Maria Bueno

Maria Bueno

Bueno in 2016
Full name	Maria Esther Andion Bueno
Country (sports)	Brazil
Residence	São Paulo
Born	(1939-10-11) 11 October 1939 São Paulo, Brazil
Turned pro	1950
Retired	1977
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Int. Tennis HoF	1979 (member page)
Official website	www.mariabueno.org
Singles
Career titles	71
Highest ranking	No. 1 (1959)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	F (1965)
French Open	F (1964)
Wimbledon	W (1959, 1960, 1964)
US Open	W (1959, 1963, 1964, 1966)
Doubles
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	W (1960)
French Open	W (1960)
Wimbledon	W (1958, 1960, 1963, 1965, 1966)
US Open	W (1960, 1962, 1966, 1968)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open	SF (1960)
French Open	W (1960)
Wimbledon	F (1959, 1960, 1967)
US Open	F (1958, 1960)

Maria Esther Andion Bueno (born 11 October 1939) is a former professional tennis player from Brazil. During her 11-year career in the 1950s and 1960s (plus a two-year comeback in 1976–77), she won 19 Major titles (seven singles, 11 women's doubles, one mixed doubles). She was the year-end number-one ranked female player four times and was known for her graceful style of play.

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).

Career

Bueno in 1964

Bueno began playing tennis at a very young age at the Clube de Regatas Tiete in Sao Paulo and, without having received any formal training, won her first tournament at age 12.^[1] She was 14 when she captured her country's women's singles championship.

She went abroad in 1957 at age 17 and won the Orange Bowl juniors tournament in Florida.^[2] Joining the international circuit in 1958, Bueno won the singles title at the Italian Championships^{[lower-alpha 1]} and the first of her Grand Slam titles, capturing the women's doubles at Wimbledon with Althea 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 after a straights set victory in the final against Christine Truman, earning the World No. 1 ranking for 1959 and the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year award.^[4] 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.^[5]

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.^[6] 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.^[1] 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 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 as well as offering opinions during the live broadcast of the USTA's induction of Martina Navratilova and Don Budge in the "Court of Champions".

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

Bueno won 19 and lost 16 of her Grand Slam finals.^[7][8] This represents a success rate of 54%.

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

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1959	Wimbledon	Grass	Darlene Hard	6–4, 6–3
Winner	1959	U.S. Championships	Grass	Christine Truman	6–1, 6–4
Winner	1960	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Sandra Reynolds	8–6, 6–0
Runner-up	1960	U.S. Championships	Grass	Darlene Hard	6–4, 10–12, 6–4
Winner	1963	U.S. Championships (2)	Grass	Margaret Smith	7–5, 6–4
Runner-up	1964	French Championships	Clay	Margaret Smith	5–7, 6–1, 6–2
Winner	1964	Wimbledon (3)	Grass	Margaret Smith	6–4, 7–9, 6–3
Winner	1964	U.S. Championships (3)	Grass	Carole Caldwell Graebner	6–1, 6–0
Runner-up	1965	Australian Championships	Grass	Margaret Smith	5–7, 6–4, 5–2, retired
Runner-up	1965	Wimbledon	Grass	Margaret Smith	6–4, 7–5
Runner-up	1966	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Billie Jean King	6–3, 3–6, 6–1
Winner	1966	U.S. Championships (4)	Grass	Nancy Richey	6–3, 6–1

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

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1958	Wimbledon	Grass	Althea Gibson	Margaret Osborne duPont Margaret Varner Bloss	6–3, 7–5
Runner-up	1958	U.S. Championships	Grass	Althea Gibson	Jeanne Arth Darlene Hard	2–6, 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	1959	U.S. Championships (2)	Grass	Sally Moore	Jeanne Arth Darlene Hard	6–2, 6–3
Winner	1960	Australian Championships	Grass	Christine Truman	Lorraine Coghlan Robinson Margaret Smith	6–2, 5–7, 6–2
Winner	1960	French Championships	Clay	Darlene Hard	Ann Haydon-Jones Patricia Ward Hales	6–2, 7–5
Winner	1960	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Darlene Hard	Sandra Reynolds Renee Schuurman	6–4, 6–0
Winner	1960	U.S. Championships	Grass	Darlene Hard	Ann Haydon-Jones Deidre Catt	6–1, 6–1
Runner-up	1961	French Championships	Clay	Darlene Hard	Sandra Reynolds Renee Schuurman	walkover
Winner	1962	U.S. Championships (2)	Grass	Darlene Hard	Billie Jean Moffitt Karen Hantze Susman	4–6, 6–3, 6–2
Winner	1963	Wimbledon (3)	Grass	Darlene Hard	Margaret Smith Robyn Ebbern	8–6, 9–7
Runner-up	1963	U.S. Championships (3)	Grass	Darlene Hard	Margaret Smith Robyn Ebbern	4–6, 10–8, 6–3
Winner	1965	Wimbledon (4)	Grass	Billie Jean Moffitt	Françoise Dürr Janine Lieffrig	6–2, 7–5
Winner	1966	Wimbledon (5)	Grass	Nancy Richey	Margaret Smith Judy Tegart	6–3, 4–6, 6–4
Runner-up	1967	Wimbledon	Grass	Nancy Richey	Rosemary Casals Billie Jean King	9–11, 6–4, 6–2
Winner	1966	U.S. Championships (3)	Grass	Nancy Richey	Billie Jean King Rosemary Casals	6–3, 6–4
Winner	1968	US Open (4)	Grass	Margaret Court	Billie Jean King Rosemary Casals	4–6, 9–7, 8–6

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

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1958	U.S. Championships	Grass	Alex Olmedo	Margaret Osborne duPont Neale Fraser	6–3, 3–6, 9–7
Runner-up	1959	Wimbledon	Grass	Neale Fraser	Darlene Hard Rod Laver	6–4, 6–3
Winner	1960	French Championships	Clay	Bob Howe	Ann Haydon-Jones Roy Emerson	1–6, 6–1, 6–2
Runner-up	1960	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Bob Howe	Darlene Hard Rod Laver	13–11, 3–6, 8–6
Runner-up	1960	U.S. Championships (2)	Grass	Antonio Palafox	Margaret Osborne duPont Neale Fraser	6–3, 6–2
Runner-up	1965	French Championships	Clay	John Newcombe	Margaret Smith Ken Fletcher	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	1967	Wimbledon (3)	Grass	Ken Fletcher	Billie Jean King Owen Davidson	3–6, 6–2, 15–13

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

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.

See also

• Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maria Bueno.

• Maria Bueno at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
• Maria Bueno at the Women's Tennis Association