Magdalena Maleeva

Magdalena Maleeva
Native name	Магдалена Малеева
Country (sports)	Bulgaria
Residence	Sofia, Bulgaria
Born	1 April 1975; Sofia, Bulgaria
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Turned pro	1989
Retired	2005
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$ 4,398,582
Singles
Career record	439–290 (60.2%)
Career titles	10 WTA, 1 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 4 (29 January 1996)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	4R (1991, 1993, 1994, 2002)
French Open	4R (1993, 1996, 2003, 2004)
Wimbledon	4R (2001, 2002, 2004, 2005)
US Open	QF (1992)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	QF (2002)
Olympic Games	3R (1992, 1996)
Doubles
Career record	121–133 (47.6%)
Career titles	5 WTA, 1 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 13 (2 February 2004)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	3R (1992, 2001, 2004)
French Open	3R (1993)
Wimbledon	3R (1993, 2003)
US Open	QF (2003)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games	1R (1992, 1996)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	27–17 (61.4%); (singles 18–8; doubles 9-9)

Magdalena Georgieva Maleeva (Bulgarian: Магдалена Георгиева Малеева, pronounced [mɐɡdɐˈlɛnɐ mɐˈlɛɛvɐ]; born 1 April 1975) is a Bulgarian former professional tennis player. She played on the WTA Tour competing in singles and doubles, from April 1989 to October 2005 and has won 10 career singles titles. Her best WTA singles ranking was world No. 4.

Biography

Born in Sofia, Maleeva is the youngest of the three children of Yuliya Berberyan and Georgi Maleev. Yuliya, who came from a prominent Armenian family which found refuge in Bulgaria after the 1896 Armenian massacres in the Ottoman Empire, was one of the best Bulgarian tennis players in the 1960s.[1] After she retired from professional tennis in the 1970s, Berberyan started on a coaching career. She trained all of her three daughters, Magdalena, Katerina and Manuela, each of whom eventually became WTA top six players.

In 1988, Maleeva became the youngest ever national tennis champion of Bulgaria, at the age of 13 years and four months. She turned professional in 1989, reaching the final of her first professional tournament (ITF) at Bari. In her Grand Slam debut at the French Open in 1990, she passed the qualifications and reached the third round. In 1992, Maleeva snatched her first WTA Tour event victory in San Marino. The following year, she reached the fourth round at the Australian, the French and the US Open, as well as the third round of Wimbledon. That same year, she was the opponent of Monica Seles at a tournament in Hamburg, Germany when a deranged fan stabbed Seles in the back on the court.

Her best performance at a Grand Slam championship came when she got to the quarterfinals of the 1992 US Open, defeating Kateřina Kroupová-Šišková, Martina Navratilova, Kimberly Po and Chanda Rubin before losing to her older sister Manuela. In 1995, Maleeva won a total of three tournaments, in Moscow, Chicago, Oakland, which saw her hit a career-high ranking of No. 4 in January 1996.[2]

In June 1998, Maleeva underwent shoulder surgery, which forced her off the tour for the next eleven months. She started competing again in May 1999 and reached top 20 again in 2001. In 2002, she won the prestigious Kremlin Cup in Moscow, defeating three top-10 players on her way (Venus Williams, Amélie Mauresmo, and Lindsay Davenport). In 2004, she married her long-standing boyfriend, Lubomir Nokov.

Maleeva won a career total of ten WTA titles in singles and five in doubles. She was the recipient of the WTA award "Most Improved Player 1993" and was nominated for the WTA award "Most Impressive Newcomer 1990". She participated at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Atlanta, and Athens.

Life after tennis

In October 2005, Maleeva retired from professional tennis after 16 seasons (years), and became the last of the Maleeva sisters to retire. She now lives in Sofia, Bulgaria. On 27 June 2007, she gave birth to her first child, a girl named Youlia, and on 13 December 2008 she gave birth to a second child – Marko and on 20 August 2012 to their third child – Nina.

Maleeva has been very active with the environmental organization 'Gorichka.bg', which works to create public awareness about urgent environmental problems. She also has created 'Harmonica', a brand for organic foods, as well as a couple of organic food stores in Sofia under the brand 'Biomag'. She is also a partner at the Maleeva Tennis Club.

