Sylvia Hanika
Encyclopedia
Sylvia Hanika 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 Avon Championships in 1982. She was ranked as high as No. 5 in the world and played left-handed.
.
In 1982, Hanika posted the biggest win of her career when she defeated World No. 2 Martina Navrátilová 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 #3 Chris Evert in the first round of the Virginia Slims Championships in 1987.
Hanika won her final top-level singles title in Athens in 1986. She retired from the tour in 1990, having won four 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."
A = did not participate in the tournament.
NH = tournament not held.
SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
player from Germany. She is best remembered for finishing runner-up at the French Open in 1981, and for winning the Avon 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 MandlíkováHana Mandlíková
Hana Mandlíková is a former Czech professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia and later Australia. During her career, she won four Grand Slam singles titles – two at the Australian Open, one at the French Open, and one at the US Open...
.
In 1982, Hanika posted the biggest win of her career when she defeated World No. 2 Martina Navrátilová 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 #3 Chris Evert in the first round of the Virginia Slims Championships in 1987.
Hanika won her final top-level singles title in Athens in 1986. She retired from the tour in 1990, having won four 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
Bud Collins
-External links:*** 2001 interview with Collins*...
remembers: ". . . as many as into the 30s. If she faulted on the first, it was awful, another 30 or so bounces."
Singles: 1 (0–1)
| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
| Runner-up | 1981 | French Open | Clay |  Hana MandlíkováHana Mandlíková Hana Mandlíková is a former Czech professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia and later Australia. During her career, she won four Grand Slam singles titles – two at the Australian Open, one at the French Open, and one at the US Open... |
6–2, 6–4 |
Singles: 1 (1–0)
| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
| Winner | 1982 | New York City | Carpet (I) |  Martina Navratilova |
1–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
Singles (4)
|
|
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
| 1. | 23 February 1981 | Seattle, USA | Carpet (I) | Barbara Potter Barbara Potter Barbara Potter is a former tennis player from the United States, who competed professionally on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, winning five singles titles and eighteen doubles titles.-Career:... |
6–2, 6–4 |
| 2. | 22 March 1982 | Avon Championships, New York City WTA Tour Championships The WTA Tour Championships is a tennis tournament played annually at the end of the season for the top-ranked players on the Women's Tennis Association tour. The month, city and number of players has changed since the first edition in 1972... |
Carpet (I) | Martina Navratilova |
1–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
| 3. | 22 October 1984 | Brighton, UK Brighton International The Brighton International was a tennis tournament held in Brighton, UK. It was a WTA Tour event from 1978-1995 and an ATP Tour event from 1996-2000, upon the discontinuation of the women's tournament. The women's event was held in October.... |
Carpet (I) | JoAnne Russell Longdon JoAnne Russell JoAnne Russell is a former American professional tennis player. With partner Helen Gourlay Cawley, Russell won the Wimbledon Ladies' Doubles title in 1977. They beat the team of Chris Evert and Rosie Casals in the first round and the top-ranked team of Martina Navratilova and Betty Stöve in the... |
6–3, 1–6, 6–2 |
| 4. | 15 September 1986 | Athens, Greece | Clay |  Angelikí Kanellopoúlou |
7–5, 6–0 |
Doubles (1)
| Legend |
|---|
| Tier V (1) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents in Final | Score in Final |
| 1. | 28 November 1988 | Adelaide, Australia | Hard |  Claudia Kohde-KilschClaudia Kohde-Kilsch Claudia Kohde-Kilsch is a former German tennis player. During her career, she won two women's doubles Grand Slam titles. She also won 10 singles titles and 26 doubles titles.-Career:... |
Lori McNeil Lori McNeil Lori McNeil is an African American tennis coach and former professional tennis player from the United States. McNeil was a childhood friend of fellow African American pro Zina Garrison... Jana NovotnáJana Novotná Jana Novotná is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. She played a serve and volley game, an increasingly rare style of play among women during her career. She won the women's singles title at Wimbledon in 1998 and was runner-up in three previous Grand Slam tournaments... |
7–5, 6–7(4), 6–4 |
Singles runner-ups (16)
Grand slam events in boldface.- 1978: Christchurch (lost to Regina MaršíkováRegina MaršíkováRegina Maršíková is a former Czechoslovakian tennis player.Maršíková's single titles were at Rome, Toronto and Christchurch in 1978, Phoenix in 1980 and Berlin in 1981...
