Manuela Maleeva

Manuela Maleeva
Мануела Малеева

Country	Bulgaria  Switzerland
Residence	La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland
Born	14 February 1967 (1967-02-14) (age 44) Sofia, Bulgaria
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Turned pro	1982
Retired	February 1994
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money	$3,244,811
Singles
Career record	475–187
Career titles	19
Highest ranking	No. 3 (4 February 1985)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	QF (1985, 1992, 1994)
French Open	QF (1985, 1987, 1989, 1990)
Wimbledon	QF (1984)
US Open	SF (1992, 1993)
Doubles
Career record	129–131
Career titles	4 (1 ITF)
Highest ranking	No. 11 (2 August 1993)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	3R (1985, 1991, 1992, 1994)
French Open	QF (1986)
Wimbledon	3R (1993)
US Open	2R (1985, 1989)
Mixed Doubles
Career titles	1
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
US Open	W (1984)
Last updated on: 23 April 2011.

Olympic medal record
Women's Tennis
Competitor for
Bronze	1988 Seoul	Women's Singles

Manuela Georgieva Maleeva-Fragniere (Bulgarian: Мануела Георгиева Малеева) (born 14 February 1967) is a Bulgarian former professional tennis player. She played on the Women's Tennis Association tour between 1982 and 1994. Through her marriage Maleeva began representing Switzerland officially from January 1990 until her retirement in February 1994.

Biography

Maleeva was born in Sofia, the oldest of the three children of Yuliya Berberyan and Georgi Maleev. Her mother, who came from an Armenian family that found refuge in Bulgaria after the 1896 Armenian massacres in the Ottoman Empire, 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 WTA top ten players.

In 1982, Maleeva won the junior French Open. Later that year, she made her debut on the senior tour and ended the year ranked in the top 200.

In 1984, Maleeva won five tournaments and recorded wins over Chris Evert, Hana Mandlíková, Helena Suková, Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, Wendy Turnbull, Kathy Jordan, and Zina Garrison Jackson. After winning the tournament in Indianapolis, Maleeva rose to World No. 3 in the rankings. Once in the top ten, she did not leave it until 1992. Also in 1984, Maleeva won her only Grand Slam title – in mixed doubles at the US Open with American Tom Gullikson.

In 1988, Maleeva won a bronze medal in singles at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.

In 1992 and 1993, Maleeva 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 her sister, Magdalena, in the quarterfinals).

In 1994, Maleeva retired from professional tennis.

During her 12-year career, Maleeva won 19 WTA Tour singles titles, four doubles titles, and one mixed doubles title. She teamed with Jakob Hlasek to help Switzerland win the Hopman Cup in 1992 and, while playing for Bulgaria, twice reached the semifinals of Fed Cup (1985 and 1987).

Maleeva has been married since 1987 to former Swiss tennis player François Fragniere. They live near Lausanne and have two girls and a boy.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Mixed Doubles: 1 final (1 title, 0 runner-ups)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in final	Score in final
Winner	1984	US Open	Hard	Tom Gullikson	Elizabeth Smylie John Fitzgerald	2–6, 7–5, 6–4

Olympic finals

Singles

Outcome	Year	Location	Surface	Opponent in final	Score in final
Bronze	1988	Seoul	Hard	Tied	DNP

Titles (23)

Singles (19)

Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (0)
WTA Tour Championship (0)
Tier I (1)
Tier II (0)
Tier III (3)
Tier IV (3)
Tier V (4)
VS (8)

No.	Date	Location	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	13 May 1984	Lugano, Switzerland	Clay	Iva Budařová	6–1, 6–1
2.	28 May 1984	Perugia, Italy	Clay	Chris Evert-Lloyd	6–3, 6–3
3.	11 August 1984	Indianapolis, USA (US Clay Courts)	Clay	Lisa Bonder	6–4, 6–3
4.	18 November 1984	Tokyo, Japan (Lion's Cup)	Carpet (I)	Hana Mandlíková	6–1, 1–6, 6–4
5.	16 December 1984	Tokyo, Japan (Pan Pacific Open)	Carpet (I)	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	6–0, 6–1
6.	15 December 1985	Tokyo, Japan (Pan Pacific Open)	Carpet (I)	Bonnie Gadusek	7–6(2), 3–6, 7–5
7.	6 April 1987	Isle of Palms, USA	Clay	Raffaella Reggi	5–7, 6–2, 6–3
8.	30 August 1987	Mahwah, USA	Hard	Sylvia Hanika	1–6, 6–4, 6–1
9.	6 March 1988	Wichita, USA	Hard (I)	Sylvia Hanika	7–6(5), 7–5
10.	18 September 1988	Phoenix, USA	Hard	Dinky Van Rensburg	6–3, 4–6, 6–2
11.	12 March 1989	Indian Wells, USA	Hard	Jenny Byrne	6–4, 6–1
12.	28 May 1989	Geneva, Switzerland	Clay	Conchita Martínez	6–4, 6–0
13.	17 February 1991	Linz, Austria	Carpet (I)	Petra Langrová	6–4, 7–6(1)
14.	26 May 1991	Geneva, Switzerland	Clay	Helen Kelesi	6–3, 3–6, 6–3
15.	29 September 1991	Bayonne, France	Carpet (I)	Leila Meskhi	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
16.	4 October 1992	Bayonne, France	Carpet (I)	Nathalie Tauziat	6–7(4), 6–2, 6–3
17.	28 February 1993	Linz, Austria	Carpet (I)	Conchita Martínez	6–2, 1–0 ret.
18.	10 October 1993	Zürich, Switzerland	Carpet (I)	Martina Navratilova	6–3, 7–6(1)
19.	13 February 1994	Osaka, Japan (Asian Open)	Carpet (I)	Iva Majoli	6–1, 4–6, 7–5

