The Open Era
Spain · born Monzón, 1972 · Wimbledon champion 1994
All playersBack to the rankings
6-4, 3-6, 6-3
1994 Wimbledon final against Martina Navratilova
10-8
Final set of her 1994 semi-final
3
Wimbledon semi-finals in a row, 1993 to 1995
14
Straight years in the world top ten, from 1989
5
Fed Cup titles with Spain
Born in Monzón, Aragon, in 1972, Martínez began playing at nine, moved to Barcelona to train at 12 and to Switzerland three years later. She turned professional in 1988, won her first WTA title in Sofia that summer at 16, and from 1989 finished 14 straight years in the world top ten. She won 33 singles titles, among them four Italian Opens in a row from 1993, reached a career-high No. 2 in 1995 and was runner-up at the 1998 Australian Open and the 2000 French Open. She won three Olympic doubles medals and five Fed Cup titles with Spain. After retiring in 2006 she captained Spain's Fed Cup and Davis Cup teams and coached Garbiñe Muguruza and Karolína Plíšková. She entered the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2020.
| Wimbledon singles | Champion 1994; semi-finals 1993 and 1995; quarter-final 2001; played every year from 1992 to 2005 |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon 1994 | Seeded third. Quarter-final: beat Lindsay Davenport in three sets. Semi-final: beat Lori McNeil, who had beaten Steffi Graf in the first round, 10-8 in the third set. Final: beat Martina Navratilova 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 |
| Firsts for Spain | First Spanish woman in an Open Era Wimbledon semi-final (1993) and the first to win the singles (1994) |
| Other grass final | Eastbourne 2003, lost to Chanda Rubin |
| As a coach | In Garbiñe Muguruza's box when she won Wimbledon in 2017, beating Venus Williams 7-5, 6-0 |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Women's singles | |
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
"Today she passed me as well as anybody ever has."
The person behind the player.
Monzón · 1981
She began at nine and never looked back: "Love at first sight. The first time I picked up the racket and played, I didn't let go of it." At 12 she left Monzón for Barcelona to train, and three years later she moved on to Switzerland. At 16 she qualified for Roland Garros, her first major.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameWimbledon 1993
She was wary of grass at first, and admitted she had "believed the typical phrase, 'Grass is for cows.'" In 1993 she reached the Wimbledon semi-finals anyway, the first Spanish woman of the Open Era to get that far. A year later she won it.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameWimbledon 1994 · Semi-final
Lori McNeil had knocked out the champion, Steffi Graf, in the first round, and she pushed Martínez all the way in the semi-final. The third set went to 10-8 before Martínez came through to reach her first major final, on the surface she had once dismissed.
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameWimbledon 1994 · Final
As a girl she had dreamed of playing Martina Navratilova, the nine-time champion. She got the chance in a Wimbledon final and won 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, passing the net again and again. The title, she said, "changes many things". It was, in her words, "a life changer".
Source: International Tennis Hall of FameWimbledon 2017
With Muguruza's coach Sam Sumyk at home awaiting the birth of his child, Martínez joined her team for Wimbledon. Muguruza beat Venus Williams 7-5, 6-0 to become Spain's second women's champion and enjoyed the echo: "the coincidence of her (beating) Navratilova, me (beating) Venus.. was, like, awesome."
Source: Otago Daily TimesFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
Join freePage updated 3 November 2026. Spotted an error? Send a correction.
.jpg){kind=link}