Sylvia Hanika

German Born 1959 173 cm Left handed
Head to heads vs Chris Evert (18)vs Hana Mandlikova (17)vs Martina Navratilova (16)vs Wendy Turnbull (12)vs Andrea Jaeger (12)vs Pam Shriver (11)

Match log

1990

US OpenHard, August
R64LDianne Van Rensburg3-6 6-3 3-6
R128WBettina Fulco6-3 1-6 6-4
SchenectadyHard, August
QFLAnke Huber6-4 6-7(6) 2-2 RET
R16WLiz Smylie6-2 3-6 6-4
R32WCecilia Dahlman6-3 6-3
Manhattan BeachHard, August
R64LHalle Cioffi6-4 3-6 0-6
ITF Erlangen, challengerClay, July
R32LAnna Foldenyi Dicker6-3 3-6 4-6
Roland GarrosClay, May
R64LIsabel Cueto3-6 6-4 0-6
R128WMaya Kidowaki6-3 6-2
BerlinClay, May
R64LSabine Hack2-6 4-6
HamburgClay, April
R16LArantxa Sanchez Vicario1-6 1-6
R32WElena Pampoulova6-4 6-0
R64WFlorencia Labat6-4 6-4
HoustonClay, March
R16LMary Lou Piatek4-6 4-6
Key BiscayneHard, March
R64LKarine Quentrec7-5 3-6 4-6
Boca RatonHard, March
R32LAmanda Coetzer1-6 6-2 2-6
R64WErika De Lone6-4 6-1
WashingtonCarpet, February
R32LLaura Arraya6-4 4-6 2-6

1989

BrightonCarpet, October
R32LJana Pospisilova6-1 3-6 6-6 RET
ZurichCarpet, October
R16LHelena Sukova6-7 4-6
R32WKatrina Adams6-4 2-6 7-5
FilderstadtCarpet, October
R16LMonica Seles3-6 4-6
R32WLori Mcneil6-2 4-6 7-6
US OpenHard, August
R32LConchita Martinez5-7 1-6
R64WLaura Arraya6-2 6-4
R128WLouise Field6-4 7-6(2)
TorontoHard, August
QFLAnne Minter2-6 3-6
R16WJana Pospisilova6-4 3-6 7-6
R32WShaun Stafford6-2 7-5
R64WEtsuko Inoue6-3 7-5
MahwahHard, August
QFLStacey Martin3-6 5-7
R16WMeredith Mcgrath6-2 7-5
R32WDonna Faber2-6 6-2 7-5
WimbledonGrass, June
R128LKarine Quentrec4-6 2-6
Roland GarrosClay, May
R16LJana Novotna1-6 4-6
R32WLaura Golarsa4-6 6-1 6-3
R64WRaffaella Reggi Concato2-6 6-1 7-5
R128WSybille Niox Chateau6-7(5) 6-0 6-3
BerlinClay, May
QFLGabriela Sabatini2-6 0-6
R16WLaura Garrone6-1 6-0
R32WCecilia Dahlman6-2 4-6 6-2
HamburgClay, May
R16LBarbara Paulus4-6 3-6
R32WPatricia Tarabini6-3 6-1
BarcelonaClay, April
QFLEva Sviglerova6-2 3-6 2-4 RET
R16WSabine Hack6-3 6-3
R32WMercedes Paz6-3 6-7 7-6
Key BiscayneHard, March
R64LHalle Cioffi6-4 4-6 1-6
R128WJana Pospisilova6-3 6-1
Boca RatonHard, March
R32LAnn Grossman3-6 6-7
Australian OpenHard, January
R128LElise Burgin3-6 1-6

Sylvia Hanika

Sylvia Hanika played tennis left-handed with a one-handed backhand built for grinding, not flair, and it carried the Munich native to a career-high ranking of world No. 5 in September 1983. Her lone Grand Slam final came at Roland Garros in 1981, where Hana Mandlikova beat her in straight sets. It was the closest she came to a major, but not the win that defined her.

That came a year later at the Avon Championships in Madison Square Garden, where the 22 year old Hanika faced Martina Navratilova in the final. Down 1-6, 3-4, she turned the match around to win 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, ending a 27 match winning streak for Navratilova and taking the biggest title of her career. It was enough to make her West Germany's leading player through the early 1980s, before a teenage Steffi Graf arrived to take the country's game somewhere else entirely. Hanika retired in 1990 with 9 career titles.