Barbara Paulus (born 1 September 1970) is a former professional tennis player from Austria. She began playing on the WTA Tour in 1986 and retired in 2001. During her career, she won a total of seven WTA tournaments (six singles titles, one doubles title). Paulus competed for the Austria Fed Cup team on 21 occasions in singles and doubles, winning nine of her 22 matches.

Barbara Paulus
Country (sports) Austria
ResidenceHinterbrühl
Born (1970-09-01) 1 September 1970 (age 54)
Vienna, Austria
Height1.77 m (5 ft 9+12 in)
Turned proJuly 1986
Retired2001
PlaysRight-handed (two handed-backhand)
Prize money$1,294,445
Singles
Career record280–166
Career titles6
Highest rankingNo. 10 (18 November 1996)[1]
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open4R (1990, 1995)
French Open4R (1997)
Wimbledon2R (1995, 1997)
US Open4R (1989, 1990)
Other tournaments
Tour FinalsRR (1990, 1996)
Olympic Games3R (1988)
Doubles
Career record26–43
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 83 (17 July 1989)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open2R (1990)
French Open1R (1989)
Wimbledon1R (1990)
US Open1R (1989, 1990)
Team competitions
Fed CupRecord 9–13

Career

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Paulus is one of the most successful Austrian female tennis players, being one of only two to be ranked in the top 10 (along with Barbara Schett), despite having a career plagued with injuries. She won six singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour. Her best results include victories over Chris Evert, Mary Pierce, Gabriela Sabatini, Conchita Martínez, and Jana Novotná.[2]

After reaching as high as No. 12 in the world in 1990,[2] she sustained injuries to her knee and both wrists which required her to have surgery and kept her sidelined for many months through 1992 and 1993.[2][3] Her comeback from injury eventually bore her much success, with four WTA titles between 1995 and 1997, a top-ten ranking, and reaching her biggest career final at the Tier I Family Circle Cup, where she lost in three sets to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario.[4]

Her career effectively ended in 1998 after an elbow injury, though she made a brief return in 2001.[5]

Awards

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  • 1990: Golden Needle Award from Austrian Tennis Federation[6]

WTA career finals

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Singles: 17 (6–11)

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Winner – Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
WTA Tour Championships (0–0)
Tier I (0–1)
Tier II (0–1)
Tier III (2–5)
Tier IV (3–2)
Tier V (1–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–4)
Grass (0–0)
Clay (5–5)
Carpet (0–2)
Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 May 1988 Geneva, Switzerland Clay   Lori McNeil 6–4, 5–7, 6–1
Loss 1–1 Aug 1988 Sofia, Bulgaria Hard   Conchita Martínez 6–1, 6–2
Loss 1–2 Jul 1989 Arcachon, Spain Clay   Judith Wiesner 6–3, 6–7(3–7), 6–1
Loss 1–3 Jan 1990 Sydney, Australia Hard   Natasha Zvereva 4–6, 6–1, 6–3
Win 2–3 May 1990 Geneva, Switzerland Clay   Helen Kelesi 2–6, 7–5, 7–6(7–3)
Loss 2–4 Jul 1990 Palermo, Italy Clay   Isabel Cueto 6–2, 6–3
Loss 2–5 Oct 1990 Filderstadt, Germany Hard (i)   Mary Joe Fernández 6–1, 6–3
Win 3–5 Sep 1995 Warsaw, Poland Clay   Alexandra Fusai 7–6(7–4), 4–6, 6–1
Win 4–5 Nov 1995 Pattaya, Thailand Hard   Yi Jingqian 6–4, 6–3
Loss 4–6 Jan 1996 Auckland, New Zealand Hard   Sandra Cacic 6–3, 1–6, 6–4
Loss 4–7 Apr 1996 Hilton Head Island, US Clay   Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6–2, 2–6, 6–2
Loss 4–8 May 1996 Strasbourg, France Clay   Lindsay Davenport 6–3, 7–6(8–6)
Win 5–8 Aug 1996 Maria Lankowitz, Austria Clay   Sandra Cecchini 40–15 ret.
Loss 5–9 Sep 1996 Warsaw, Poland Clay   Henrieta Nagyová 3–6, 6–2, 6–1
Loss 5–10 Oct 1996 Moscow, Russia Carpet (i)   Conchita Martínez 6–1, 4–6, 6–4
Win 6–10 Jul 1997 Warsaw, Poland Clay   Henrieta Nagyová 6–4, 6–4
Loss 6–11 Oct 1997 Luxembourg Carpet (i)   Amanda Coetzer 6–4, 3–6, 7–5

Doubles: 1 (1–0)

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Winner – Legend'
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
WTA Tour Championships (0–0)
Tier I (0–0)
Tier II (0–0)
Tier III (0–0)
Tier IV (0–0)
Tier V (1–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–0)
Grass (0–0)
Clay (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Aug 1988 Sofia, Bulgaria Hard   Conchita Martínez   Sabrina Goleš
  Katerina Maleeva
1–6, 6–1, 6–4

ITF finals

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$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Singles (2–3)

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Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. 16 November 1987 Wels, Austria Hard (i)   Denisa Krajčovičová 6–2, 6–2
Runner-up 1. 27 September 1993 Kirchheim, Austria Clay   Laurence Courtois 1–6, 3–6
Winner 2. 29 August 1994 Maribor, Slovenia Hard (i)   Maja Živec-Škulj 4–6, 6–4, 6–0
Runner-up 2. 4 March 1996 Prostějov, Czech Republic Hard (i)   Martina Hingis 1–6, 4–6
Runner-up 3. 27 January 1996 Prostějov, Czech Republic Carpet (i)   Karina Habšudová 7–6(9–7), 1–6, 3–6

Doubles (0–2)

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Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1. 25 August 1986 Wels, Austria Clay   Bettina Diesner   Paulette Moreno
  Karin Oberleitner
5–7, 6–7(4–7)
Runner-up 2. 16 November 1987 Wels, Austria Hard (i)   Petra Schwarz   Petra Hentschl
  Eva-Maria Schürhoff
4–6, 4–6

References

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  1. ^ Barbara Paulus at the ITF official website
  2. ^ a b c "Barbara Paulus".
  3. ^ "Pierce, Martinez advance in Italian Open". Archived from the original on January 8, 2018.
  4. ^ "LaChappa Remains Hospitalized".
  5. ^ ""Ich stand nie gerne im Rampenlicht"".
  6. ^ Barbara Paulus Archived 2018-12-15 at the Wayback Machine at the WTA Tour's official website
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