Sylvia Hanika

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Sylvia Hanika
Country (sports) West Germany (1959–1990)
 Germany (1990–present)
ResidenceLa Manga, Spain
Born (1959-11-30) 30 November 1959 (age 64)
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 (62.9%)
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)

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.

Career[edit]

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, 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[edit]

Grand Slam final[edit]

Singles: 1 (0 titles, 1 runner–up)[edit]

Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1981 French Open Clay Czechoslovakia Hana Mandlíková 2–6, 4–6

Year-End Championships final[edit]

Singles: 1 (1 title, 0 runners-up)[edit]

Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1982 New York City Carpet (I) United States Martina Navratilova 1–6, 6–3, 6–4

WTA career finals[edit]

Singles: 24 (6–18)[edit]

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 Netherlands Elly Appel-Vessies 2–6, 4–6
Loss 2. Jul 1978 Kitzbühel Clay Romania Virginia Ruzici 4–6, 3–6
Loss 3. Nov 1978 Christchurch Grass Czechoslovakia Regina Maršíková 2–6, 1–6
Win 1. Jan 1979 Boise Carpet (i) United States Sherry Acker 6–3, 6–2
Loss 4. May 1979 Rome Clay United States Tracy Austin 4–6, 6–1, 3–6
Loss 5. Jul 1979 Kitzbühel Clay Czechoslovakia Hana Mandlíková 6–2, 5–7, 3–6
Loss 6. Jan 1981 Cincinnati Carpet (i) Czechoslovakia Martina Navratilova 2–6, 4–6
Win 2. Feb 1981 Seattle Carpet (I) United States Barbara Potter 6–2, 6–4
Loss 7. May 1981 French Open Clay Czechoslovakia Hana Mandlíková 2–6, 4–6
Loss 8. Jul 1981 Kitzbühel Clay West Germany Claudia Kohde-Kilsch 5–7, 6–7
Win 3. Jul 1981 Monte Carlo Clay Czechoslovakia Hana Mandlíková 2–6, 6–3, 5–6 ab.
Loss 9. Mar 1982 Los Angeles Carpet (i) Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Mima Jaušovec 2–6, 6–7(4–7)
Win 4. Mar 1982 Avon Championships Carpet (i) United States Martina Navratilova 1–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss 10. Jan 1983 Washington Carpet (i) United States Martina Navratilova 1–6, 1–6
Loss 11. Jan 1983 Houston Carpet (i) United States Martina Navratilova 3–6, 6–7(5–7)
Loss 12. Feb 1983 Oakland Carpet (i) West Germany Bettina Bunge 3–6, 3–6
Loss 13. Mar 1983 Boston Carpet (I) Australia Wendy Turnbull 4–6, 6–3, 4–6
Loss 14. Sep 1983 Hartford Carpet (i) United States Kim Shaefer 4–6, 3–6
Win 5. Oct 1984 Brighton Carpet (I) United States JoAnne Russell 6–3, 1–6, 6–2
Win 6. Sep 1986 Athens Clay Greece Angelikí Kanellopoúlou 7–5, 6–1
Loss 15. Feb 1987 San Francisco Carpet (i) United States Zina Garrison 5–7, 6–4, 3–6
Loss 16. Aug 1987 Mahwah Hard Bulgaria Manuela Maleeva 6–1, 4–6, 1–6
Loss 17. Feb 1988 Wichita Hard (i) Bulgaria Manuela Maleeva 6–7(5–7), 5–7
Loss 18. Jul 1988 Aix-en-Provence Clay Austria Judith Wiesner 1–6, 2–6

Doubles: 3 (1–2)[edit]

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 0–1 Nov 1978 Christchurch Grass West Germany Katja Ebbinghaus Australia Lesley Hunt
United States Sharon Walsh
1–6, 5–7
Loss 0–2 Jan 1980 Chicago Carpet (i) United States Kathy Jordan United States Billie Jean King
Czechoslovakia Martina Navratilova
3–6, 4–6
Win 1–2 Nov 1988 Adelaide Hard West Germany Claudia Kohde-Kilsch United States Lori McNeil
Czechoslovakia Jana Novotná
7–5, 6–7(4–7), 6–4

Grand Slam singles performance timeline[edit]

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(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 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.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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

External links[edit]