Doubles (4)

No.	Date	Location	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1.	22 July 1985	Indianapolis, USA (US Clay Courts)	Katerina Maleeva	Penny Barg Paula Smith	3–6, 6–3, 6–4
2.	12 July 1987	Knokke-Heist, Belgium	Bettina Bunge	Kathleen Horvath Marcella Mesker	4–6, 6–4, 6–4
3.	17 February 1991	Linz, Austria	Raffaella Reggi	Petra Langrová Radka Zrubáková	6–4, 1–6, 6–3
4.	11 April 1993	Amelia Island, USA	Leila Meskhi	Amanda Coetzer Inés Gorrochategui	3–6, 6–3, 6–4

Runner-ups (25)

Singles (18)

Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (0)
WTA Tour Championship (0)
Tier I (1)
Tier II (0)
Tier III (4)
Tier IV (2)
Tier V (0)
VS (11)

No.	Date	Location	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	5 February 1984	Houston, USA	Carpet (I)	Hana Mandlíková	6–4, 6–2
2.	14 January 1985	Washington, DC, USA	Carpet (I)	Martina Navratilova	6–3, 6–2
3.	26 May 1985	Lugano, Switzerland	Clay	Bonnie Gadusek	6–4, 6–2
4.	27 October 1985	Brighton, UK	Carpet (I)	Chris Evert-Lloyd	7–5, 6–3
5.	17 November 1985	Tokyo, Japan (Lion's Cup)	Carpet (I)	Chris Evert-Lloyd	7–5, 6–0
6.	25 May 1986	Lugano, Switzerland	Clay	Raffaella Reggi	5–7, 6–3, 7–6(6)
7.	15 June 1986	Birmingham, UK	Grass	Pam Shriver	6–2, 7–6(0)
8.	14 September 1986	Tokyo, Japan (Pan Pacific Open)	Carpet (I)	Steffi Graf	6–4, 6–2
9.	12 April 1987	Hilton Head Island, USA	Clay	Steffi Graf	6–2, 4–6, 6-3
10.	24 May 1987	Geneva, Switzerland	Clay	Chris Evert	6–3, 4–6, 6–2
11.	20 September 1987	Tokyo, Japan (Pan Pacific Open)	Carpet (I)	Gabriela Sabatini	6–4, 7–6(6)
12.	23 October 1988	Zürich, Switzerland	Carpet (I)	Pam Shriver	6–3, 6–4
13.	30 October 1988	Brighton, UK	Carpet (I)	Steffi Graf	6–2, 6–0
14.	18 February 1990	Chicago, USA	Carpet (I)	Martina Navratilova	6–3, 6–2
15.	1 April 1990	San Antonio, USA	Hard	Monica Seles	6–4, 6–3
16.	12 August 1990	San Diego, USA	Hard	Steffi Graf	6–3, 6–2
17.	28 April 1991	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Conchita Martínez	6–4, 6–1
18.	12 July 1992	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Conchita Martínez	6–0, 3–6, 6–2

Doubles (7)

No.	Date	Location	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1.	5 May 1985	Houston, USA	Helena Suková	Elise Burgin Martina Navratilova	6–1, 3–6, 6–3
2.	14 September 1986	Tokyo, Japan (Pan Pacific Open)	Katerina Maleeva	Bettina Bunge Steffi Graf	6–1, 6–7(4), 6–2
3.	20 September 1987	Tokyo, Japan (Pan Pacific Open)	Katerina Maleeva	Anne White Robin White	6–1, 6–2
4.	26 May 1991	Geneva, Switzerland	Cathy Caverzasio	Nicole Provis Elizabeth Smylie	6–1, 6–2
5.	14 February 1993	Osaka, Japan (Asian Open)	Magdalena Maleeva	Jana Novotná Larisa Neiland	6–1, 6–3
6.	25 April 1993	Barcelona, Spain	Magdalena Maleeva	Conchita Martínez Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	4–6, 6–1, 6–0
7.	1 August 1993	Stratton Mountain, USA	Mercedes Paz	Elizabeth Smylie Helena Suková	6–1, 6–2

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Tournament	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	Career SR
Australian Open	3R	A	A	QF	NH	4R	A	A	A	2R	QF	4R	QF	0 / 7
French Open	2R	3R	4R	QF	3R	QF	3R	QF	QF	2R	3R	3R	A	0 / 12
Wimbledon	2R	2R	QF	4R	4R	2R	1R	A	1R	A	3R	3R	A	0 / 10
US Open	3R	3R	1R	4R	QF	4R	QF	QF	QF	4R	SF	SF	A	0 / 12
SR	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 1	0 / 41

• NH = tournament not held.
• 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.

See also

• Katerina Maleeva
• Magdalena Maleeva
• List of female tennis players

External links

• Manuela Maleeva at the Women's Tennis Association
• Manuela Maleeva at the International Tennis Federation
• Manuela Maleeva at the Fed Cup

Awards
Preceded by Conny Kissling	Swiss Sportswoman of the Year 1993	Succeeded by Vreni Schneider

Persondata
Name	Maleeva, Manuela
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	14 February 1967
Place of birth	Sofia, Bulgaria
Date of death
Place of death