CAREER IN REVIEW
1990 - In her Tour debut at Boca Raton, became youngest-ever player to reach a pro final, aged 13 years, 11 months; d. four seeded players (incl. world No. 10 Sukova) before falling to Sabatini 64 75; in third Tour event, reached final of Hilton Head, upsetting world No. 5 Sanchez-Vicario (l. to Navratilova); debuted on rankings at No. 25 on April 9; youngest-ever semifinalist at Roland Garros aged 14 years, 2 months (l. to Seles); ranking leapt from No. 24 to No. 13; at Wimbledon, youngest-ever seed in Grand Slam history (No. 12), bettering Rinaldi by two days; won first title at Puerto Rico, d. Garrison in final (fourth-youngest to win a title after Austin, Rinaldi and Jaeger) and rising to No. 10, the youngest-ever to be ranked in Top 10 at age 14 years, 235 days; youngest qualifier for season-ending Championships at 14 years, 8 months, stretching world No. 1 Graf to 3s in 1r; finished first season ranked No. 8
1991 - Won two titles and reached consecutive Grand Slam SF; aged 15 yrs, 95 days, youngest-ever semifinalist at Wimbledon (d. defending champion Navratilova in QF, forcing her earliest exit in 14 years); compiled 16-match win streak, which included titles at San Diego - d. world No. 1 Seles 76 third set in youngest Tour final in Open Era (combined age of 33 years) bettering Austin-Jaeger at 1980 Tampa by four months - and Canadian Open (Toronto; d. world No. 3 Sabatini en route); dethroned reigning champion Sabatini at US Open and came within two points of defeating Seles in titanic SF (served for match twice) before falling 63 36 76(3); qualified for season-ending Championships, reaching QF; won first Tour doubles title at Rome (w/Seles); improved season-ending ranking to No. 6, a career-high at the time
1992 - Reached three Grand Slam QF and won two titles consecutively; won singles gold medal at Barcelona Olympics, d. No. 2 seed Sanchez-Vicario in SF and No. 1 Graf in gold medal match, both in 3s; successfully defended San Diego title; at Miami, upset world No. 1 Seles in QF, ending Seles’ 21 consecutive finals streak (two short of tying Navratilova’s record); at Wimbledon, became youngest player to surpass $1 million in career prize money at 16 years, 3 months (now second youngest behind Hingis 16 years, 1 month, 10 days); in third consecutive season-ending Championships, reached second QF; finished season at No. 7
1993 - Won sixth career title at Sydney (d. world No. 3 Sabatini in SF); repeated 1992 effort of reaching QF at Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon (l. to Graf each time); runner-up at Canadian Open (Toronto; d. No. 3 Sanchez-Vicario), l. to Graf in 3s; after US Open 1r loss to Meskhi, did not play on the Tour for 14 months; finished fourth consecutive season in Top 10
1994 - Fell out of Top 10 on January 17 and off the rankings on June 27; accepted a WC into Philadelphia in November for her only match of the year, l. 1r to eventual champion L. Huber in 3s
1995 - Did not play
1996 - Fifteen months since last Tour match, returned at Essen unranked, reaching QF (l. to Novotna in 3s); scored five Top 20 wins throughout season and reached first final in more than three years at Chicago (d. co-No. 1 Seles in SF, l. to No. 5 Novotna in 3s); also reached Zurich QF (in 1r, d. Sabatini in last match of her career); reappeared on rankings on April 1 at No. 103 and finished at No. 24
1997 - Reached Sydney final (d. world No. 9 Davenport, l. to No. 4 Hingis in 3s); also reached Oklahoma City QF (l. to Davenport) and Hilton Head 3r (d. world No. 11 MJ Fernandez en route); slipped to No. 66 by season-end
1998 - Reached Hamburg QF as a WC ranked No. 227 (l. to world No. 1 Hingis); also reached Palermo QF and Amelia Island 3r; at Wimbledon, won first Grand Slam singles match in five years; fell as low as No. 267 (on April 6) but finished No. 101
1999 - Enjoyed best season in six years, winning two singles titles and finishing season ranked No. 23; captured first title in six years at Strasbourg (d. world No. 9 Tauziat 61 60 in QF for first Top 10 win since Davenport at 1997 Sydney); won Quebec City (d. Rubin in final); reached 4r at Roland Garros and US Open
2000 - Reached first Grand Slam SF in nine years at Australian Open (l. to eventual champion Davenport); ranking improved to No. 17, first time in Top 20 since April 10, 1994; won ninth career title at Luxembourg (d. Mag. Maleeva in final); also reached final at Quebec City, SF at Zurich (d. Kournikova) and ’s-Hertogenbosch; at Miami, d. world No. 6 S. Williams to reach QF, her first win over a Top 6 player since November 1996, (d. co-No. 1 Seles in Chicago); sidelined in April with right Achilles tendonitis and hindered by an elbow injury in June; qualified for season-ending Championships for first time since 1993; member of winning US Fed Cup team, winning a singles and doubles rubber in final vs. Spain; finished season inside Top 20 for first time in seven years
