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©opyright Gerrit Dijkslag |
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Last update 26/05/07 |
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María with her mother and father.
Introduced to game at age eight by father...Coached by Alejo Mancisidor; does off-court training with Toni Martinez...Favourite surface is hard-court; best shot is forehand...Father, Francisco, works at a bank; mother, María Antonia, is a homemaker; two older siblings, a brother, Carlos, and a sister, Marta.
María started quite young, she was only eight, with tennis because her sister was always going to train with her father. So María also went to the tennis court and trained with her sister. Marta stopped playing tennis after a while and María decided to go on. As she had very little power in her arms, María played her back- and forehand with both hands. Later, when she got more power, her father tried to change it, but María continued to play double handed for the rest of her career. When her father met Xavier Torner, from the Luis Bruguera Tennis Academy at a tournament, he offered María to play for the Academy with a scholarship. María tried it at Christmas Holiday 1991 and decided to stay. It was a good decision as in Salamanca the structure for tennis training is not good. She had also the possibility to go to Madrid, but in Madrid María couldn’t combine her school with tennis. María ended her high school at the age of 19 and in October 2005 María left the Academy.
It was a hard time for the young María, so far away from her family. At the beginning she went home a lot. But after some time, she started to know people, as all the young players were in the same situation. The Luis Bruguera Academy helped María with a sponsor. Later María bought from her first, saved price money, her own house in Barcelona, on which she is very proud.
At the age of 14 she played her first ITF tournaments in 1992 in Spain and Portugal
A year later in 1993 she won her first $10.000 tournament in Tortosa, what gave her the motivation to keep on fighting. Still being a junior player María became Spanish Master and reached the semi finals at the Orange Bowl.
1994 was her debut, with a wildcard, at the WTA in Barcelona (of course!). New York was Maria’s Grand Slam qualies debut. In Styria only the number one seeded Anke Huber could stop María in the quarter finals, winning 3 qualy- and two main draw matches. Caceres was the second ITF tournament victory.
Survived Delray Beach qualies in 1995 to lose in the second round to Steffi Graf. Lost the ITF final in Valladolid against an other German, Claudia Porwik. Was also runner up at the double final in ITF Balaguer with Rosa Maria Perez. Made Fed Cup debut with Virginia Ruano Pascual against Germany to lose against Huber and Porwik. But with Conchita Mártinez and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, María and Virginia played also the Fed Cup final against the USA in Valencia. Spain defeated the USA with 3-2, so María can also write down the Fed Cup on her victory list!
In 1996 María reached the top 100 at March 4 on no. 96 and she makes her debut in all four Grand Slam main draws. Reaches double semi finals in Madrid with Virginia Ruano Pascual.
Hamburg 1997 was her break through to the tennis top with a semi final out of the qualies and a first win over a top ten player, Conchita Martínez. At the end of her career María did find this her best match ever. Two ITF titles; Redbridge and Athens for Maria. First win at a Grand Slam main draw at Wimbledon and an other semi final in Maria (!) Lankowitz.
In 1998 again two ITF titles: Bratislava and Bordeaux. At an exhibition tournament in Egypt María played two matches with the pyramids at the background with Olga Barabanschikova, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Anna Kournikova (see photo from left till right). At the end of the year she became Spanish Club Champion with RTC Barcelona 1899.
1999 was a very successful Grand Slam year with a fourth round in Australia (winning 6-3 6-0 (!) over no.3 seeded Jana Novotna) and a third round in Paris and Wimbledon. Also in 1999 María won the WTA title in Knokke-Heist! She defeated Denisa Chladkova in a two days final due to rain delay. “Working hard with a very positive mentality finally the good result came. It is my first WTA title, for me it is a great triumph. Now I have to improve my game, because it is easier to get to the top then to stay at the top. I am doing what I am able to do, and the time will dictate sentence.” a happy María said. In Sopot María and Gala Leon Garcia lost the doubles finale.
One ITF title in 2000 (Porto and a doubles semi final with Mariam Ramon) and also runner up in the doubles in Madrid with Gala Leon Garcia. In Bol she defeated no.2 seeded Sandrine Testud in the quarter final to fall in the semis against Tini Pisnik. María and Lourdes Dominguez are in the doubles final from ITF Bordeaux but Razzano and Schnell are too strong in three sets.
2001 wasn’t successful due to sciatica (lower back pain) and skin problems on her hands. Due to this skin problems María plays sometimes with glove(s). She made her debut in the Dutch Club matches competition, being runner up with De Manege.
