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Manuela Maleeva (born February 14, 1967) is
Bulgaria’s all time best female tennis
player. She played in the WTA tour, competing in
singles, doubles and mixed doubles between 1982
and 1994. 

==Biography==

Born in Sofia, Manuela was the oldest of the four
children of Yulia Berberyan and Georgi Maleev. The
mother, who came from a prominent
Armenians|Armenian family, which found refuge in
Bulgaria after the 1896 Armenian massacres in the
Ottoman Empire, was the best Bulgarian tennis
player in the 1960s. After she retired from
professional tennis in the 1970s, Berberyan
started on a coaching career. She was the coach of
all of her three daughters, Manuela, Katerina
Maleeva|Katerina and Magdalena Maleeva|Magdalena,
each of whom eventually became WTA top ten
players.

In 1982 Manuela won the junior French Open. Later
the same year she made her debut among the women
and ended the year within the first 200 of the WTA
rank list. In 1984 Manuela won a total of seven
tournaments beating all stars in the women’s
tennis with the exception of Martina Navratilova.
After the victory at the tournament in
Indianapolis the same year, Manuela became №
3 in the WTA rank list. Once in the top ten, she
did not leave it for a period of ten whole years
– until 1992. 

Also in 1984, Manuela won her first and only Grand
Slam title – in mixed doubles at the US Open
(tennis)|US Open together with Tom Gullikson from
the USA. In 1988 she won a bronze medal in the
1988 Summer Olympics's singles in Seoul. In 1992
and 1993 she registered her all time best
achievement in Grand Slam singles reaching the
semi-finals of the US Open (tennis)|US Open (in
1992 after beating her sister, Magdalena Maleeva,
at the quarter-finals).

In 1994, Manuela retired from professional tennis.
Throughout her 12-year carrier, she won a total of
19 WTA Tour singles titles, four in doubles and
one in mixed doubles. She won the Hopman Cup in
1992 together with Jakob Hlasek and reached twice
the semi-finals at Fed Cup in 1985 and 1987.

Manuela has been married since 1987 to
Switzerland’s best tennis player from the
1980s, Francois Fragniere. They live near Geneva
and have three children, two girls and a boy.

==Tournaments won==
===Singles===
Winner (WTA Tour): 
*1994 - Osaka
*1993 - Linz; Zurich
*1992 - Bayonne
*1991 - Linz; European Open; Bayonne
*1989 - Indian Wells; European Open
*1988 - Wichita; Phoenix
*1987 - Mahwah; Charleston
*1985 - Tokyo (Pan Pacific)
*1984 - US Clay Courts; Tokyo (Pan Pacific);
Italian Open; Tokyo (Lions Cup); Swiss Open.

===Doubles===
Winner:
*1993 - Amelia Island (with Leila Meskhi)
*1991 - Linz (with Rafaella Reggi)
*1987 - Belgian Open (with Bettina Bunge)
*1985 - US Clay Courts (with Katerina Maleeva)

===Mixed doubles===
Winner:
*1984 - US Open (with Tim Gullikson)

==See also==

*Katerina Maleeva
*Magdalena Maleeva
*List of female tennis players

==External links==
*wta|id=130006|name=Manuela Maleeva