Sylvia Hanika

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Sylvia Hanika
Country (sports)Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany (1959–1990)
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany (1990–present)
Residence La Manga, Spain
Born (1959-11-30) 30 November 1959 (age 65)
Munich, West Germany
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Turned pro1977
Retired1990
PlaysLeft-handed (one handed-backhand)
Prize money US$ $1,296,560
Singles
Career record378–223
Career titles6
Highest rankingNo. 5 (12 September 1983)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open QF (1983)
French Open F (1981)
Wimbledon 4R (1982, 1987)
US Open QF (1979, 1981, 1983, 1984)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals W (1982)
Doubles
Career record47–48
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 92 (14 August 1989)

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 No. 5 in the world.

Contents

Career

Hanika turned professional in 1977. In 1981, Hanika reached the women's singles final at the French Open, where she was defeated in two sets by Hana Mandlíková.

In 1982, Hanika posted the biggest win of her career when she defeated world No. 2 Martina Navratilova in three sets in the final of the Avon Series Championships at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Garden was also the site of Hanika's last big singles win: a straight sets victory against No. 3 Chris Evert in the first round of the Virginia Slims Championships in 1987.

Hanika won her final top-level singles title in Athens, Greece in 1986. She retired from the tour in 1990, having won six professional singles titles and one doubles title.

Between serves, she was known to bounce the ball more than anyone tennis commentator and historian Bud Collins remembers: "as many as into the 30s. If she faulted on the first, it was awful, another 30 or so bounces." [1]

Major finals

Grand Slam final

Singles: (1 runner–up)

ResultYearTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss 1981 French OpenClay Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Hana Mandlíková 2–6, 4–6

Year-End Championships final

Singles: (1 title)

ResultYearTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1982New York CityCarpet (I) Flag of the United States.svg Martina Navratilova 1–6, 6–3, 6–4

WTA career finals

Singles: 24 (6–18)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–1)
WTA Tour Championships (1–0)
Tier I (0–0)
Tier II (0–0)
Tier III (0–0)
Tier IV (0–0)
Tier V (0–2)
Virginia Slims, Avon, Other (6–15)
Titles by surface
Hard (0–2)
Grass (0–1)
Clay (2–7)
Carpet (4–8)
ResultW/LDateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss1.Jul 1978 Båstad Clay Flag of the Netherlands.svg Elly Appel-Vessies 2–6, 4–6
Loss2.Jul 1978 Kitzbühel Clay Flag of Romania (1965-1989).svg Virginia Ruzici 4–6, 3–6
Loss3.Nov 1978 Christchurch Grass Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Regina Maršíková 2–6, 1–6
Win1.Jan 1979 Boise Carpet (i) Flag of the United States.svg Sherry Acker 6–3, 6–2
Loss4.May 1979 Rome Clay Flag of the United States.svg Tracy Austin 4–6, 6–1, 3–6
Loss5.Jul 1979 Kitzbühel Clay Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Hana Mandlíková 6–2, 5–7, 3–6
Loss6.Jan 1981 Cincinnati Carpet (i) Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Martina Navratilova 2–6, 4–6
Win2.Feb 1981 Seattle Carpet (I) Flag of the United States.svg Barbara Potter 6–2, 6–4
Loss7.May 1981 French Open Clay Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Hana Mandlíková 2–6, 4–6
Loss8.Jul 1981 Kitzbühel Clay Flag of Germany.svg Claudia Kohde-Kilsch 5–7, 6–7
Win3.Jul 1981 Monte Carlo Clay Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Hana Mandlíková 2–6, 6–3, 5–6 ab.
Loss9.Mar 1982 Los Angeles Carpet (i) Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg Mima Jaušovec 2–6, 6–7(4–7)
Win4.Mar 1982 Avon Championships Carpet (i) Flag of the United States.svg Martina Navratilova 1–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss10.Jan 1983 Washington Carpet (i) Flag of the United States.svg Martina Navratilova 1–6, 1–6
Loss11.Jan 1983 Houston Carpet (i) Flag of the United States.svg Martina Navratilova 3–6, 6–7(5–7)
Loss12.Feb 1983 Oakland Carpet (i) Flag of Germany.svg Bettina Bunge 3–6, 3–6
Loss13.Mar 1983 Boston Carpet (I) Flag of Australia (converted).svg Wendy Turnbull 4–6, 6–3, 4–6
Loss14.Sep 1983 Hartford Carpet (i) Flag of the United States.svg Kim Shaefer 4–6, 3–6
Win5.Oct 1984 Brighton Carpet (I) Flag of the United States.svg JoAnne Russell 6–3, 1–6, 6–2
Win6.Sep 1986 Athens Clay Flag of Greece.svg Angelikí Kanellopoúlou 7–5, 6–1
Loss15.Feb 1987 San Francisco Carpet (i) Flag of the United States.svg Zina Garrison 5–7, 6–4, 3–6
Loss16.Aug 1987 Mahwah Hard Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg Manuela Maleeva 6–1, 4–6, 1–6
Loss17.Feb 1988 Wichita Hard (i) Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg Manuela Maleeva 6–7(5–7), 5–7
Loss18.Jul 1988 Aix-en-Provence Clay Flag of Austria.svg Judith Wiesner 1–6, 2–6

Doubles: 3 (1–2)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
WTA Tour Championships (0–0)
Tier I (0–0)
Tier II (0–0)
Tier III (0–0)
Tier IV (0–0)
Tier V (1–0)
Virginia Slims, Avon, Other (0–2)
Titles by surface
Hard (1–0)
Grass (0–1)
Clay (0–0)
Carpet (0–1)
ResultW/LDateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss0–1Nov 1978 Christchurch Grass Flag of Germany.svg Katja Ebbinghaus Flag of Australia (converted).svg Lesley Hunt
Flag of the United States.svg Sharon Walsh
1–6, 5–7
Loss0–2Jan 1980 Chicago Carpet (i) Flag of the United States.svg Kathy Jordan Flag of the United States.svg Billie Jean King
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Martina Navratilova
3–6, 4–6
Win1–2Nov 1988 Adelaide Hard Flag of Germany.svg Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Flag of the United States.svg Lori McNeil
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Jana Novotná
7–5, 6–7(4–7), 6–4

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Key
W F SFQF#RRRQ#DNQANH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
Tournament 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 Career SR
Australian Open AAAA 3R AA QF 2R ANH 4R 4R 1R A0 / 6
French Open A 1R 1R 3R F 2R 3R 3R 4R 1R 4R 4R 4R 2R 0 / 13
Wimbledon A 2R 3R 2R 1R 4R 3R 1R 2R 1R 4R 3R 1R A0 / 12
US Open A 1R QF 3R QF A QF QF 3R 2R 4R 3R 3R 2R 0 / 12
SR0 / 00 / 30 / 30 / 40 / 30 / 20 / 40 / 40 / 30 / 30 / 40 / 40 / 40 / 20 / 43
Year-end Ranking1183516146106172150141741125

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

See also

References

  1. "Strange Habits of Highly Successful Tennis Players" by Christopher Clarey, 21 June 2008 in The New York Times.