) - 1979: Rome (lost to Tracy AustinTracy AustinTracy Ann Austin Holt is a former World No. 1 female professional tennis player from the United States who won the women's singles title at the US Open in 1979 and 1981 and the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 1980, before a series of injuries cut her career short.-To 1980:Austin defeated...
) - 1979: Kitzbühel (lost to Hana MandlíkováHana MandlíkováHana Mandlíková is a former Czech professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia and later Australia. During her career, she won four Grand Slam singles titles – two at the Australian Open, one at the French Open, and one at the US Open...
) - 1981: Cincinnati (lost to Martina Navratilova)
- 1981: French Open (lost to Hana Mandlíková)
- 1981: Kitzbühel (lost to Claudia Kohde-KilschClaudia Kohde-KilschClaudia Kohde-Kilsch is a former German tennis player. During her career, she won two women's doubles Grand Slam titles. She also won 10 singles titles and 26 doubles titles.-Career:...
) - 1982: Los Angeles (lost to Mima JaušovecMima JaušovecMima Jaušovec is a Slovenian female former tennis player. She was born on July 20, 1956, in Maribor, PR Slovenia, FPR Yugoslavia). In singles she reached a career high of No. 6 in 1982, in doubles she reached a career high of No. 211 in 1986....
) - 1983: Washington, D.C. (lost to Martina Navratilova)
- 1983: Houston (lost to Martina Navratilova)
- 1983: Oakland (lost to Bettina BungeBettina BungeBettina Bunge is a retired German tennis player. She was born in Adliswil, Switzerland. She was part of a large group of successful German players in the 1980s, which also included Steffi Graf, Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, Sylvia Hanika, and Eva Pfaff.-Career:With German nationality as the daughter of a...
) - 1983: Boston (lost to Wendy TurnbullWendy TurnbullWendy Turnbull, MBE, is a retired Australian professional tennis player. During her career, she won 9 Grand Slam titles, 4 of them in women's doubles and 5 of them in mixed doubles. She also was a 3-time Grand Slam singles runner-up and won 13 singles titles and 55 doubles titles.-Career:Turnbull...
) - 1983: Hartford (lost to Kim Jones)
- 1987: San Francisco (lost to Zina GarrisonZina GarrisonZina Lynna Garrison is a former professional tennis player from the United States. During her career, she was a women's singles runner-up at Wimbledon in 1990, a three-time Grand Slam mixed doubles champion, and a women's doubles gold medalist at the 1988 Olympic Games.-Career:An African-American...
) - 1987: Mahwah (lost to Manuela MaleevaManuela MaleevaManuela Georgieva Maleeva-Fragniere is a Bulgarian former professional tennis player. She played on the Women's Tennis Association tour between 1982 and 1994...
) - 1988: Wichita (lost to Manuela Maleeva)
- 1988: Aix-en-Provence (lost to Judith WiesnerJudith WiesnerJudith Wiesner is a former professional tennis player from Austria. During her career, she won six top-level singles titles and three tour doubles titles. Her career high rankings were World Number 12 in singles , and World Number 29 in doubles...
)
Grand Slam singles performance timeline
| Tournament | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | Career SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open Australian Open The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court... |
A | A | 3R | A | A | QF | 2R | A | NH | 4R | 4R | 1R | A | 0 / 6 |
| French Open | 1R | 1R | 3R | F | 2R | 3R | 3R | 4R | 1R | 4R | 4R | 4R | 2R | 0 / 13 |
| Wimbledon | 2R | 3R | 2R | 1R | 4R | 3R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 4R | 3R | 1R | A | 0 / 12 |
| US Open | 1R | QF | 3R | QF | A | QF | QF | 3R | 2R | 4R | 3R | 3R | 2R | 0 / 12 |
| SR | 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 |
A = did not participate in the tournament.
NH = tournament not held.
SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
See also
- Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam finalTennis performance timeline comparison (women)This article presents in a tabular form the career tennis Grand Slam, World Hard Court Championships and Olympic singles results of every woman who has reached the singles final of at least one Grand Slam, World Hard Court Championships or Olympic tournament during her career...