Sylvia Hanika

Sylvia Hanika (born 30 November 1959) is a former professional tennis player from Germany. She is best remembered for finishing 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 and played left-handed.

Sylvia Hanika
Country (sports) West Germany (1959–1990)
 Germany (1990–present)
ResidenceLa Manga, Spain
Born (1959-11-30) 30 November 1959
Munich, West Germany
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Turned pro1977
Retired1990
PlaysLeft-handed (one handed-backhand)
Prize moneyUS$ 454,347
Singles
Career record378–223
Career titles6
Highest rankingNo. 5 (12 September 1983)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian OpenQF (1983)
French OpenF (1981)
Wimbledon4R (1982, 1987)
US OpenQF (1979, 1981, 1983, 1984)
Other tournaments
Tour FinalsW (1982)
Doubles
Career record47–48
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 92 (14 August 1989)

Career

Hanika turned professional in 1977. In 1981, Hanika reached the women's singles final at the French Open, where she was defeated 6–2, 6–4 by Hana Mandlíková.

In 1982, Hanika posted the biggest win of her career when she defeated world No. 2 Martina Navratilova 1–6, 6–3, 6–4 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 6–4, 6–4 defeat of 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 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 (0 titles, 1 runner–up)
Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss1981French OpenClay Hana Mandlíková2–6, 4–6

Year-End Championships final

Singles: 1 (1 title, 0 runners-up)
Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win1982New York CityCarpet (I) Martina Navratilova1–6, 6–3, 6–4

WTA career finals

Singles: 24 (6–18)
Winner — 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)
Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1. Jul 1978 Båstad Clay Elly Appel-Vessies 2–6, 4–6
Loss 2. Jul 1978 Kitzbühel Clay Virginia Ruzici 4–6, 3–6
Loss 3. Nov 1978 Christchurch Grass Regina Maršíková 2–6, 1–6
Win 1. Jan 1979 Boise Carpet (i) Sherry Acker 6–3, 6–2
Loss 4. May 1979 Rome Clay Tracy Austin 4–6, 6–1, 3–6
Loss 5. Jul 1979 Kitzbühel Clay Hana Mandlíková 6–2, 5–7, 3–6
Loss 6. Jan 1981 Cincinnati Carpet (i) Martina Navratilova 2–6, 4–6
Win 2. Feb 1981 Seattle Carpet (I) Barbara Potter 6–2, 6–4
Loss 7. May 1981 French Open Clay Hana Mandlíková 2–6, 4–6
Loss 8. Jul 1981 Kitzbühel Clay Claudia Kohde-Kilsch 5–7, 6–7
Win 3. Jul 1981 Monte Carlo Clay Hana Mandlíková 2–6, 6–3, 5–6 ab.
Loss 9. Mar 1982 Los Angeles Carpet (i) Mima Jaušovec 2–6, 6–7(4–7)
Win 4. Mar 1982 Avon Championships Carpet (i) Martina Navratilova 1–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss 10. Jan 1983 Washington Carpet (i) Martina Navratilova 1–6, 1–6
Loss 11. Jan 1983 Houston Carpet (i) Martina Navratilova 3–6, 6–7(5–7)
Loss 12. Feb 1983 Oakland Carpet (i) Bettina Bunge 3–6, 3–6
Loss 13. Mar 1983 Boston Carpet (I) Wendy Turnbull 4–6, 6–3, 4–6
Loss 14. Sep 1983 Hartford Carpet (i) Kim Shaefer 4–6, 3–6
Win 5. Oct 1984 Brighton Carpet (I) JoAnne Russell 6–3, 1–6, 6–2
Win 6. Sep 1986 Athens Clay Angelikí Kanellopoúlou 7–5, 6–1
Loss 15. Feb 1987 San Francisco Carpet (i) Zina Garrison 5–7, 6–4, 3–6
Loss 16. Aug 1987 Mahwah Hard Manuela Maleeva 6–1, 4–6, 1–6
Loss 17. Febr1988 Wichita Hard (i) Manuela Maleeva 6–7(5–7), 5–7
Loss 18. Jul 1988 Aix-en-Provence Clay Judith Wiesner 1–6, 2–6

Doubles: 3 (1–2)
Winner — 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)
Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1. Nov 1978 Christchurch Grass Katja Ebbinghaus Lesley Hunt
Sharon Walsh		 1–6, 5–7
Loss 2. Jan 1980 Chicago Carpet (i) Kathy Jordan Billie Jean King
Martina Navratilova		 3–6, 4–6
Win 1. Nov 1988 Adelaide Hard Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Lori McNeil
Jana Novotná		 7–5, 6–7(4–7), 6–4

Grand Slam singles performance timeline
Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# A NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)
Tournament19771978197919801981198219831984198519861987198819891990Career SR
Australian Open A A A A 3R A A QF 2R A NH 4R 4R 1R A 0 / 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 A 0 / 12
US Open A 1R QF 3R QF A QF QF 3R 2R 4R 3R 3R 2R 0 / 12
SR 0 / 0 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 2 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 4 0 / 2 0 / 43
Year-end Ranking 118 35 16 14 6 10 5 17 21 50 14 17 41 125

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

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gollark: It's harder to understand than the nice mappy ones.
gollark: The for loop is still stupidly long and hard to understand.
gollark: Haskell Haskell... Haskell Haskell?
gollark: Or rekurzion?

See also

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