The Open Era
Germany · born Bruchsal, 1974 · right-handed · the first women's champion at 's-Hertogenbosch, 1996
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4
Career-high WTA singles ranking, October 1996
12
WTA singles titles, 1990 to 2000
1996
Australian Open finalist, her only major final
1
Grass title: 's-Hertogenbosch, the event's first women's singles
4R
Best Wimbledon result, reached five times
Anke Huber was born in Bruchsal, near Karlsruhe, in 1974 and came to tennis through her father, who played at a club. She turned professional in 1989 and won her first WTA title at Schenectady in 1990, aged 15. In 1991, at 16, she beat Martina Navratilova in the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix at Filderstadt, her home tournament; she won it again in 1994.
She came up behind Steffi Graf and Boris Becker and was cast as Graf's successor. She lost the 1995 WTA Tour Championships final to Graf in five sets and the 1996 Australian Open final to Monica Seles, then world No. 1, and reached a career-high No. 4 in October 1996. She won 12 WTA singles titles, from Schenectady in 1990 to Sopot in 2000, helped Germany win the Federation Cup in 1992, won the 1995 Hopman Cup with Becker and played the 1992 and 1996 Olympics, reaching the singles quarter-finals in Barcelona, where she lost to the eventual champion Jennifer Capriati.
She retired in 2001. The following year she became sporting director of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, the job she had turned down at first and had held for 19 years by 2020.
| 's-Hertogenbosch 1996 | Won the first women's singles event at Rosmalen, beating Helena Suková 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) in the final. It was the only grass-court title of her twelve |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon | Fourth round in 1991, 1993, 1995, 2000 and 2001, her best result at the Championships. As a junior she reached the girls' singles semi-finals in 1990 |
| 's-Hertogenbosch (Rosmalen) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Women's singles Rosmalen Grass Court Championships | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"I was not confident enough in the crucial situations, I often did not trust myself enough."
The person behind the player.
Filderstadt, 1984
Huber first went to the Filderstadt tournament in 1984 with her father: "I was nine years old and had just discovered my enthusiasm for tennis." She walked round the venue in awe, curious above all about Steffi Graf.
Source: tennisnetFilderstadt, 1991
At 16 she reached the final of her home tournament and beat the five-time champion Martina Navratilova: "I could hardly believe I actually beat Martina Navratilova after over three hours and won my home tournament."
Source: tennisnetGermany, 1990s
Huber was the face of Ferrero's Milchschnitte snack bar in television advertising. She told Sport1 (in German) that the image got on her nerves as she grew from a girl into a woman, but that overall it was a great advertising partner that made her well known.
Source: Sport1Stuttgart, 2002 onwards
After she retired, tournament director Udo Cervellini persuaded her to become the Grand Prix's sporting director, looking after the players and dealing with the WTA. "At the beginning I didn't really want this job - and now I've been doing it for 19 years."
Source: tennisnetFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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