What is Arantxa Sanchez Vicario's Net Worth?
Arantxa Sanchez Vicario is a Spanish retired professional tennis player who has a net worth of $0.
Sanchez Vicario was born in Barcelona, Spain in December 1971. She is former World #1 ranked professional tennis player. During her career Vicario won four Grand Slam titles, six Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. Arantxa turned pro in 1985. She finished her career with 759 wins and 295 losses. She earned just shy of $17 million in prize money over her professional career. During her career she won 29 singles titles including three French Opens and a US Open. As a doubles player she won 676 matches and lost 224 and won 69 career titles including three Australian Opens, Wimbledon, and the US Open. She also won four Mixed Doubles titles including the Australian Open, French Open, and US Open. Sanchez Vicario also won five Fed Cup titles, two Silver Olympic medals, and two Bronze. During her career Arantxa was ranked #1 in singles and doubles. Sanchez Vicario was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2007.
Finances
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario earned $17.7 million on the court during her career. As of this writing that makes her the 22nd highest-earning female tennis player of all time behind Naomi Osaka here surpassed her on September 13, 2020 with a win at the US Open. It 2012 she published an autobiography in which she claimed that despite earning over $60 million during her career from tournament money and endorsements, her parents and brother "lost all of her money." She subsequently sued her father and older brother Javier, also a one-time professional tennis player, over the lost fortune. They settled out of court with an undisclosed settlement three years later.
Fraud Lawsuit
Along with her former husband, Josep Santacana, Sánchez Vicario was brought up on fraud charges on September 19, 2023. The pair were accused of hiding money and not paying $8.14 million in debts to Banque de Luxembourg.
"I did what he told me to do, because I am a tennis player, I have no knowledge of assets or companies or anything. I trusted my husband," Sanchez Vicario told the court.
She faces up to 4 years in prison as well as millions in compensation, if convicted.
Early Life
Aránzazu Isabel María "Arantxa" Sánchez Vicario was born on December 18, 1971 in Barcelona, Spain. She has three siblings named Javier, Emilio, and Marisa, all of whom also became professional tennis players. Sánchez Vicario started playing tennis at the age of four when she followed her older brothers to the court.
WTA Tour Career
Sánchez Vicario turned professional in 1985. She recorded her first win on the WTA Tour in 1986, claiming a doubles title with Isabel Cueto in Athens. Sánchez Vicario took home her first singles title two years later in Brussels, followed by another in Barcelona. She had her breakout year in 1989 when she won the women's singles title at the French Open, making her the youngest winner ever in that competition's history, at the age of 17. Sánchez Vicario quickly gained a reputation for her persistence and her refusal to concede a point. Returning to the French Open in 1990, she won the mixed doubles title with Jorge Lozano. The same year, she claimed singles titles in Barcelona and Newport, and doubles titles in Barcelona, Hilton Head Island, Amelia Island, and Tampa. In 1991, Sánchez Vicario scored a singles title in Washington and doubles titles in Sydney, Amelia Island, and Barcelona. The following year was one of her best yet, as she won the women's doubles event at the Australian Open, the mixed doubles event at the French Open, and eight more WTA titles. Closing out 1992, Sánchez Vicario won the doubles title with Helena Suková in the Virginia Slims Championships. She reached the ranking of world No. 1 in doubles that year.
Sánchez Vicario had another incredible season in 1993. Reuniting with Suková, she won women's doubles at the US Open, and also claimed the mixed doubles title with Todd Woodbridge at the Australian Open. Sánchez Vicario took home eight additional WTA titles that year. She continued her phenomenal success in 1994, winning three Grand Slam titles: singles at the French Open and US Open and women's doubles, with Jana Novotná, at the US Open. Sánchez Vicario won a whopping 14 WTA titles in addition to those. Reuniting with Novotná, she went on to win women's doubles at both Wimbledon and the Australian Open in 1995, as well as in the WTA Tour Championships to close out the year. Sánchez Vicario won 11 titles in 1996, including women's doubles with Chanda Rubin at the Australian Open. She picked up seven titles in 1997, all in doubles. The year after that, Sánchez Vicario won her final Grand Slam singles title, at the French Open. She would go on to win her 14th total and final Grand Slam title at the 2000 US Open, with Jared Palmer in mixed doubles. Sánchez Vicario retired in late 2002 having won 29 singles titles and 69 doubles titles. She briefly came out of retirement in 2004 to play some doubles matches.
Fed Cup and Olympics
Outside of the WTA Tour, Sánchez Vicario had great success representing Spain in the Fed Cup and Olympic Games. In 1991, she helped her country win its first-ever Fed Cup title, and later helped win four more in 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1998. Meanwhile, in Olympic competition, Sánchez Vicario won silver in doubles and bronze in singles at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. At the next Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996, she won silver in singles and bronze in doubles. When Sánchez Vicario came out of retirement in 2004, she competed at the Olympics in Athens, making her the only tennis player in history to play in five different Olympics.
Legal Issues
In 2012, Sánchez Vicario sued her father and brother Javier for allegedly mishandling her career earnings, leaving her broke. The court case continued over three years before ending in a private settlement in 2015.
Sánchez Vicario has also faced multiple charges of tax fraud and evasion. In 2009, she was found guilty of tax evasion and was ordered to repay €3.5 million. She was charged on various accounts of credit and property fraud over the ensuing years, with Barcelona prosecutors seeking a four-year jail term for her.
Personal Life
From 2000 to 2001, Sánchez Vicario was married to sports writer Juan Vehils. She wed her second husband, businessman Josep Santacana, in 2008. They had a daughter and a son before divorcing in 2019.