2001 - Career-best season included first Grand Slam titles, reaching the world No.1 ranking for the first time; earned a career-high $2,268,624; won Australian Open, d. world No. 1 Hingis, No. 2 Davenport and No. 4 Seles, the last three winners of tournament; became lowest seed (No. 12) to win a Grand Slam title in Open Era (there was one unseeded winner); first player since Austin (1979 US Open) to d. world’s Top 2 players in straight sets at a Grand Slam; ranking reentered Top 10 for first time in seven years at No. 7, the longest absence from the Top 10 in Tour history; went on to win Family Circle Cup (first American-born winner since 1985) and her second Grand Slam title at Roland Garros; d. S. Williams, world No. 1 Hingis and No. 12 seed Clijsters 16 64 12-10 in longest-ever third set in a Roland Garros womens final; became fifth woman in history to win Australian Open and Roland Garros in the same year (after Connolly, Court, Graf and Seles); was two points from defeat on four occasions during final vs. Clijsters; also runner-up four other times (incl. Miami after holding 8 mp vs. V. Williams); only player in 2001 to reach SF or better at all four Grand Slams (first SF appearances at Wimbledon and US Open in 10 years); ending Hingis’ 73 consecutive-weeks run, became ninth No. 1-ranked player in the world on October 15 since 1975; finished season with 56-14 record, first time to win 50+ matches in a season, and as world No. 2, her highest season-ending rank and first in Top 10 since 1993
2002 - Won third Grand Slam singles title in 13 months by defending Australian Open as world No. 1, d. No. 7 Mauresmo, No. 5 Clijsters (first Top 5 win in six months) and No. 4 Hingis, coming back from 64 40 and saving 4 mp in second set to win in temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius; reached three other finals (Scottsdale, Miami and Canadian Open) and semifinalist at clay courts events in Charleston, Berlin, Rome (led S. Williams 4-0 final set) and as No. 1 seed at Roland Garros (led S. Williams 63 65) - sixth consecutive Grand Slam tournament to reach at least SF; that streak that was broken at Wimbledon, falling in QF to Mauresmo; also fell to Mauresmo in Canadian Open final (d. Henin en route) and US Open QF, having served for match in second set; won only one match in three European indoor tournaments before finishing strongly at season-ending Championships in Los Angeles falling in SF to No. 1 S. Williams (career-best performance there) after twice being a point of serving for the match in second set; 46-15 for the year and earned $2,217,939
2003 - Sixth Top 10 finish; started season with consecutive opening round losses in Sydney and Australian Open (l. to Weingärtner after leading 62 41), becoming first defending champion there to lose 1r; withdrew from Tokyo [Pan Pacific] citing need to recover from eye surgery in November 2002 to remove sunspots (pterygiums); thereafter, reached at least SF of next five events, losing in 3s to Henin-Hardenne, Davenport and Clijsters, incl. third consecutive final in Miami (fell to No. 1 S. Williams in 3s); reached 4r at Roland Garros (l. to Petrova in 3s) and SF at Eastbourne, l. to defending and eventual champion Rubin after holding 2 mp at 62 53 15-40 (Rubin serving); in doubles (as WC w/Serna), reached third career doubles final (l. to Davenport/Raymond); reached Wimbledon QF for sixth time, falling to world No.1 S.Williams after holding a point for 62 32 lead; reached second Tour singles final of 2003 at Stanford, falling to Clijsters in 3s; at San Diego, ret. 2r (after 1r bye) vs. Likhovtseva trailing 4-1 first set with right pectoral strain, an injury that forced her withdrawal from Canadian Open; ended 28-tournament losing streak in New Haven, claiming her 14th career Tour singles title, surviving opening round scare vs. Bovina and then benefiting from retirements of Mauresmo in SF and Davenport in final; reached career-third US Open SF and was two points from winning the match 10 times before losing the three-hour-plus match to No. 2 seed and eventual champion Henin-Hardenne (SF match added to Greatest Matches voting poll as part of Tour’s 30th anniversary celebrations); withdrew from Shanghai due to right shoulder strain; as No. 1 seed in debut appearance at Moscow, upset by Bovina in opening match (2r); fell 2r of Filderstadt to Pierce before rebounding in similar style to 2002 in reaching SF of season-ending Championships, falling to No. 1 Clijsters after leading 64 32 (with a break) while suffering from a right hip strain; claimed 400th career singles match win vs. Sugiyama in RR; won 42 of 60 matches and $1,942,015 in prize money.
