Magdalena Maleeva
 |
|
| Country (sports) |
 Bulgaria
|
|---|---|
| Residence | Sofia, Bulgaria |
| Born |
1 April 1975 Sofia, Bulgaria |
| Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) |
| Turned pro | April 1989 |
| Retired | October 2005 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Prize money | $4,398,582 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 439–290 |
| 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) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 121–133 |
| Career titles | 5 WTA, 1 ITF |
| Highest ranking | No. 13 (2 February 2004) |
Magdalena Georgieva Maleeva (Bulgarian: Магдалена Георгиева Малеева pronounced [magdaˈlɛnɐ malɛˈɛvɐ]) (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. Her best singles ranking in the WTA Tour was world No. 4.
Born in Sofia, Maleeva was 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. 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 at ITF/Bari-ITA. 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 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. In 1995 Maleeva won a total of three tournaments, in Moscow, Chicago, Oakland, which allowed her to reach a career-high no. 4 in the WTA rankings in January 1996.
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