Austrian tennis player
Barbara Paulus (born 1 September 1970) is a former professional tennis player from Austria. She began playing on theWTA Tour in 1986 and retired in 2001. During her career, she won a total of seven WTA tournaments (six singles titles, one doubles title). Paulus competed for theAustria Fed Cup team on 21 occasions in singles and doubles, winning nine of her 22 matches.
Paulus is one of the most successful Austrian female tennis players, being one of only two to be ranked in the top 10 (along withBarbara Schett), despite having a career plagued with injuries. She won six singles titles and one doubles title on theWTA Tour. Her best results include victories overChris Evert,Mary Pierce,Gabriela Sabatini,Conchita Martínez, andJana Novotná.[2]
After reaching as high as No. 12 in the world in 1990,[2] she sustained injuries to her knee and both wrists which required her to have surgery and kept her sidelined for many months through 1992 and 1993.[2][3] Her comeback from injury eventually bore her much success, with four WTA titles between 1995 and 1997, a top-ten ranking, and reaching her biggest career final at the Tier IFamily Circle Cup, where she lost in three sets toArantxa Sánchez Vicario.[4]
Her career effectively ended in 1998 after an elbow injury, though she made a brief return in 2001.[5]
- 1990: Golden Needle Award from Austrian Tennis Federation[6]
| Winner – Legend |
|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) | | WTA Tour Championships (0–0) | | Tier I (0–1) | | Tier II (0–1) | | Tier III (2–5) | | Tier IV (3–2) | | Tier V (1–2) |
| | Finals by surface |
|---|
| Hard (1–4) | | Grass (0–0) | | Clay (5–5) | | Carpet (0–2) |
|
| Result | W/L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|
| Win | 1–0 | May 1988 | Geneva, Switzerland | Tier V | Clay |  Lori McNeil | 6–4, 5–7, 6–1 |
| Loss | 1–1 | Aug 1988 | Sofia, Bulgaria | Tier V | Hard |  Conchita Martínez | 6–1, 6–2 |
| Loss | 1–2 | Jul 1989 | Arcachon, Spain | Tier V | Clay |  Judith Wiesner | 6–3, 6–7(3–7), 6–1 |
| Loss | 1–3 | Jan 1990 | Sydney, Australia | Tier III | Hard |  Natasha Zvereva | 4–6, 6–1, 6–3 |
| Win | 2–3 | May 1990 | Geneva, Switzerland | Tier IV | Clay |  Helen Kelesi | 2–6, 7–5, 7–6(7–3) |
| Loss | 2–4 | Jul 1990 | Palermo, Italy | Tier IV | Clay |  Isabel Cueto | 6–2, 6–3 |
| Loss | 2–5 | Oct 1990 | Filderstadt, Germany | Tier II | Hard (i) | Mary Joe Fernández | 6–1, 6–3 |
| Win | 3–5 | Sep 1995 | Warsaw, Poland | Tier III | Clay |  Alexandra Fusai | 7–6(7–4), 4–6, 6–1 |
| Win | 4–5 | Nov 1995 | Pattaya, Thailand | Tier IV | Hard |  Yi Jingqian | 6–4, 6–3 |
| Loss | 4–6 | Jan 1996 | Auckland, New Zealand | Tier IV | Hard | Sandra Cacic | 6–3, 1–6, 6–4 |
| Loss | 4–7 | Apr 1996 | Hilton Head Island, US | Tier I | Clay | Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | 6–2, 2–6, 6–2 |
| Loss | 4–8 | May 1996 | Strasbourg, France | Tier III | Clay | Lindsay Davenport | 6–3, 7–6(8–6) |
| Win | 5–8 | Aug 1996 | Maria Lankowitz, Austria | Tier IV | Clay |  Sandra Cecchini | 40–15 ret. |
| Loss | 5–9 | Sep 1996 | Warsaw, Poland | Tier III | Clay |  Henrieta Nagyová | 3–6, 6–2, 6–1 |
| Loss | 5–10 | Oct 1996 | Moscow, Russia | Tier III | Carpet (i) | Conchita Martínez | 6–1, 4–6, 6–4 |
| Win | 6–10 | Jul 1997 | Warsaw, Poland | Tier III | Clay | Henrieta Nagyová | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 6–11 | Oct 1997 | Luxembourg | Tier III | Carpet (i) |  Amanda Coetzer | 6–4, 3–6, 7–5 |
| Winner – Legend' |
|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) | | WTA Tour Championships (0–0) | | Tier I (0–0) | | Tier II (0–0) | | Tier III (0–0) | | Tier IV (0–0) | | Tier V (1–0) |
| | Finals by surface |
|---|
| Hard (1–0) | | Grass (0–0) | | Clay (0–0) | | Carpet (0–0) |
|
| $100,000 tournaments |
| $75,000 tournaments |
| $50,000 tournaments |
| $25,000 tournaments |
| $10,000 tournaments |
| Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|
| Win | 1. | 16 November 1987 | Wels, Austria | Hard (i) |  Denisa Krajčovičová | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Loss | 1. | 27 September 1993 | Kirchheim, Austria | Clay |  Laurence Courtois | 1–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 2. | 29 August 1994 | Maribor, Slovenia | Hard (i) | Maja Živec-Škulj | 4–6, 6–4, 6–0 |
| Loss | 2. | 4 March 1996 | Prostějov, Czech Republic | Hard (i) |  Martina Hingis | 1–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 3. | 27 January 1996 | Prostějov, Czech Republic | Carpet (i) | Karina Habšudová | 7–6(9–7), 1–6, 3–6 |
Sabrina Goleš
Katerina Maleeva
Paulette Moreno