Maria Bueno

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Maria Bueno and Neale Fraser as runners-up in the Mixed Doubles at the 1959 U.S. Championships.
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Maria Bueno and Neale Fraser as runners-up in the Mixed Doubles at the 1959 U.S. Championships.

Maria Ester Audion Bueno, born October 11, 1939, in São Paulo, Brazil, is a female tennis player who won nineteen Grand Slam titles during her career.

Bueno began playing tennis at a very young age 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.

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, 6-4, 6-3 in the final. She also won the singles title at the U.S. Championships, earning the No. 1 ranking for 1959 and the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year award. Bueno was the first non-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 the end-of-year rankings compiled by the London Daily Telegraph from 1914 through 1972, Bueno was ranked No. 1 in the world 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.

Bueno won the singles title at Wimbledon three times and at the U.S. Championships four times. She was a singles finalist at the Australian Championships and the French Championships, losing both finals to Margaret Smith Court. Bueno reached at least the quarterfinals in each of the first 26 Grand Slam singles tournaments she played. This streak ended at Wimbledon in 1967 when she lost in the fourth round because of an arm injury.

As a doubles player, Bueno won twelve Grand Slam championships with six different partners. In 1960, she became the first woman to win the women's doubles title at all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same calendar year, partnered by Christine Truman Janes at the Australian Championships and Hard at the French Championships, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Championships.

In 1978, Bueno was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

At the 2006 U.S. Open, Maria Bueno was invited to attend the rededication ceremony of the USTA National Tennis Center as the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, which took place on the first day of the event. Bueno and King were rivals in singles and, on occasion, doubles partners. According to Bueno, the only players invited were those who had won the U.S. Open "more than twice" (she won it 4 times). At the same event, Bueno debuted as a commentator for SporTv, the Brazilian cable television sports channel. She commentated on the women's singles semifinals and final and the men's singles final. She also offered opinions during the live broadcast of the USTA's induction of Martina Navrátilová and Don Budge in the "Court of Champions," as well as during day-end "round tables" in the last three days of the event.

Contents

[edit] Grand Slam finals (35)

Bueno won 19 and lost 16 of her Grand Slam finals. This represents a success rate of 54%.

[edit] Singles (12)

[edit] Wins (7)

Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
1959 Wimbledon United States Darlene Hard 6-4, 6-3
1959 U.S. Championships United Kingdom Christine Truman Janes 6-1, 6-4
1960 Wimbledon (2) South Africa Sandra Reynolds Price 8-6, 6-0
1963 U.S. Championships (2) Australia Margaret Smith Court 7-5, 6-4
1964 Wimbledon (3) Australia Margaret Smith Court 6-4, 7-9, 6-3
1964 U.S. Championships (3) United States Carole Caldwell Graebner 6-1, 6-0
1966 U.S. Championships (4) United States Nancy Richey Gunter 6-3, 6-1

[edit] Runners-up (5)

Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
1960 U.S. Championships United States Darlene Hard 6-4, 10-12, 6-4
1964 French Championships Australia Margaret Smith Court 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
1965 Australian Championships Australia Margaret Smith Court 5-7, 6-4, 5-2 retired
1965 Wimbledon Australia Margaret Smith Court 6-4, 7-5
1966 Wimbledon (2) United States Billie Jean King 6-3, 3-6, 6-1

[edit] Doubles (23)

[edit] Women's doubles (16)

[edit] Wins (11)
Year Championship Partnering Opponents in Final Score/Final
1958 Wimbledon United States Althea Gibson United States Margaret Osborne duPont
United States Margret Varner
6-3, 7-5
1960 Australian Championships United Kingdom Christine Truman Janes Australia Lorraine Coghlan Robinson
Australia Margaret Smith Court
6-2, 5-7, 6-2
1960 French Championships United States Darlene Hard United Kingdom Ann Haydon Jones
United States Pat Ward Hales
6-2, 7-5
1960 Wimbledon (2) United States Darlene Hard South Africa Sandra Reynolds Price
South Africa Renee Schuurman Haygarth
6-4, 6-0
1960 U.S. Championships United States Darlene Hard United Kingdom Ann Haydon Jones
United States Deidre Catt
6-1, 6-1
1962 U.S. Championships (2) United States Darlene Hard United States Billie Jean King
United States Karen Hantze Susman
4-6, 6-3, 6-2
1963 Wimbledon (3) United States Darlene Hard Australia Margaret Smith Court
Australia Robyn Ebbern
8-6, 9-7
1965 Wimbledon (4) United States Billie Jean King France Françoise Durr
France Jeanine Lieffrig
6-2, 7-5
1966 Wimbledon (5) United States Nancy Richey Gunter Australia Margaret Smith Court
Australia Judy Tegart Dalton
6-3, 4-6, 6-4
1966 U.S. Championships (3) United States Nancy Richey Gunter United States Billie Jean King
United States Rosemary Casals
6-3, 6-4
1968 U.S. Open (4) Australia Margaret Smith Court United States Billie Jean King
United States Rosmary Casals
4-6, 9-7, 8-6

[edit] Runners-up (5)
Year Championship Partnering Opponents in Final Score/Final
1958 U.S. Championships United States Althea Gibson United States Jeanne Arth
United States Darlene Hard
2-6, 6-3, 6-4
1959 U.S. Championships (2) Australia Sally Moore United States Jeanne Arth
United States Darlene Hard
6-2, 6-3
1961 French Championships United States Darlene Hard South Africa Sandra Reynolds Price
South Africa Renee Schuurman Haygarth
walkover
1963 U.S. Championships (3) United States Darlene Hard Australia Margaret Smith Court
Australia Robyn Ebbern
4-6, 10-8, 6-3
1967 Wimbledon United States Nancy Richey Gunter United States Rosemary Casals
United States Billie Jean King
9-11, 6-4, 6-2

[edit] Mixed doubles (7)

[edit] Wins (1)
Year Championship Partnering Opponents in Final Score/Final
1960 French Championships Australia Bob Howe United Kingdom Ann Haydon Jones
Australia Roy Emerson
1-6, 6-1, 6-2

[edit] Runners-up (6)
Year Championship Partnering Opponents in Final Score/Final
1958 U.S. Championships Peru Alex Olmedo United States Margaret Osborne duPont
Australia Neale Fraser
6-3, 3-6, 9-7
1959 Wimbledon Australia Neale Fraser United States Darlene Hard
Australia Rod Laver
6-4, 6-3
1960 Wimbledon (2) Australia Bob Howe United States Darlene Hard
Australia Rod Laver
13-11, 3-6, 8-6
1960 U.S. Championships (2) Mexico Antonio Palafox United States Margaret Osborne duPont
Australia Neale Fraser
6-3, 6-2
1965 French Championships Australia John Newcombe Australia Margaret Smith Court
Australia Ken Fletcher
6-4, 6-4
1967 Wimbledon (3) Australia Ken Fletcher United States Billie Jean King
Australia Owen Davidson
3-6, 6-2, 15-13

[edit] Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Tournament 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969-1975 1976 1977 Career SR
Australia A A QF A A A A F A A A A A A / A 0 / 2
France SF QF SF QF A A F SF SF QF QF A 1R A 0 / 10
Wimbledon QF W W A SF QF W F F 4R QF A 4R 3R 3 / 12
United States QF W F A SF W W SF W 2R SF A 3R 2R 4 / 12
SR 0 / 3 2 / 3 1 / 4 0 / 1 0 / 2 1 / 2 2 / 3 0 / 4 1 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 0 0 / 3 0 / 2 7 / 36

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

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[edit] External links