The 21st century
Colombia · born Bogotá, 1995 · Eastbourne champion 2025 · Wimbledon wheelchair doubles finalist 2025
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7-6, 7-6
Eastbourne final win over Diede de Groot, 2025
F
Wimbledon doubles final, 2025
No. 7
Career-high singles ranking, May 2024
4
Paralympic Games, London 2012 to Paris 2024
María Angélica Bernal Villalobos was born in Bogotá in 1995 and took up wheelchair tennis at eleven, after an ITF workshop in Colombia. She won the Junior Masters singles in Tarbes in 2011 and 2012 and made her Paralympic debut in London in 2012, before turning 18; Paris 2024 was her fourth Games. At the Parapan American Games she won singles gold in Lima in 2019 among seven medals from 2011 to 2023. In 2020, at her first US Open, she reached the semi-finals in singles and doubles, and in May 2024 she rose to No. 7 in the singles rankings. Her 2025 season brought her first grass title at Eastbourne and a Wimbledon doubles final, and El Espectador named her Colombia's Paralympic athlete of the year.
| Other grass singles titles | 1: Eastbourne (2025) |
|---|---|
| Eastbourne 2025 | Seeded second: beat Macarena Cabrillana 6-0, 6-2, Lucy Shuker 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 and the top seed Diede de Groot 7-6, 7-6 in the final, her first win over De Groot |
| Wimbledon doubles final | 2025 with Ksénia Chasteau: beat Manami Tanaka and Zhu Zhenzhen 6-3, 7-6 and Lucy Shuker and Diede de Groot 6-3, 6-4, then lost to Li Xiaohui and Wang Ziying 6-3, 6-1 |
| Wimbledon singles | Quarter-finalist 2021 |
"Para sports changed my life completely."
The person behind the player.
Bogotá 2006
At 11 she went to an ITF clinic for players with physical disabilities and played standing up. A coach told her she could play wheelchair tennis at a high level. She has said the switch was a hard decision, taken with a family that was sceptical at first. "I fell in love with wheelchair tennis," she said later.
Source: SBS SpanishMelbourne 2021
Bernal arrived for the Australian Open on a flight on which two Covid-19 cases were found and was the only one of the 72 quarantined players held in strict quarantine. She trained by hitting balls against the wall of her hotel room. "I'm the only one in strict quarantine, I hope it doesn't affect my game too much," she said.
Source: SBS SpanishOff court
With her parents she has run Semillas sin Barreras, a not-for-profit school in Colombia that teaches tennis to children and young people with physical disabilities, for more than 12 years. Some of its pupils have reached the Colombian youth team. "It's super rewarding," she said. She also studied international relations at university.
Source: SBS SpanishEastbourne 2025
Seeded second at Devonshire Park, Bernal beat Lucy Shuker from a set down in the semi-final and then Diede de Groot, the top seed and 2023 champion, 7-6, 7-6 in the final, with both tiebreaks won 7-2. It was her first title on grass and her first win over the Dutchwoman.
Source: LTAWimbledon 2025 · First round
At 5-5 in the second set of her first-round singles match, a voice from the stands shouted "Vamos, Mari". It belonged to Fabiola Zuluaga, a historic figure in Colombian sport, and Bernal went on to close out the match. Later that year El Espectador named her Colombia's Paralympic athlete of 2025.
Source: El EspectadorWimbledon 2025 · Doubles final
Bernal and Ksénia Chasteau lost the final 6-3, 6-1 in 55 minutes to Li Xiaohui and Wang Ziying, the first Chinese pair to win the title. Afterwards she thanked her partner, congratulated the winners and wrote: "Gracias Wimbledon por tu magia, ¡Volveremos!", thanking Wimbledon for its magic and promising to return.
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