1 are in boldface.'' *

Katerina Maleeva Katerina Georgieva Maleeva (; born 7 May 1969) is a former top 10 Bulgarian tennis player. She won eleven singles and two doubles WTA Tour titles. Her best position in the WTA rankings was No. 6 in 1990. Biography Born in Sofia, Maleeva is t ...

8–1 *

Catarina Lindqvist Anna Catarina Lindqvist Ryan (born 13 June 1963) is a former professional tennis player from Sweden. Career Lindqvist turned professional in 1983. She reached a career high rank of World No. 10 in April 1985 and won five singles titles. She rea ...

7–2 *

Kathy Jordan Kathryn Jordan (born December 3, 1959) is a former American tennis player. During her career, she won seven Grand Slam titles, five of them in women's doubles and two in mixed doubles. She also was the 1983 Australian Open women's singles runn ...

6–0 *

Kathy Rinaldi Kathy Rinaldi-Stunkel (born March 24, 1967) is an American former professional tennis player, who retired in September 1997. In her career she won three singles and two doubles titles on the WTA Tour, and reached the semifinals of the 1985 Wimb ...

6–1 *

Lori McNeil Lori McNeil (born December 18, 1963) is an American tennis coach and former top 10 player. McNeil was a singles semifinalist at the US Open (tennis), US Open in 1987 and The Championships, Wimbledon, Wimbledon in 1994, a women's doubles finalis ...

6–2 *

Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Claudia Kohde-Kilsch ( Kohde; born 11 December 1963) is a former German tennis player and member of the Die Linke. During her tennis career, she won two women's doubles Grand Slam titles. She also won eight singles titles and a total of 25 dou ...

5–2 */

Helena Suková Helena Suková () (born 23 February 1965) is a Czech former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's doubles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and No. 4 in singles. Suková won 14 major titles: nine in wo ...

5–2 *

Conchita Martínez Conchita Martínez Bernat (born 16 April 1972) is a Spanish former professional tennis player and current coach. She was the first Spaniard to win the women's singles title at Wimbledon, doing so in 1994. Martínez also was the runner-up at th ...

5–4 *

Sylvia Hanika Sylvia Hanika (born 30 November 1959) is a former professional tennis player from Germany. She is remembered for finishing as the runner-up at the French Open in 1981 and for winning the Year End Championships in 1982. She was ranked as high as ...

4–0 */

Natasha Zvereva Natalya "Natasha" Maratovna Zvereva (born 16 April 1971) is a former professional tennis player from Belarus. She was the first major athlete in the Soviet Union to demand publicly that she should be able to keep her tournament earnings. Zver ...

4–0 *

Jo Durie Joanna Mary Durie (born 27 July 1960) is a former world No. 5 tennis player from the United Kingdom. During her career, she also reached No. 9 in doubles, and won two Grand Slam titles, both in the mixed doubles with Jeremy Bates. Born in Bri ...

4–1 *

Brenda Schultz-McCarthy Brenda Anne Marie Schultz-McCarthy (born 28 December 1970) is a former Dutch tennis player. Primarily known by her maiden name Brenda Schultz, she married Sean McCarthy, a former American football player at University of Cincinnati, on 8 April 1 ...

4–1 *

Zina Garrison Zina Lynna Garrison (born November 16, 1963) is an American former professional tennis player. Garrison was the runner-up in singles at the 1990 Wimbledon Championships, a three-time major mixed doubles champion, and an Olympic gold and bronze ...

4–2 *

Nathalie Tauziat Nathalie Tauziat (born 17 October 1967) is a French former professional tennis player and coach. She was the runner-up in women's singles at the 1998 Wimbledon Championships and runner-up in the women's doubles at the 2001 US Open partnering ...

4–6 */

Karina Habšudová Karina Habšudová (; born 2 August 1973) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as 10 in the world (1997). Together with Karol Kučera, she won the 1998 Hopman Cup, Hopman Cup in 1998. Her best performance at ...

