Maria Bueno - Greatest Brazilian Tennis Player

Bueno began playing tennis at a very young age and, without having received any formal training, won her first tournament at age 12. She was 14 when she captured her country’s women's singles championship.

Joining the international circuit in 1958, Maria Bueno won the singles title at the Italian Championships and the first of her Grand Slam titles, capturing the women's doubles at Wimbledon with Althea Gibson.

The following year, Bueno won her first singles title at Wimbledon, defeating Darlene Hard, 6–4, 6–3 in the final. She also won the singles title at the U.S. Championships, earning the No. 1 ranking for 1959 and the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year award. Bueno was the first non-American woman to capture both Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships in the same calendar year. In her native Brazil, she returned as a national heroine, honored by the country’s president and given a ticker-tape parade on the streets of São Paulo.

According to the end-of-year rankings compiled by the London Daily Telegraph from 1914 through 1972, Maria Bueno was ranked No. 1 in the world in 1959 and 1960. The International Tennis Hall of Fame also lists her as the top ranked player in 1964 (after losing the final at the French Championships and winning both Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships) and 1966.

Bueno won the singles title at Wimbledon three times and at the U.S. Championships four times. She was a singles finalist at the Australian Championships and the French Championships, losing both finals to Margaret Court. Maria Bueno reached at least the quarterfinals in each of the first 26 Grand Slam singles tournaments she played. This streak ended at Wimbledon in 1967 when she lost in the fourth round because of an arm injury.

As a doubles player, Bueno won twelve Grand Slam championships with six different partners. In 1960, she became the first woman to win the women's doubles title at all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same calendar year, partnered by Christine Truman Janes at the Australian Championships and Hard at the French Championships, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Championships.

In 1978, Maria Bueno was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

At the 2006 U.S. Open, Maria Bueno was invited to attend the rededication ceremony of the USTA National Tennis Center as the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, which took place on the first day of the event. Bueno and King were rivals in singles and, on occasion, doubles partners. According to Bueno, the only players invited were those who had won the U.S. Open "more than twice" (she won it 4 times). At the same event, Bueno debuted as a commentator for SporTv, the Brazilian cable television sports channel. She commentated on the women's singles semifinals and final and the men's singles final. Maria Bueno also offered opinions during the live broadcast of the USTA's induction of Martina Navratilova and Don Budge in the "Court of Champions," as well as during day-end "round tables" in the last three days of the event.

Grand Slam finals (35)

Maria Bueno won 19 and lost 16 of her Grand Slam finals. This represents a success rate of 54%.

Singles (12)

Wins (7)Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
1959 Wimbledon Darlene Hard 6–4, 6–3
1959 U.S. Championships Christine Truman Janes 6–1, 6–4
1960 Wimbledon Sandra Reynolds Price 8–6, 6–0
1963 U.S. Championships Margaret Court 7–5, 6–4
1964 Wimbledon Margaret Court 6–4, 7–9, 6–3
1964 U.S. Championships Carole Caldwell Graebner 6–1, 6–0
1966 U.S. Championships Nancy Richey Gunter 6–3, 6–1

Go to the List of Male and Female Tennis Players


Source of this article: Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia