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Maria Esther Andion Bueno (born 11 October 1939) is a former professional tennis player from Brazil. During her 11-year career (plus a two-year comeback in 1976–77), she won 19 Majortitles (seven singles, 11 women's doubles, one mixed doubles). She was the year-end number-one ranked female player four times.

In 1960, Bueno became the first woman ever to win all four Grand Slam double titles in one year (three with Darlene Hard and one with Christine Truman Janes).

Contents[]

 [hide*1 Career

Career[edit][]

Bueno began playing tennis at a very young age and, without having received any formal training, won her first tournament at age 12. She was 14 when she captured her country's women's singles championship.

Joining the international circuit in 1958, Bueno won the singles title at the Italian Championships and the first of her Grand Slam titles, capturing the women's doubles at Wimbledon withAlthea Gibson.

The following year, Bueno won her first singles title at Wimbledon, defeating Darlene Hard in the final. She also won the singles title at the U.S. Championships, earning the World No. 1 ranking for 1959 and the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year award. Bueno was the first non-North-American woman to capture both Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships in the same calendar year. In her native Brazil, she returned as a national heroine, honored by the country's president and given a ticker-tape parade on the streets of São Paulo.

According to Lance Tingay of the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail and Bud Collins, Bueno was ranked in the world top ten from 1958 through 1960 and from 1962 through 1968, reaching a career high of World No. 1 in those rankings in 1959 and 1960.[1] The International Tennis Hall of Fame also lists her as the top ranked player in 1964 (after losing the final at the French Championships and winning both Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships) and 1966.

Bueno won the singles title at Wimbledon three times and at the U.S. Championships four times. She was a singles finalist at the Australian Championships and the French Championships, losing both finals to Margaret Court. Bueno reached at least the quarterfinals in each of the first 26 Grand Slam singles tournaments she played. This streak ended at Wimbledon in 1967 when she lost in the fourth round because of an arm injury.

As a doubles player, Bueno won twelve Grand Slam championships with six different partners. In 1960, she became the first woman to win the women's doubles title at all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same calendar year, partnered by Christine Truman Janes at the Australian Championships and Hard at the French Championships, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Championships.

In 1978, Bueno was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

At the 2006 US Open, Maria Bueno was invited to attend the rededication ceremony of the USTA National Tennis Center as the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, which took place on the first day of the event. Bueno and King were rivals in singles and, on occasion, doubles partners. According to Bueno, the only players invited were those who had won the US Open "more than twice" (she won it four times). At the same event, Bueno debuted as a commentator for SporTV, a Brazilian cable television sports channel. She commentated on the women's singles semifinals and final and the men's singles final. She also offered opinions during the live broadcast of the USTA's induction of Martina Navratilova and Don Budge in the "Court of Champions", as well as during day-end "round tables" in the last three days of the event.

Grand Slam finals: 35 (19 titles, 16 runners-up)[edit][]

Bueno won 19 and lost 16 of her Grand Slam finals. This represents a success rate of 54%.

Singles: 12 (7 titles, 5 runners-up)[edit][]

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1959 Wimbledon Grass [1]

Darlene Hard

6–4, 6–3
Winner 1959 U.S. Championships Grass [2]Christine Truman Janes 6–1, 6–4
Winner 1960 Wimbledon (2) Grass [3]

Sandra Reynolds Price

8–6, 6–0
Runner-up 1960 U.S. Championships Grass [4] Darlene Hard 6–4, 10–12, 6–4
Winner 1963 U.S. Championships (2) Grass [5]Margaret Court 7–5, 6–4
Runner-up 1964 French Championships Clay [6] Margaret Court 5–7, 6–1, 6–2
Winner 1964 Wimbledon (3) Grass [7] Margaret Court 6–4, 7–9, 6–3
Winner 1964 U.S. Championships (3) Grass [8]

Carole Caldwell Graebner

6–1, 6–0
Runner-up 1965 Australian Championships Grass [9] Margaret Court 5–7, 6–4, 5–2, retired
Runner-up 1965 Wimbledon Grass [10] Margaret Court 6–4, 7–5
Runner-up 1966 Wimbledon (2) Grass [11]Billie Jean King 6–3, 3–6, 6–1
Winner 1966 U.S. Championships (4) Grass [12]

Nancy Richey

6–3, 6–1

Doubles: 16 (11 wins, 5 runners-up)[edit][]

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner 1958 Wimbledon Grass [13]