In 2002 she came back with two ITF titles in Mexico! María now reached the final of the Dutch Club matches with Leimonias, and again her club is the runner up. Played the final of the ITF tournament in Orbetello, losing to Koulilovskaya.
Played very well out of the quali’s in Gold Coast (QF) and Miami (3 round) in 2003. Reached the semi finals in Budapest and Bol and as a wildcard player the final in Madrid against Chanda Rubin! As the home favourite she lost for a loud cheering crowd in three close sets from no.1 seeded Rubin. María also played for the Spanish Fed Cup team and lost two times. The third time was the best; finally María has won the Dutch Club matches! She also became Spanish Master (!) in a final against Lourdes Dominguez and French Club master!
In 2004 María was runner up in the WTA final in Bogotá against four-time champion top seeded Zuluaga in three sets, and reached the semi finals in Acapulco. In Indian Wells María and all Spanish players played with black ties to show their sadness for the 191 train attacks victims in Madrid. “My eyes were sorrowful the whole day”, declared a touched María. Played for the Fed Cup team again, defeated Kirsten Flipkes, and lost against Nathalie Dechy. In Athens she played at the Olympics! Career highest ranking at no. 33. Won her 100. WTA main draw match in Rome against Sandrine Testud!
Won at Roland Garros 2005 against Myskina, the first time ever the defending champion lost the next year in the first round. QF in Budapest. As a lucky loser María reached to the second round at the US Open.
At $75000 ITF tournament in hometown Barcelona she lost the single final but won for the first time a double title (with Lourdes Dominguez)! With RTC Barcelona 1999 Spanish Club Master Champion. At the Spanish Master María and Anabel Medina played the final, with Medina as the winner María said: “I hope people have seen that Spanish female tennis is more then Arantxa Sanchez and Conchita Martínez.” On December 14th María was one of the Spanish tennis players present at the agreement between the RFET (Spanish Tennis Federation) and Fiatc (an insurance company) for the future of young Spanish players to make it possible to combine practice with a scholarship.
The year 2006 started very well for María: in Auckland she upsets no. 7 seed Asagoe and at the Australian Open María reached the third round with wins over Safarova and Groenefeld. At Pattaya City María lost in the second round against eventual champion Peer. At Bogotá she reached the SF after victories over Sassi, Vierin and Castano. Top seeded Pennetta was too strong. Also at Bogotá and a week later in Acapulco María reached the SF in doubles with Lourdes Dominguez. María made the 4-0 into the Fed Cup match against Austria, she defeated Paszek. At Estoril María and her double partner Gisela Dulko reached the final! At June 19th, María reached her highest double ranking, 79th!
Between the three Grand Slams at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open María didn’t play much because of her sciatica (low back) problems. Because of these back problems María announced her retirement from professional tennis, just a month before her 29th birthday: “I decided to end my tennis career at the WTA tour. At this time I can’t run and play tennis. If I ever recover my rankings will be too low to play in the main draws. After thinking a long time, I decided to stop and begin something different”. María Antonia Sánchez Lorenzo has been a professional tennis player for 15 years. She played 591 individual parties and 103 in doubles. Her best ranking in singles was 33 in 2004 and 79 in doubles (2006). The Salmantina has won one WTA tournament at Knokke-Heist in 1999 and 9 ITF titles. She has also won one ITF title in doubles. In 2003 she was the Spanish Champion! For over 10 years she was member of the Spanish Fed Cup team. In what would be one of her last matches María played for her team RTC Barcelona 1899 in the final of the Spanish Club matches Championship. In a tough match María defeated Candela and RTC Barcelona defeated TC Barcino, so María became once again Champion with her team!
At 16.05 hours on Friday December 8th, Maria's professional tennis career is over. It wasn’t the end she deserved. After just one game in her last match against Lourdes Dominguez at the Spanish Masters in Estepona María felt a horrible pain in her right ankle. After an injury stop in which her ankle was taped, she played the match out with tears in her eyes. She couldn’t move very well and needed a painkiller. Within one hour she ended her career with a 2-6 0-6 lost. Fortunately the RFET organised a little ceremony before the Masters final on Sunday. María spoke some nice words to the public and especially to her father. With a big applause from the spectators María left the tennis court for good.
Complete name: María Antonia Sánchez Lorenzo Nickname: Mery Marital status: living together with Daniel “Dani” Garcia Sign of the zodiac: Scorpion Place of living: Madrid Hair: Dark Eyes: Brown Plays: Right-handed (two-handed both sides)
Sport: Skiing and Baseball Goal: To win the Fed Cup again Quality: Honesty Actor: Richard Gere |
