Emilio Sánchez Vicario

Emilio Sánchez Vicario was a Spanish tennis player who played professionally from 1984 to 1998. Sánchez was ranked as the number one doubles player in the world in April 1989 and reached number seven in the world as a singles player. He won five Grand Slam titles and an Olympic silver medal, and played on Spain’s Davis Cup team from 1984 to 1996. After his retirement he was the captain of the Spanish team that won the Davis Cup in 2008. Sánchez won 15 ATP singles titles during his career, with his first victory coming in Nice, France, with a straight sets win against Paul McNamee. It was in the doubles, however, that Sánchez excelled, winning no fewer than 50 ATP titles, 44 of them with compatriot Sergio Casal.

Sánchez won his first two Grand Slam titles in 1987 with both coming in the mixed doubles. At the French Open he was partnered with Pam Shriver, and at the US Open he teamed up with Martina Navratilova. The following year Sánchez had his best singles performances at Grand Slams when he reached the quarter-finals at the French and US Opens. These two tournaments also saw him win the doubles titles, pairing with Andrés Gómez at the French Open and Sergio Casal at the US Open. Sánchez won his fifth and final Grand Slam title in the doubles at the 1990 French Open, again partnered with Casal.

Sánchez competed at three consecutive Olympic Games; 1984 Los Angeles, 1988 Seoul, and 1992 Barcelona. At the Los Angeles Games tennis was a demonstration sport, with Sánchez losing to the tournament’s eventual runner-up Francisco Maciel. At the Seoul Olympics Sánchez and Casal once again played together in the doubles with the pair winning the silver medal. The two also competed at their home Olympics in Barcelona but lost in the quarter-finals to the eventual gold medallists Boris Becker and Michael Stich.

During his career Sánchez earned more than $5.3 million in prize money and became the non-playing captain of Spain’s Davis Cup team after his retirement. His sister Arantxa and his brother Javier were also both successful professional tennis players.