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Conchita Martínez Bernat, Aragon's best ever sportswoman (maybe except Sheila Herrero), was born in Monzón, a small village in the province of Huesca (northern Spain), on April the 16th 1972. She's been living for tennis since, as a child, she hit against a wall hoping to find Martina Navratilova returning her strokes.
This could easily have been the story of anyone, especially in Aragon, where talent is never developed, and Conchita would have been another amateur weekend player. But maybe Conchita hit a bit harder than the other girls, so a few months later Eric Van Harpen took her to Switzerland, where she won her first junior tournaments. And when she become a professional, her successes arrived, trophy after trophy.
The rest is history. Her fast rising to the top made everyone predict that she would reach even higher levels. But what's she's achieved is, anyway, amazing. Of course her Wimbledon 1994 title, making her childhood dream come true, beating Navratilova in a thrilling encounter 64 36 63, proving a lot of people wrong - Spaniards can also win on grass. She had previously reached the semifinals at the All England Tennis Club the year before, the first to reach that feat in the Open Era. It's a pity but no other Spaniard has won Wimbledon since, and after the retirement of Martínez, the future of Spanish women tennis will be a bit obscure.
Unforgettable are too her 5 FedCup titles, a very thrilling competition but not very appreciated in Spain. Had our guys won 5 Davis Cups, Spain would be the capital of the tennis world. But Arantxa Sánchez and her, with some help (Serna sometimes and Ruano), won 5 trophies, in 1998 for the last time.
At the Italian Open she picked 4 titles in a row, from 1993 to 1996, a feat no other player has ever achieved at the most prestigious clay court tournament apart from Roland Garros. In 1997 she reached her fifth final in 5 years where she was clearly beaten by Mary Pierce, but her amazing record will remain intact for years. She might also have won two more Grand Slam titles, she lost the 1998 Australian Open final to Martina Hingis (63 63) and finished as the runner-up in the 2000 French Open, beaten again by Pierce (and her own nerves) 62 75.
In doubles, partering Arantxa Sánchez, she's won two Olympic Medals: bronze in Atlanta '96 and silver in Barcelona '92. In Sydney 2000 she wasted her last chance to get a singles medal and a third doubles trophy due to a bronchitis.
Nowadays Conchita is the active player with more clay-court titles on tour, and she still has some gas left in the tank, but maybe, with the youngsters winning and winning and winning, her dream of becoming world number 1 will never come true. |
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CONCHITA MARTINEZ PICTURES |
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