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Manuela Maleeva Won Three Matches In One Day
9 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles
Former WTA no. 3 Manuela Maleeva remembers the day she won three singles matches in one day…
“40 years ago – I won three matches in one day! I was only 17 then. The schedule of the Italian Open (1984) is changing due to rain and this forces one to take the court much more often than usual on a Monday in May. In the quarterfinals, I win five games to complete the match against Romanian star Virginia Ruzici, 76 46 63. Interestingly, the fight against the champion of “Roland Garros” for 1978 was interrupted seven times. A little later – in the semifinals I beat Canadian Carling Bassett in less than an hour 62 62.”
“After a light lunch and a half-hour nap I’m off to the final of the tournament in Perugia against the legend Chris Evert. The American, who is number 2 in the world rankings at the moment, is a five-time winner of the tournament, and before that, at the Italian Open, had lost only to Martina Navratilova. I beat her 63 63! My victory in Perugia caught the tournament organizers unprepared. They did not have the Bulgarian anthem and my mother and I are forced to ask for help from our embassy. Diplomats send a recording of quite poor quality, but then there was no Internet and we had to settle for what we had. Immediately after the award ceremony, we rushed to catch the plane to Paris because Roland Garros had already started.”
Maleeva competed on the WTA Tour from 1982-1994, age 27. She was no. 3 in the world in 1985 and won 19 titles in singles. She won a bronze medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.
Bulgaria · Chris Evert · Italian Open · Manuela Maleeva
Scoop Malinowski · May 29, 2024 at 1:33 pm
This is an underrated and underappreciated record. To win three matches in one day, even if it’s 2.5 is incredible, especially a QF, SF and F and against two who were at the very pinnacle of the WTA. And to do it as a teenager. The whole Maleeva sisters story was incredible, three sisters all in the top 10. The media didn’t celebrate them enough probably due to being Eastern Euro from a smaller nation. If they were from Africa or Compton, imagine the hype they would have got. Hat’s off to the Maleeva sisters, they were incredible players in the golden era of tennis.
Douglas Day · May 29, 2024 at 6:01 pm
Heroic WTA re-discovery Scoop!
Speaking of heroics Iga played through adversity like the champ she is today. Osaka’s is back.
Scoop Malinowski · May 29, 2024 at 8:28 pm
Doug, Looks like Osaka is back again but she has to score a big win, which I think will come soon. Hopefully this effort will restore her lost confidence and mojo.
catherine · June 2, 2024 at 2:38 pm
I don’t know why but the Maleevas were fairly unpopular amongst their peers. Trivial things like saving seats on the tournament bus.
I’d like to think that stuff wouldn’t happen today.
Scoop Malinowski · June 2, 2024 at 8:55 pm
Catherine, Didn’t Pam Shriver make one of the Maleevas cry with a very cruel comment?
catherine · June 3, 2024 at 5:46 am
Pam could be capable of odd changes of behaviour in those days. I remember her making an unusually unpleasant reply to an American journalist during a press conference at the USO.
Everyone was a little surprised.
So yes, I didn’t hear the comment you mention but I believe the incident did take place.
I felt a little sorry for the sisters. They were far from home and maybe a little lost. Bulgaria wasn’t on the map.
catherine · June 5, 2024 at 6:02 am
Scoop – my answer never appeared – was it that offensive/boring ?
Yes – Shriver made a few uncalled for comments at that time.
Scoop Malinowski · June 5, 2024 at 8:51 am
Catherine, not going to hold it against Shriver, almost all high level players have mentally snapped or cracked up at some point in some way. It’s a stressful tense pressure packed job to win matches. I’ve seen it, I’ve lived it. You can’t expect them all to behave perfectly like Gasquet or Nishikori or Evert. Everybody has skeletons in the closet.
Scoop Malinowski · June 5, 2024 at 8:52 am
Catherine, No I accidentally missed your comment and trashed it. But found it and revived it…