Sylvia Hanika

Sylvia Hanika
Country (sports)	West Germany (1959–1990); Germany (1990–present)
Residence	La Manga, Spain
Born	30 November 1959; Munich, West Germany
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Turned pro	1977
Retired	1990
Plays	Left-handed (one handed-backhand)
Prize money	US$ 454,347
Singles
Career record	378–223
Career titles	6
Highest ranking	No. 5 (12 September 1983)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	QF (1983)
French Open	F (1981)
Wimbledon	4R (1982, 1987)
US Open	QF (1979, 1981, 1983, 1984)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	W (1982)
Doubles
Career record	47–48
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 92 (14 August 1989)

Sylvia Hanika (born 30 November 1959) is a former professional tennis player from Germany. She is best remembered for finishing 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 and played left-handed.

Career

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

Singles: 1 (0 titles, 1 runner–up)

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

Singles: 1 (1 title, 0 runners-up)

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

WTA career finals

Singles: 24 (6–18)

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

Doubles: 3 (1–2)

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

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

**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)

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.

References

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

External links

Sylvia Hanika at the Women's Tennis Association
Sylvia Hanika at the International Tennis Federation
Sylvia Hanika at the Billie Jean King Cup

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