West German tennis player
Bettina Bunge (born 13 June 1963) is a retired Germantennis player. Born inAdliswil, Switzerland, she was part of a large group of successful German players in the 1980s, which also includedSteffi Graf,Claudia Kohde-Kilsch,Sylvia Hanika, andEva Pfaff.
With German nationality as the daughter of a German businessman, she was born in Switzerland, and resided inPeru for more than 13 years. She was a national champion in Peru at the age of 13, and later moved to Miami, Florida. She dealt with a series of injuries (ear and knee, among others) throughout her career.
Bunge was a professional player from 1978 to 1989, appearing for the first time at No. 150 in July 1978. Her career-high ranking of No. 6 she achieved in 1983. In 1982, she registered her all-time best achievement in Grand Slam singles competition when she reached the semifinals ofWimbledon.
She won four singles tournaments, including the tournaments at theGerman Open, Houston, and Tokyo in 1982, and Oakland in 1983. She was finalist inSydney in 1979,Stockholm in 1980, Houston, Tampa, Cincinnati (indoor) and Tokyo in 1981,Mahwah in 1982 andKnokke in 1987.
Bunge won four doubles tournaments, including the tournaments of Pan Pacific in Tokyo with Steffi Graf in 1986 and The Belgian Open withManuela Maleeva in 1987. She was a finalist at the German Open with Claudia Kohde-Kilsch in 1982, the Swiss Open with Eva Pfaff in 1985, and New England, also Pfaff, in 1987.
She was a part of theGerman Federation Cup Team from 1980 to 1983, 1985 to 1987 and 1989. She won the1987 WTA Comeback of the Year Award. Bunge lives in Coral Gables, Florida.
| Winner — Legend |
|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) | | WTA Tour Championships (0–0) | | Virginia Slims, Avon, other (4–9) |
| | Finals by surface |
|---|
| Hard (0–2) | | Grass (0–1) | | Clay (1–1) | | Carpet (3–5) |
|
| Result | W/L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Jan 1979 | Toronto, Canada | Carpet (i) |  Barbara Potter | 1–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Dec 1979 | Sydney, Australia | Grass |  Hana Mandlíková | 3–6, 6–3, 3–6 |
| Loss | 0–3 | Oct 1980 | Stockholm, Sweden | Carpet (i) | Hana Mandlíková | 2–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 0–4 | Feb 1981 | Houston, U.S. | Carpet (i) | Hana Mandlíková | 4–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 0–5 | Sep 1981 | Tokyo, Japan | Carpet (i) | Ann Kiyomura | 4–6, 5–7 |
| Loss | 0–6 | Oct 1981 | Tampa, U.S. | Hard | Martina Navratilova | 7–5, 2–6, 0–6 |
| Loss | 0–7 | Jan 1982 | Cincinnati, U.S. | Carpet (i) | Barbara Potter | 4–6, 6–7(3–7) |
| Win | 1–7 | Feb 1982 | Houston, U.S. | Carpet (i) | Pam Shriver | 6–2, 3–6, 6–2 |
| Win | 2–7 | May 1982 | Berlin, West Germany | Clay | Kathy Rinaldi | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Loss | 2–8 | Aug 1982 | Mahwah, U.S. | Hard | Leigh-Anne Thompson | 6–7(4–7), 3–6 |
| Win | 3–8 | Sep 1982 | Tokyo, Japan | Carpet (i) | Barbara Potter | 7–6, 6–2 |
| Win | 4–8 | Feb 1983 | Oakland, U.S. | Carpet (i) |  Sylvia Hanika | 6–3, 6–3 |
| Loss | 4–9 | Jul 1987 | Knokke, Belgium | Clay | Kathleen Horvath | 1–6, 6–7(5–7) |
| Winner — Legend |
|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) | | WTA Tour Championships (0–0) | | Virginia Slims, Avon, other (4–6) |
| | Finals by surface |
|---|
| Hard 0–1) | | Grass (0–1) | | Clay (3–2) | | Carpet (1–2) |
|
| Result | W/L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | May 1982 | Berlin, West Germany | Clay | Claudia Kohde-Kilsch |  Liz Gordon
Beverly Mould | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | Jul 1983 | Hamburg, West Germany | Clay | Claudia Kohde-Kilsch |  Ivanna Madruga
 Catherine Tanvier | 7–5, 6–4 |
| Win | 2–1 | Jul 1983 | Freiburg, West Germany | Clay | Eva Pfaff | Ivanna Madruga
Emilse Raponi-Longo | 6–1, 6–2 |
| Loss | 2–2 | Oct 1984 | Los Angeles, US | Hard (i) | Eva Pfaff | Chris Evert-Lloyd
Wendy Turnbull | 2–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 2–3 | Oct 1984 | Filderstadt, West Germany | Carpet (i) | Eva Pfaff | Claudia Kohde-Kilsch
Helena Suková | 2–6, 6–4, 3–6 |
| Loss | 2–4 | Nov 1984 | Brisbane, Australia | Grass | Eva Pfaff | Martina Navratilova
Pam Shriver | 3–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 2–5 | May 1985 | Lugano, Switzerland | Clay | Eva Pfaff | Bonnie Gadusek
Helena Suková | 2–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 3–5 | Sep 1986 | Tokyo, Japan | Carpet (i) | Steffi Graf |  Katerina Maleeva
Manuela Maleeva | 6–1, 6–7(4–7), 6–2 |
| Win | 4–5 | Jul 1987 | Knokke, Belgium | Clay | Manuela Maleeva | Kathleen Horvath
 Marcella Mesker | 4–6, 6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 4–6 | Nov 1987 | Worcester,US | Carpet (i) | Eva Pfaff | Elise Burgin
Rosalyn Fairbank | 4–6, 4–6 |
Grand Slam singles performance timeline
[edit](W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
