Chronology of Success
1979
Manuella plays for the first time in USA and places third in the group for children under 12 years of age, at Orange Bowl, the world’s unofficial Tennis Cup for Underage Boys and Girls
1980
The oldest sister reaches the Final in the European Cup for competitors under 14 in Nice, France. In 1981 Manuella champions the Orange Bowl for players under 14. In that same age range she wins both singles and doubles (partnered by Katerina) at the European Cup in Bloa, France.
1982
For the 1st time a Maleeva plays in the main scheme of a Grand Slam tournament – Rolan Garos. Manuella loses her first match in the women category, but wins the title for underage girls. She is European champion of the girls under 18 in Budapest.
1983
Following a 8 year absence, Bulgaria is again represented in the Fed Cup, the unofficial world team cup for women. Manuella is the key player on a team captained by Julia Berberian.
1984
Manuella is designated as professional female tennis player of the year who has progressed the most, after winning her winning her first 5 titles and rocketing from number 31 to number 6 in the world rankings (an achievement surpassed in its impressiveness only by Andrea Jagger of the US). On May 28 she becomes the third youngest female tennis player to have entered the world’s top 10 (after Tracy Ostin and Jagger). Manuella and Tim Gulligson of USA win the mixed doubles title at the US Open. In the tournaments for girls under 18 Katia wins at US Open and the European Cup in Ostende, Belgium. She also plays at the Rolan Garos and Orange Bowl finals.
1985
Manuella and Katia lead Bulgaria to a semi-final at Federation Cup, the world’s unofficial women’s team cup. Together they win the doubles title at the US Clay Courts championship. Katia triumphs for the first time in a singles tournament in Seabrook, North Carolina.
1987
Again a Federation Cup semi-final. Manuella plays at the semi-final of the Masters Cup in New York.
1988
Manuella wins Bulgaria the bronze medal at the Olympic games in Seoul. For the first time in a single Grand Slam tournament (US Open) Manuella and Katerina reach the ?-finals. Maggy wins the European cup for girls under 14 in Lisbon.
1989
Magdalena turns pro after turning 14 and reaches the final in her first tournament.
1990
Magdalena qualifies for Rolan Garos and for the first time in history three sisters are on the Grand Slam’s main scheme. Maggy is eliminated in the 3-rd round and Manuella and Katerina reach the ?-finals. The youngest Maleeva sister wins 3 out of 4 Grand Slam cups for underage girls. Manuella now plays for Switzerland.
1991
For the first time Maggy qualifies for the 8-th finals in a Grand Slam tournament, but she loses to Katerina in Australia. Katia reaches the Canadian Cup final after beating her two sisters, but her winning streak is terminated by Jennifer Capriati. The middle sister wins the Indianapolis Cup for the third time.
1992
Maggy wins her first cup as a pro in San Marino, making Maleeva the first sister trio with terminal defeats in women’s chain of tournaments. All three sisters are among the world’s top 20. For the first time a Bulgarian lady plays at a Grand Slam semi-final. Manuella places among the top four of the US Open, winning over Maggy but and subsequently losing to Arancha Sanchez-Vicario. In the second round, Maggy eliminates Navratilova, who is for the first time in her career defeated at such an early stage of the Grand Slam. Katerina reaches the Wimbledon quarterfinals for a second time, but loses to the 9-time champion – 3:6, 6:7.
1993
For the first time three sisters are placed among the 16 in a Grand Slam tournament (this happens in Australia, Rolan Garos and Wimbledon) and reach 1/8 finals the same tournament (Rolan Garos and USA). In her last participation in New York, Manuella, despite playing with a severed tendon and a fractured bone in her left-hand pinky, manages to score consecutive defeats against Conchitta Martinez and Kimiko Date and reach the semi-finals for a second time in a row. She wins the first set against Steffi Graf, but the German turns the tide. Maggy is determined to be the female tennis player of the year who has progressed the most, after playing 1/8 finals in 3 of the four Grand Slam tournaments (Wimbledon’s third round) and qualifies for the Masters Cup in New York. Once again Katerina is an inch away from being a semi-finalist in the Grand Slam, but loses to Helena Sukhova in a 3-set match in New York. Between June 14 and July 4, Magdalena, Manuella and Katia occupy respectively the 11th, 12th and 13th spots in the world rankings.
1994
Manuella Maleeva wins the Osaka Cup and retires at the peak of her career with 19 cups in her collection. For the last time she is seen in the world rankings as number 5 on May 2. Maggy wins two consecutive cups in Moscow and Zurich (eliminating Navratilova at the semi-finals to produce the earliest-stage elimination of the legend in this tournament since 1974) and plays 3 sets against Steffi Graf in Hamburg, becoming only the second one to win a set from the German in her last 32 matches. Katia prevails over Amanda Kutzer, Chanda Rubin and Brenda Schultz-McCarthy and wins the tournament in Quebec City, taking the 11th cup of her career. Together with Robin White, she stirs a sensation at the US Open by reaching the doubles final after defeating the world’s number 1 tandem – Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva.
1995
Maggy’s strongest year yet, including playing 6 finals and winning three cups (Chicago, Moscow and Oakland). For the third consecutive time Maggy qualifies for the Masters cup. She ends her season ends as 6th in the world. Katia misses the summer season due to a shoulder injury.
1996
In the beginning of the year, Maggy climbs to ¹4 in the world, winning over Sanchez-Vicario on her way to the final in Madrid.
1997
Katerina officially terminates her career.
1998
Magdalena undergoes shoulder surgery in June and ceases playing for 11 months.
1999
From February to June she falls out of the world rankings chart. As ¹131 in the world Maggy qualifies for the Pataia City tournament and wins the cup.
2000
Magdalena reaches the Luxembourg Cup final, scoring victories over Sanchez-Vicario and Davenport. For the first time since 1994 she plays in all four Grand Slam tournaments.
2001
Magdalena ends her year among the world’s top 20 after winning the Budapest Cup and playing in another two finals – in Nice (after defeating world’s ¹3 Venus Williams) and Leipzig.
2002
Maggy wins the first category Moscow tournament, after outplaying 3 of the world’s top four – Venus Williams, Amlie Moresmo and Lindsie Davenport. She becomes only the third tennis player between 1997 and 2002 with wins over Davenport and Williams in the same tournament. She also wins her first Masters Cup.
2003
Maggy wins on Birmingham’s grass courts and now has cups on all the surface types. On June 23 she is ¹11 in the world. Twice during the season she is only a victory shy of returning among the top 10. Together with Liesel hubel she becomes a doubles champion at the Miami tournament, second in prestige only to the four Grand Slam tournaments.
2004
For the tenth time in her career, Maggy ends her season among the world’s top 30. On her way to the Pan Pacific final she rounded her victories in professional tennis to 400. She matched her best performances at Wimbledon and Rolan Garos by reaching the 1/8 finals. On February 2, she set a personal record by climbing to number 13 in the world’s doubles rankings.
2005
Together with Elena Lihovtzeva she won the doubles tournament in Gold Coast, earning her fifth doubles cup. She also reached the singles semi-finals in Gold Coast and Paris.
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