Maleeva in Fed Cup action in 2011

In October 2010, Maleeva won the Bulgarian national outdoor championship, becoming the youngest and the oldest player to have won it, within 22 years. In 2011, she made a brief tennis comeback, playing and winning three doubles matches for Bulgaria at the Fed Cup.[3]

In March 2011, Maleeva was voted eighth in the "100 most influential women in Bulgaria" by Pari newspaper. She has also appeared at Wimbledon's ladies' invitation doubles event on several occasions, achieving her best result in 2015, where she partnered Rennae Stubbs, the pair defeating Navratilova and Selima Sfar in the final to win the title.

Performance timelines

**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)

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles

Tournament	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	SR	W-L	Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	Q2	4R	1R	4R	4R	1R	A	A	1R	A	1R	1R	4R	3R	2R	3R	0 / 12	17–12	59%
French Open	Q1	3R	1R	3R	4R	1R	2R	4R	1R	A	1R	3R	1R	1R	4R	4R	2R	0 / 15	20–15	66%
Wimbledon	A	2R	1R	1R	3R	2R	A	2R	3R	A	A	2R	4R	4R	2R	4R	4R	0 / 13	21–13	62%
US Open	Q1	1R	2R	QF	4R	4R	2R	1R	3R	A	A	2R	2R	3R	1R	2R	2R	0 / 14	20–14	59%
Win–Loss	0–0	3–3	4–4	6–4	11–4	7–4	2–3	4–3	4–3	0–1	0–1	4–4	4–4	8–4	6–4	8–4	7–4	0 / 54	78–54	59%
Year–end championships
WTA Championships	Did not qualify				1R	A	1R	Did not qualify					1R	2R	Did not qualify			0 / 4	1–4	20%
National representation
Summer Olympics	Not Held			3R	Not Held			3R	Not Held			A	Not Held			2R	NH	0 / 3	5–3	63%
Fed Cup	A	A	2R	1R	2R	QF	1R	A	A	E/A I	A	A	A	E/A I	E/A I	A	PO	0 / 5	18–8	69%
Career statistics
Titles	0	0	0	1	0	2	3	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	1	0	0	Career total: 10
Finals	0	0	1	1	1	2	6	1	0	0	1	1	3	2	1	1	0	Career total: 21
Year-end ranking	216	73	38	20	16	11	6	19	36	115	89	22	16	14	30	25	52	$4,398,582

Doubles

Tournament	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	SR	W-L	Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	1R	3R	2R	A	1R	A	A	A	A	A	3R	2R	1R	3R	A	0 / 8	8–8	50%
French Open	A	A	1R	1R	3R	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	A	1R	1R	A	0 / 7	3–7	30%
Wimbledon	A	A	1R	1R	3R	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	3R	A	A	0 / 6	4–6	40%
US Open	A	1R	1R	1R	1R	2R	A	A	A	A	A	1R	1R	A	QF	A	2R	0 / 9	5–9	36%
Win–Loss	0–0	0–1	0–4	2–4	5–4	1–3	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	3–4	1–1	5–4	2–2	1–1	0 / 30	20–30	40%
Career statistics
Titles	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	1	Career total: 5
Finals	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	2	1	Career total: 10
Year-end ranking	576	83	97	101	35	131	824	NR	363	892	340	129	92	54	14	51	92	$4,398,582

WTA career finals

Singles: 21 (10 titles, 11 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
Tier I (2–3)
Tier II (2–4)
Tier III (3–3)
Tier IV (1–0)
Tier V (2–1)