3–0 *

Mima Jaušovec Mima Jaušovec (; born 20 July 1956) is a Slovenian former professional tennis player. Competing for Yugoslavia, she won the 1977 French Open singles championship. Early life Jaušovec was born in Maribor, in present-day Slovenia, when it was p ...

3–0 *

Lisa Bonder Lisa Bonder (born October 16, 1965), also known as Lisa Bonder-Kreiss or Lisa Bonder-Kerkorian, is an American former professional tennis player. During her career, she won four singles titles on the WTA circuit and reached a highest ranking of ...

3–1 *

Barbara Potter Barbara Potter (born October 22, 1961) is a former tennis player from the United States, who competed professionally on the WTA Tour between 1978 and 1989, winning six singles titles and 19 doubles titles. Her highest singles ranking was No. 7 ...

3–2 *

Andrea Temesvári Andrea Temesvári (born 26 April 1966) is a former professional tennis player from Hungary. She won the Italian Open at age sixteen, but injuries would later hamper her career. Born in Budapest, Temesvári began playing tennis at age nine. S ...

3–2 *

Bonnie Gadusek Bonnie Gadusek (born September 11, 1963) is a retired American professional tennis player. Career Gadusek started a career in gymnastics, training for the 1980 Olympics, but fell from uneven parallel bars and landed on her neck, dislocating two ...

3–4 */

Hana Mandlíková Hana Mandlíková (born 19 February 1962) is a Czech–Australian former professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 3 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) in the mid-1980s. Mandíková won 27 WTA Tour-level sin ...

3–4 */

Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova (, ; ; born October18, 1956) is a Czech-American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, singles for 332 weeks (List of WTA number ...

3–11 *

Magdalena Maleeva Magdalena Georgieva Maleeva (, ; born 1 April 1975) is a Bulgarian former professional tennis player. Her best WTA singles ranking was world No. 4. She played on the WTA Tour competing in singles and doubles, from April 1989 to October 2005 ...

2–0 *

Dominique Monami Dominique Monami (born 31 May 1973) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. She is her country's first ever top-10 tennis professional. Monami was born in Verviers. In 1995, she married her coach Bart Van Roost, with whom she has a daug ...

2–0 *

Virginia Ruzici Virginia Ruzici (born 31 January 1955) is a Romanian former professional tennis player. She won the 1978 French Open – Women's singles, 1978 French Open singles championship. Career Ruzici became a professional tennis player in 1975. One of h ...

2–0 *

Carling Bassett-Seguso Carling Kathrin Bassett-Seguso (born 9 October 1967) is a former Canadian professional tennis player, fashion model and actress. Bassett is the daughter of John F. Bassett and Susan Carling, and the granddaughter of media baron John W. H. Bass ...

2–1 *

Kathleen Horvath Erica Kathleen "Kathy" Horvath (born August 25, 1965) is an American former professional tennis player. She is best known for upsetting world No. 1 Martina Navratilova in the fourth round of the 1983 French Open, delivering her only defeat for t ...

2–1 *

Dianne Fromholtz Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat (née Fromholtz; born 10 August 1956) is an Australian former professional tennis player who reached a highest singles ranking of world No. 4 in 1979. Career Fromholtz began playing tennis at the age of seven. She ...

2–2 *

Bettina Bunge Bettina Bunge (born 13 June 1963) is a retired German tennis player. Born in Adliswil, Switzerland, she was part of a large group of successful German players in the 1980s, which also included Steffi Graf, Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, Sylvia Hanika, a ...

2–3 *

Mary Joe Fernández Mary Joe Fernández Godsick (born María José Fernández; August 19, 1971) is an American former professional tennis player, who reached a career-high ranking of world No. 4 in both singles and doubles. In singles, Fernández was the runner-up ...

2–5 *

2–7 *

Pam Shriver Pamela Howard Shriver (born July 4, 1962) is an American former professional tennis player and current tennis broadcaster, pundit, and coach. She was ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and List of W ...