Althea Gibson

[14]

Margaret Osborne duPont [15]Margaret Varner Bloss

6–3, 7–5
Runner-up 1958 U.S. Championships Grass [16]

Althea Gibson

[17]

Jeanne Arth [18]Darlene Hard

2–6, 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up 1959 U.S. Championships (2) Grass [19]

Sally Moore

[20] Jeanne Arth

[21] Darlene Hard

6–2, 6–3
Winner 1960 Australian Championships Grass [22]

Christine Truman Janes

[23]

Lorraine Coghlan Robinson [24] Margaret Court

6–2, 5–7, 6–2
Winner 1960 French Championships Clay [25]

Darlene Hard

[26]

Ann Haydon-Jones [27]Patricia Ward Hales

6–2, 7–5
Winner 1960 Wimbledon (2) Grass [28] Darlene Hard [29]

Sandra Reynolds Price [30]Renee Schuurman Haygarth

6–4, 6–0
Winner 1960 U.S. Championships Grass [31] Darlene Hard [32] Ann Haydon-Jones

[33]Deidre Catt

6–1, 6–1
Runner-up 1961 French Championships Clay [34] Darlene Hard [35]

Sandra Reynolds Price [36]Renee Schuurman Haygarth

walkover
Winner 1962 U.S. Championships (2) Grass [37] Darlene Hard [38]Billie Jean King

[39]Karen Hantze Susman

4–6, 6–3, 6–2
Winner 1963 Wimbledon (3) Grass [40] Darlene Hard [41]Margaret Court

[42]Robyn Ebbern

8–6, 9–7
Runner-up 1963 U.S. Championships (3) Grass [43] Darlene Hard [44]Margaret Court

[45]Robyn Ebbern

4–6, 10–8, 6–3
Winner 1965 Wimbledon (4) Grass [46]

Billie Jean King

[47]

Françoise Dürr [48]Jeanine Lieffrig

6–2, 7–5
Winner 1966 Wimbledon (5) Grass [49]

Nancy Richey

[50] Margaret Court

[51]Judy Tegart Dalton

6–3, 4–6, 6–4
Runner-up 1967 Wimbledon Grass [52]

Nancy Richey

[53]

Rosemary Casals [54] Billie Jean King

9–11, 6–4, 6–2
Winner 1966 U.S. Championships (3) Grass [55] Nancy Richey [56] Billie Jean King

[57]Rosemary Casals

6–3, 6–4
Winner 1968 US Open (4) Grass [58] Margaret Court [59] Billie Jean King

[60] Rosmary Casals

4–6, 9–7, 8–6

Mixed doubles: 7 (1 wins, 6 runners-up)[edit][]

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1958 U.S. Championships Grass [61]

Alex Olmedo

[62]

Margaret Osborne duPont [63]Neale Fraser

6–3, 3–6, 9–7
Runner-up 1959 Wimbledon Grass [64]

Neale Fraser

[65]

Darlene Hard [66]Rod Laver

6–4, 6–3
Winner 1960 French Championships Clay [67]

Bob Howe

[68]

Ann Haydon-Jones [69]Roy Emerson

1–6, 6–1, 6–2
Runner-up 1960 Wimbledon (2) Grass [70] Bob Howe [71] Darlene Hard

[72] Rod Laver

13–11, 3–6, 8–6
Runner-up 1960 U.S. Championships (2) Grass [73]

Antonio Palafox

[74] Margaret Osborne duPont

[75] Neale Fraser

6–3, 6–2
Runner-up 1965 French Championships Clay [76]

John Newcombe

[77]Margaret Court

[78]Ken Fletcher

6–4, 6–4
Runner-up 1967 Wimbledon (3) Grass [79]

Ken Fletcher

[80]Billie Jean King

[81]Owen Davidson

3–6, 6–2, 15–13

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline[edit][]

Tournament 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969–1975 1976 1977 Career SR
Australia A A QF A A A A F A A A A A A / A 0 / 2
France SF QF SF QF A A F SF SF QF QF A 1R A 0 / 10
Wimbledon QF W W A SF QF W F F 4R QF A 4R 3R 3 / 12
United States QF W F A SF W W SF W 2R SF A 3R 2R 4 / 12
SR 0 / 3 2 / 3 1 / 4 0 / 1 0 / 2 1 / 2 2 / 3 0 / 4 1 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 3 0 / 0 0 / 3 0 / 2 7 / 36

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

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