Finals by surface
Hard (1–3)
Clay (2–4)
Grass (1–0)
Carpet (6–4)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Apr 1991	Bol, Yugoslavia	Tier V	Clay	Sandra Cecchini	4–6, 6–3, 5–7
Win	1–1	Jul 1992	City of San Marino, San Marino	Tier V	Clay	Federica Bonsignori	7–6^(7–3), 6–4
Loss	1–2	Jan 1993	Brisbane, Australia	Tier III	Hard	Conchita Martínez	3–6, 4–6
Win	2–2	Sep 1994	Moscow, Russia	Tier III	Carpet (i)	Sandra Cecchini	7–5, 6–1
Win	3–2	Oct 1994	Zurich, Switzerland	Tier I	Carpet (i)	Natasha Zvereva	7–5, 3–6, 6–4
Win	4–2	Feb 1995	Chicago, United States	Tier II	Carpet (i)	Lisa Raymond	7–5, 7–6^(7–2)
Loss	4–3	Apr 1995	Hilton Head, United States	Tier I	Clay	Conchita Martínez	1–6, 1–6
Loss	4–4	May 1995	Berlin, Germany	Tier I	Clay	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	4–6, 1–6
Win	5–4	Sep 1995	Moscow, Russia	Tier III	Carpet (i)	Elena Makarova	6–4, 6–2
Loss	5–5	Oct 1995	Leipzig, Germany	Tier II	Carpet (i)	Anke Huber	w/o
Win	6–5	Nov 1995	Oakland, United States	Tier II	Carpet (i)	Ai Sugiyama	6–3, 6–4
Loss	6–6	May 1996	Madrid, Spain	Tier II	Clay	Jana Novotná	6–4, 4–6, 3–6
Win	7–6	Nov 1999	Pattaya City, Thailand	Tier IV	Hard	Anne Kremer	4–6, 6–1, 6–2
Loss	7–7	Oct 2000	Kockelscheuer, Luxembourg	Tier III	Carpet (i)	Jennifer Capriati	6–4, 1–6, 4–6
Loss	7–8	Feb 2001	Nice, France	Tier II	Hard (i)	Amélie Mauresmo	2–6, 0–6
Win	8–8	Apr 2001	Budapest, Hungary	Tier V	Clay	Anne Kremer	3–6, 6–2, 6–4
Loss	8–9	Sep 2001	Leipzig, Germany	Tier II	Carpet (i)	Kim Clijsters	1–6, 1–6
Win	9–9	Oct 2002	Moscow, Russia	Tier I	Carpet (i)	Lindsay Davenport	5–7, 6–3, 7–6^(7–4)
Loss	9–10	Oct 2002	Kockelscheuer, Luxembourg	Tier III	Hard (i)	Kim Clijsters	1–6, 2–6
Win	10–10	Jun 2003	Birmingham, United Kingdom	Tier III	Grass	Shinobu Asagoe	6–1, 6–4
Loss	10–11	Feb 2004	Tokyo, Japan	Tier I	Carpet (i)	Lindsay Davenport	4–6, 1–6

Doubles: 10 (5 titles, 5 runner–ups)

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
Tier I (1–1)
Tier II (2–1)
Tier III (1–3)
Tier IV (0–0)
Tier V (1–0)

Finals by surface
Hard (2–1)
Clay (2–1)
Grass (0–1)
Carpet (1–2)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Apr 1991	Bol, Yugoslavia	Tier V	Clay	Laura Golarsa	Sandra Cecchini Laura Garrone	w/o
Loss	1–1	Feb 1993	Osaka, Japan	Tier III	Carpet (i)	Manuela Maleeva	Jana Novotná Larisa Neiland	1–6, 3–6
Loss	1–2	Apr 1993	Barcelona, Spain	Tier II	Clay	Manuela Maleeva	Conchita Martínez Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–4, 1–6, 0–6
Win	2–2	Feb 2002	Antwerp, Belgium	Tier II	Carpet (i)	Patty Schnyder	Nathalie Dechy Meilen Tu	6–3, 6–7^(3–7), 6–3
Loss	2–3	Jun 2002	's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	Tier III	Grass	Bianka Lamade	Catherine Barclay Martina Müller	4–6, 5–7
Win	3–3	Mar 2003	Miami, United States	Tier I	Hard	Liezel Huber	Shinobu Asagoe Nana Miyagi	6–4, 3–6, 7–5
Win	4–3	May 2003	Warsaw, Poland	Tier II	Clay	Liezel Huber	Eleni Daniilidou Francesca Schiavone	3–6, 6–4, 6–2
Loss	4–4	Jan 2004	Gold Coast, Australia	Tier III	Hard	Liezel Huber	Svetlana Kuznetsova Elena Likhovtseva	3–6, 4–6
Loss	4–5	Feb 2004	Tokyo, Japan	Tier I	Carpet (i)	Elena Likhovtseva	Cara Black Rennae Stubbs	0–6, 1–6
Win	5–5	Jan 2005	Gold Coast, Australia	Tier III	Hard	Elena Likhovtseva	Maria Elena Camerin Silvia Farina Elia	6–3, 5–7, 6–1

