| Country | Brazil |
|---|---|
| Residence | São Paulo |
| Born | 11 October 1939 São Paulo, Brazil |
| Turned pro | 1950 |
| Retired | 1977 |
| Plays | Right-handed |
| Int. Tennis HOF | 1979 (member page) |
| Singles | |
| Career titles | 71 during open era |
| Highest ranking | 1 (1959, 1960, 1964, 1966) |
| Grand Slam 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) |
| Last updated on: 7 september 2010. | |
Maria Esther Andion Bueno (born October 11, 1939) is a former professional tennis player from Brazil. During her 11-year career (plus a two-year comeback in 1976-77), she won 19 Major titles (seven singles, 11 women's doubles, one mixed doubles).
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 Janes).
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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 in the final. She also won the singles title at the U.S. Championships, 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 (she is an American - South 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.[1] 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 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 US 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 US Open "more than twice" (she won it four times). At the same event, Bueno debuted as a commentator for SporTV, a 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.
Bueno won 19 and lost 16 of her Grand Slam finals. This represents a success rate of 54%.
| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
| Winner | 1959 | Wimbledon | Grass | Darlene Hard | 6–4, 6–3 |
| Winner | 1959 | U.S. Championships | Grass | Christine Truman Janes | 6–1, 6–4 |
| Winner | 1960 | Wimbledon (2) | Grass | Sandra Reynolds Price | 8–6, 6–0 |
| Runner-up | 1960 | U.S. Championships | Grass | Darlene Hard | 6–4, 10–12, 6–4 |
| Winner | 1963 | U.S. Championships (2) | Grass | Margaret Court | 7–5, 6–4 |
| Runner-up | 1964 | French Championships | Clay | Margaret Court | 5–7, 6–1, 6–2 |
| Winner | 1964 | Wimbledon (3) | Grass | Margaret Court | 6–4, 7–9, 6–3 |
| Winner | 1964 | U.S. Championships (3) | Grass | Carole Caldwell Graebner | 6–1, 6–0 |
| Runner-up | 1965 | Australian Championships | Grass | Margaret Court | 5–7, 6–4, 5–2, retired |
| Runner-up | 1965 | Wimbledon | Grass | Margaret Court | 6–4, 7–5 |
| Runner-up | 1966 | Wimbledon (2) | Grass | Billie Jean King | 6–3, 3–6, 6–1 |
| Winner | 1966 | U.S. Championships (4) | Grass | Nancy Richey | 6–3, 6–1 |
| Year | Championship | Partner | Opponents in Final | Score in Final |
| 1958 | Wimbledon | Althea Gibson | Margaret Osborne duPont Margaret Varner Bloss |
6–3, 7–5 |
| 1960 | Australian Championships | Christine Truman Janes | Lorraine Coghlan Robinson Margaret Court |
6–2, 5–7, 6–2 |
| 1960 | French Championships | Darlene Hard | Ann Haydon Jones Patricia Ward Hales |
6–2, 7–5 |
| 1960 | Wimbledon (2) | Darlene Hard | Sandra Reynolds Price Renee Schuurman Haygarth |
6–4, 6–0 |
| 1960 | U.S. Championships | Darlene Hard | Ann Haydon Jones Deidre Catt |
6–1, 6–1 |
| 1962 | U.S. Championships (2) | Darlene Hard | Billie Jean King Karen Hantze Susman |
4–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
| 1963 | Wimbledon (3) | Darlene Hard | Margaret Court Robyn Ebbern |
8–6, 9–7 |
| 1965 | Wimbledon (4) | Billie Jean King | Françoise Durr Jeanine Lieffrig |
6–2, 7–5 |
| 1966 | Wimbledon (5) | Nancy Richey | Margaret Court Judy Tegart Dalton |
6–3, 4–6, 6–4 |
| 1966 | U.S. Championships (3) | Nancy Richey | Billie Jean King Rosemary Casals |
6–3, 6–4 |
| 1968 | US Open (4) | Margaret Court | Billie Jean King Rosmary Casals |
4–6, 9–7, 8–6 |
| Year | Championship | Partner | Opponents in Final | Score in Final |
| 1958 | U.S. Championships | Althea Gibson | Jeanne Arth Darlene Hard |
2–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
| 1959 | U.S. Championships (2) | Sally Moore | Jeanne Arth Darlene Hard |
6–2, 6–3 |
| 1961 | French Championships | Darlene Hard | Sandra Reynolds Price Renee Schuurman Haygarth |
walkover |
| 1963 | U.S. Championships (3) | Darlene Hard | Margaret Court Robyn Ebbern |
4–6, 10–8, 6–3 |
| 1967 | Wimbledon | Nancy Richey | Rosemary Casals Billie Jean King |
9–11, 6–4, 6–2 |
| Year | Championship | Partner | Opponents in Final | Score in Final |
| 1960 | French Championships | Bob Howe | Ann Haydon Jones Roy Emerson |
1–6, 6–1, 6–2 |
| Year | Championship | Partner | Opponents in Final | Score in Final |
| 1958 | U.S. Championships | Alex Olmedo | Margaret Osborne duPont Neale Fraser |
6–3, 3–6, 9–7 |
| 1959 | Wimbledon | Neale Fraser | Darlene Hard Rod Laver |
6–4, 6–3 |
| 1960 | Wimbledon (2) | Bob Howe | Darlene Hard Rod Laver |
13–11, 3–6, 8–6 |
| 1960 | U.S. Championships (2) | Antonio Palafox | Margaret Osborne duPont Neale Fraser |
6–3, 6–2 |
| 1965 | French Championships | John Newcombe | Margaret Court Ken Fletcher |
6–4, 6–4 |
| 1967 | Wimbledon (3) | Ken Fletcher | Billie Jean King Owen Davidson |
3–6, 6–2, 15–13 |
| 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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