2–7 *

2–17 *

Sue Barker Susan Barker (born 19 April 1956) is a British former television presenter and professional tennis player. During her playing career, Barker won 15 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including a major at the 1976 French Open. She reached a career- ...

1–0 *

Kimiko Date-Krumm is a Japanese former professional tennis player. She reached the semifinals of the 1994 Australian Open, the 1995 French Open and the 1996 Wimbledon Championships, and won the Japan Open a record four times. She reached a career-high ranking ...

1–0 *

Julie Halard-Decugis Julie Halard-Decugis (born 10 September 1970) is a French former professional tennis player. Tennis career Halard-Decugis lived in La Baule, France, during the initial stages of her career and later moved to Pully, Switzerland. She turned profe ...

1–0 *

Mary Pierce Mary Caroline Pierce (born 15 January 1975) is a French former professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 3 in singles and in doubles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Pierce won 18 singles titles on the WTA Tour, including two ...

1–0 *

Stephanie Rehe Stephanie Rehe (born November 5, 1969) is an American former tennis player. She played on the WTA Tour between 1985 and 1993, won five singles and two doubles titles, and reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 10, in March 1989. Career A ...

1–0 *

Barbara Paulus Barbara Paulus (born 1 September 1970) is a former professional tennis player from Austria. She began playing on the WTA Tour in 1986 and retired in 2001. During her career, she won a total of seven WTA tournaments (six singles titles, one double ...

1–1 */

Jana Novotná Jana Novotná (; 2 October 1968 – 19 November 2017) was a Czech professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 2 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) in 1997, and as the world No. 1 in women's doubles for 67 weeks. ...

1–2 *

Wendy Turnbull Wendy Turnbull, (born 26 November 1952) is an Australian retired tennis player. During her career, she won nine Grand Slam titles, four of them in women's doubles and five of them in mixed doubles. She also was a three-time Grand Slam runner-u ...

1–2 *

Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Aránzazu Isabel María "Arantxa" Sánchez Vicario (; born 18 December 1971) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 12 weeks, as well as ...

1–5 *

Tracy Austin Tracy Ann Austin Holt (born December 12, 1962) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 21 weeks. Austin won 30 WTA Tour-level singles tit ...

0–1 *

Jennifer Capriati Jennifer Maria Capriati (born March 29, 1976) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 17 weeks. Capriati won 14 WTA Tour-level singles t ...

0–1 *

Evonne Goolagong Cawley Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley (née Goolagong; born 31 July 1951) is an Australian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis ...

0–1 *

Anke Huber Anke Huber (born 4 December 1974) is a German retired professional tennis player. She was the runner-up in women's singles at the 1996 Australian Open and the 1995 WTA Finals. Huber won 12 singles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour. She fi ...

0–2 *//

Monica Seles Monica Seles (born December 2, 1973) is a Serbian–American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...

0–9 *

Steffi Graf Stefanie Maria Graf ( , ; born 14 June 1969) is a German former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for a r ...

0–17

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maleeva, Manuela 1967 births Bulgarian female tennis players Bulgarian people of Armenian descent French Open champions French Open junior champions Hopman Cup competitors Living people Naturalised citizens of Switzerland Olympic medalists in tennis Olympic tennis players for Switzerland Olympic tennis players for Bulgaria Olympic bronze medalists for Bulgaria People from Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut District Tennis players from Sofia Swiss female tennis players Swiss people of Armenian descent Bulgarian emigrants to Switzerland Tennis players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 1992 Summer Olympics US Open (tennis) champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in girls' singles Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Manuela

Career

Personal life

Retirement life

Major finals

Grand Slam tournament finals

Mixed Doubles: 1 (1 title)

Olympics

Singles: 1 bronze medal

Performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

WTA career finals

Singles: 37 (19 titles, 18 runner-ups)

Doubles: 11 (4 titles, 7 runner–ups)

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner–ups)

Doubles: 3 (3 titles)

Junior Grand Slam tournament finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

Fed Cup

Singles (21–5)

Doubles (7–10)

Record against other top players

See also

References

External links