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner–up)

Legend
$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Finals by surface
Hard (1–0)
Clay (0–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Apr 1989	ITF Bari, Italy	10,000	Clay	Eva-Maria Schürhoff	6–2, 1–6, 6–7^(5–7)
Win	1–1	Dec 1999	ITF Cergy-Pontoise, France	50,000	Hard (i)	Seda Noorlander	6–1, 6–4

Doubles: 1 (1 title)

Legend
$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Finals by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (1–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Mar 1990	ITF Moulins, France	25,000	Carpet (i)	Andrea Strnadová	Valerie Ledroff Pascale Paradis	3–6, 6–1, 6–1

Junior Grand Slam tournament finals

Singles: 3 (3 titles)

Result	W–L	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	1990	Australian Open	Hard	Louise Stacey	7–5, 6–7^(2–7), 6–1
Win	2–0	1990	French Open	Clay	Tatiana Ignatieva	6–2, 6–3
Win	3–0	1990	US Open	Hard	Noëlle van Lottum	7–5, 6–2

Fed Cup

Magdalena Maleeva debuted for the Bulgaria Fed Cup team in 1991. Since then she has an 18–8 singles record and a 9–9 doubles record (27–17 overall).

Singles (18–8)

Edition	Round	Date	Against	Surface	Opponent	W/L	Result
1991 World Group I	R1	22 July 1991	Hungary	Hard	Petra Schmitt	W	6–1, 6–2
1991 World Group I	R2	24 July 1991	United States	Hard	Jennifer Capriati	L	5–7, 2–6
1992 World Group I	R1	14 July 1992	Australia	Clay	Rachel McQuillan	W	7–6^(7–4), 6–2
1992 World Group I	RPO	16 July 1992	Romania	Clay	Ruxandra Dragomir	W	6–0, 6–1
1993 World Group I	R1	19 July 1993	South Korea	Clay	Park Sung-hee	W	6–0, 6–4
1993 World Group I	R2	21 July 1993	Argentina	Clay	Florencia Labat	W	6–4, 5–7, 6–3
1994 World Group I	R1	19 July 1994	Croatia	Clay	Iva Majoli	L	6–3, 4–6, 4–6
	R2	21 July 1994	Indonesia		Yayuk Basuki	W	6–3, 6–3
	QF	22 July 1994	France		Mary Pierce	W	6–7^(6–8), 6–4, 6–4
1995 World Group I	QF	22 April 1995	Spain	Carpet (I)	Conchita Martínez	L	2–6, 4–6
1995 World Group I	QF	23 April 1995	Spain	Carpet (I)	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	W	6–3, 6–3
1998 Europe/Africa Group I	RR	14 April 1998	Romania	Clay	Raluca Sandu	L	1–6, 3–6
		15 April 1998	South Africa		Mariaan de Swardt	L	1–6, 5–7
		16 April 1998	Latvia		Elena Krutko	L	6–7^(2–7), 6–1, 1–6
2002 Europe/Africa Group I	RR	24 April 2002	Portugal	Clay	Angela Cardoso	W	6–0, 6–0
		25 April 2002	Georgia		Salome Devidze	W	6–1, 6–3
		26 April 2002	Estonia		Kaia Kanepi	W	6–4, 6–2
	PPO	27 April 2002	Ukraine		Yuliya Beygelzimer	L	3–6, 4–6
2003 Europe/Africa Group I	RR	21 April 2003	Georgia	Clay	Margalita Chakhnashvili	W	6–3, 6–1
		23 April 2003	Serbia and Montenegro		Jelena Janković	W	6–2, 3–6, 6–2
		24 April 2003	Israel		Anna Smashnova	W	7–5, 6–4
2005 Europe/Africa Group I	RR	20 April 2005	South Africa	Clay	Natalie Grandin	W	6–4, 6–3
	RR	21 April 2005	Hungary		Zsófia Gubacsi	W	7–6^(7–4), 6–2
	PPO	23 April 2005	Netherlands		Michaëlla Krajicek	W	4–6, 6–3, 6–2
2005 World Group II Play-offs	PO	9 July 2005	Japan	Hard (I)	Aiko Nakamura	W	3–6, 6–4, 6–3
2005 World Group II Play-offs	PO	10 July 2005	Japan	Hard (I)	Akiko Morigami	L	6–7^(3–7), 3–6

