Maria Esther Bueno
Bueno in 2016
|
|
| Full name | Maria Esther Andion Bueno |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) |
 Brazil
|
| Residence | São Paulo |
| Born |
11 October 1939 São Paulo, Brazil |
| Turned pro | 1950 |
| Retired | 1977 |
| Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
| Int. Tennis HoF | 1979 (member page) |
| Official website | www.mariabueno.org |
| Singles | |
| Career titles | 71 |
| Highest ranking | No. 1 (1959) |
| Grand Slam Singles results | |
| Australian Open | F (1965) |
| French Open | F (1964) |
| Wimbledon | W (1959, 1960, 1964) |
| US Open | W (1959, 1963, 1964, 1966) |
| Doubles | |
| Grand Slam Doubles results | |
| Australian Open | W (1960) |
| French Open | W (1960) |
| Wimbledon | W (1958, 1960, 1963, 1965, 1966) |
| US Open | W (1960, 1962, 1966, 1968) |
| Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results | |
| Australian Open | SF (1960) |
| French Open | W (1960) |
| Wimbledon | F (1959, 1960, 1967) |
| US Open | F (1958, 1960) |
Maria Esther Andion Bueno (born 11 October 1939) is a former professional tennis player from Brazil. During her 11-year career in the 1950s and 1960s (plus a two-year comeback in 1976–77), she won 19 Major titles (seven singles, 11 women's doubles, one mixed doubles). She was the year-end number-one ranked female player four times and was known for her graceful style of play.
In 1960, Bueno became the first woman ever to win all four Grand Slam double titles in one year (three with Darlene Hard and one with Christine Truman).
Bueno began playing tennis at a very young age at the Clube de Regatas Tiete in Sao Paulo and, without having received any formal training, won her first tournament at age 12. She was 14 when she captured her country's women's singles championship.
She went abroad in 1957 at age 17 and won the Orange Bowl juniors tournament in Florida. Joining the international circuit in 1958, Bueno won the singles title at the Italian Championships and the first of her Grand Slam titles, capturing the women's doubles at Wimbledon with Althea Gibson.
The following year, Bueno won her first singles title at Wimbledon, defeating Darlene Hard in the final. She also won the singles title at the U.S. Championships after a straights set victory in the final against Christine Truman, earning the World No. 1 ranking for 1959 and the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year award. Bueno was the first non-North-American woman to capture both Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships in the same calendar year. In her native Brazil, she returned as a national heroine, honored by the country's president and given a ticker-tape parade on the streets of São Paulo.
According to Lance Tingay of the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail and Bud Collins, Bueno was ranked in the world top ten from 1958 through 1960 and from 1962 through 1968, reaching a career high of World No. 1 in those rankings in 1959 and 1960. The International Tennis Hall of Fame also lists her as the top ranked player in 1964 (after losing the final at the French Championships and winning both Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships) and 1966.
...
Wikipedia