Native name | Мануела Малеева | ||||||||||||||
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Country (sports) | Bulgaria (1982–89) Switzerland (1990–94) | ||||||||||||||
Residence | La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland | ||||||||||||||
Born | Sofia, Bulgaria | 14 February 1967||||||||||||||
Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||||||||||||||
Turned pro | May 1982 | ||||||||||||||
Retired | February 1994 | ||||||||||||||
Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) | ||||||||||||||
Prize money | US$3,244,811 | ||||||||||||||
Singles | |||||||||||||||
Career record | 475–187 | ||||||||||||||
Career titles | 19 | ||||||||||||||
Highest ranking | No. 3 (4 February 1985) | ||||||||||||||
Grand Slam singles results | |||||||||||||||
Australian Open | QF (1985, 1992, 1994) | ||||||||||||||
French Open | QF (1985, 1987, 1989, 1990) | ||||||||||||||
Wimbledon | QF (1984) | ||||||||||||||
US Open | SF (1992, 1993) | ||||||||||||||
Other tournaments | |||||||||||||||
Tour Finals | SF (1987) | ||||||||||||||
Olympic Games | SF (1988) | ||||||||||||||
Doubles | |||||||||||||||
Career record | 129–131 | ||||||||||||||
Career titles | 4 | ||||||||||||||
Highest ranking | No. 11 (2 August 1993) | ||||||||||||||
Grand Slam doubles results | |||||||||||||||
Australian Open | 3R (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 | |||||||||||||||
French Open | 3R (1984, 1986) | ||||||||||||||
Wimbledon | 2R (1985) | ||||||||||||||
US Open | W (1984) | ||||||||||||||
Team competitions | |||||||||||||||
Fed Cup | Bulgaria SF (1985, 1987) Switzerland QF (1991) | ||||||||||||||
Hopman Cup | Switzerland W (1992) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Manuela Georgieva Maleeva (Bulgarian: Мануела Георгиева Малеева; born 14 February 1967) is a Bulgarian former professional tennis player. She played on the WTA Tour 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 and 1993, 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, winning Bulgaria's first (and thus far, only) Olympic tennis medal. In 1992, she paired up with Jakob Hlasek at the Hopman Cup where they took home Switzerland's first ever title at the event.