Doubles (9–9)

Edition	Round	Date	Partner	Against	Surface	Opponents	W/L	Result
1991 World Group I	R1	22 July 1991	Katerina Maleeva	Hungary	Hard	Virág Csurgó Ágnes Muzamel	W	6–1, 6–2
1991 World Group I	R2	24 July 1991	Katerina Maleeva	United States	Hard	Gigi Fernández Zina Garrison-Jackson	L	2–6, 1–6
1992 World Group I	R1	14 July 1992	Katerina Maleeva	Australia	Hard	Nicole Bradtke Rennae Stubbs	L	2–6, 1–6
1992 World Group I	RPO	16 July 1992	Elena Pampoulova	Romania	Hard	Ruxandra Dragomir Irina Spîrlea	L	6–7^(5–7), 2–6
1993 World Group I	R2	21 July 1993	Katerina Maleeva	Argentina	Clay	Inés Gorrochategui Patricia Tarabini	L	7–5, 4–6, 2–6
1994 World Group I	R1	19 July 1994	Katerina Maleeva	Croatia	Clay	Iva Majoli Maja Murić	W	6–2, 6–3
1994 World Group I	QF	22 July 1994	Katerina Maleeva	France	Clay	Julie Halard Nathalie Tauziat	L	2–6, 6–3, 2–6
1995 World Group I	QF	23 April 1995	Katerina Maleeva	Spain	Carpet (I)	Neus Ávila Bonastre Virginia Ruano Pascual	W	6–0, 6–1
2002 Europe/Africa Group I	RR	24 April 2002	Desislava Topalova	Portugal	Clay	Angela Cardoso Ana Catarina Nogueira	W	6–2, 7–5
2002 Europe/Africa Group I	PPO	27 April 2002	Desislava Topalova	Ukraine	Clay	Yuliya Beygelzimer Alona Bondarenko	L	4–6, 0–6
2003 Europe/Africa Group I	RR	21 April 2003	Desislava Topalova	Georgia	Clay	Margalita Chakhnashvili Tinatin Kavlashvili	W	6–1, 6–2
		23 April 2003	Desislava Topalova	Serbia and Montenegro		Katarina Mišić Dragana Zarić	L	3–6, 6–3, 0–6
		24 April 2003	Desislava Topalova	Israel		Tzipora Obziler Anna Smashnova	L	7–6^(7–3), 3–6, 3–6
2005 Europe/Africa Group I	RR	20 April 2005	Sesil Karatantcheva	South Africa	Clay	Lizaan du Plessis Alicia Pillay	W	6–3, 6–2
2005 Europe/Africa Group I	RR	21 April 2005	Sesil Karatantcheva	Hungary	Clay	Virág Németh Ágnes Szávay	L	6–4, 3–6, 1–6
2011 Europe/Africa Group I	RR	2 February 2011	Tsvetana Pironkova	Poland	Hard	Klaudia Jans-Ignacik Alicja Rosolska	W	6–1, 6–3
		3 February 2011	Tsvetana Pironkova	Luxembourg		Anne Kremer Claudine Schaul	W	6–2, 7–5
		4 February 2011	Dia Evtimova	Israel		Valeria Patiuk Keren Shlomo	W	6–3, 6–4

RR = Round Robin
PPO = Promotion Play-off
RPO = Relegation Play-off

Head-to head record against other top players

As of 11 November 2010, Maleeva's win-loss record against certain players who have been ranked world No. 10 or higher is as follows:[4] Players who have been ranked World No. 1 are in boldface.

References

Manova, Tanya (2 April 2005). "Маги навършва 30 на корта" (in Bulgarian). 7sport.net. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
Player Profiles Archived 17 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine

External links

Magdalena Maleeva at the Women's Tennis Association
Magdalena Maleeva at the International Tennis Federation
Magdalena Maleeva at the Billie Jean King Cup
The Maleeva tennis club
Gorichka.bg

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[2] Manova, Tanya (2 April 2005). "Маги навършва 30 на корта" (in Bulgarian). 7sport.net. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2015.

[4] Player Profiles Archived 17 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine