Like just about every other tennis player, it all began for 2020 International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee Conchita Martinez in solitude, versus a backboard. In the Spanish town of Monzon, Martinez had begun to play at the age of nine. Her simple description for tennis: “Love at first sight. The first time I picked up the racket and played, I didn’t let go of it.”
Hour after hour, Martinez would hit against the wall, picturing herself playing one point after another. And of all the women in the world, there was one she imagined competing against more than any other. Of course, Martinez had no idea that woman would play a key role in what would prove the greatest moment of her tennis life.
EARLY YEARS
By the time she was 12, Martinez was skilled enough to be sent to Barcelona for further training, leaving behind her mother, Conchita, a homemaker; and father, Cecilio, an accountant. Three years later, it was off to Switzerland for more refinement. “It was very hard,” Martinez says of leaving her family at such a young age. Martinez’s sense of community and capacity for kindness would make her both a well-liked player and effective coach.
But she was also very good. At the age of 16, in the summer of 1988, Martinez won Sofia, her first WTA singles title. There next came an even more impressive effort. In April 1989, the 17-year-old Martinez beat world number three Gabriela Sabatini in the finals of a $200,000 WTA event held in Tampa. Ranked 39 at the start of ’89, by December, Martinez, had soared to seven, the first of 14 straight top ten finishes. In large part, it all started for her in Tampa. That title run, says Martinez, “gave me the belief that I could continue to grow as a tennis player and get better.”
"GRASS IS FOR COWS"
The question at this point was just how much better. In the Spanish tradition, Martinez began tennis as a clay courter, her game blending patience, margin and variety. Martinez’s forehand had many ranges, be it arcing topspin or a flatter drive. Her one-handed backhand was elegantly shaped, adept at both the carved slice and the rolling topspin.
Given these assets, throughout the early part of Martinez’s career, it appeared likely her greatest triumphs would come on clay. By June 1992, while Martinez had made it to the quarters at Roland-Garros four straight times, she had yet to even play at Wimbledon. “It was tough to make the change to play on grass,” says Martinez. “I was a little bit rebellious with the surface and believed the typical phrase, ‘Grass is for cows.’”
WIMBLEDON CROWN
But following a second-round loss at the All England Club in 1992, Martinez the next year there went all the way to the semis before losing to eventual champion Stefanie Graf. Her attitude about grass had changed. And when coupled with her eclectic arsenal, Martinez in 1994 arrived at Wimbledon far more confident there than she’d ever imagined.
Seeded third, Martinez won her first six matches to reach the finals. Included in that run was a tough three-setter versus hard-hitting Lindsay Davenport in the quarters and, in the semis, a 10-8 in the third nail-biter versus the woman who’d upset Graf in the first round, chip-charger supreme, Lori McNeil. “To be in the finals of Wimbledon was amazing,” says Martinez. “I was not expecting it and probably I was not the only one not expecting it.”
Across the net was a twist right out of Hollywood. Martinez’s opponent was the woman she’d dreamed of playing while hitting on the backboard as a child, none other than nine-time Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova.
Daunting a situation as this was, Martinez handled it with exceptional poise – and precision. Through the inevitable ups and downs that often make a Wimbledon final so captivating, Martinez withstood Navratilova’s attack, most notably with several crackling crosscourt backhands. “Today she passed me as well as anybody ever has,” said Navratilova. The final score: 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. “Wimbledon, it changes many things,” says Martinez. “It’s a life changer, because winning a Grand Slam is the most important thing that you can do, and after that you start believing a lot in yourself. You just continue with your career, but that gives you the extra confidence.”
A LENGTHY AND STORIED CAREER
There were many more memorable moments. True to her clay court roots, Martinez was exceptionally dominant on the dirt. Beginning in 1993, she would capture the Italian Open four straight times, a stretch that saw Martinez win 20 consecutive matches and drop a mere three sets. In each of those four finals, all won in straight sets, Martinez beat a future Hall of Famer – Sabatini, Navratilova, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Martina Hingis. In 2000, at Roland-Garros, Martinez went all the way to the finals, only losing in the end to an inspired native daughter, Mary Pierce. Further proof of the Spaniard’s versatility had come at the 1998 Australian Open, where on the hard courts of Melbourne, Martinez reached the finals, defeated by Hingis.
But perhaps Martinez’s most inspired efforts came when matters of national pride were at stake. The Wimbledon triumph had marked the first time a Spanish woman had won the Wimbledon singles championship. Alongside Sanchez Vicario, Martinez earned three Olympic medals -- a bronze at the Atlanta Games in ’96 and silver at both Athens ’04 and, most poignantly, on home soil in Barcelona in ’92. “That’s where I was living and it’s always special to play at home,” says Martinez. She was also a stalwart member of five championship Fed Cup teams (’91, ’93-’95, ’98).
By the time she retired in the spring of 2006, Martinez had been a pro for more than half her life. She’d won 33 singles and 13 doubles titles, been ranked as high as number two in the world and earned more than 700 singles victories.
COMMENTATOR, CAPTAIN, AND COACH
She continued to engage in tennis, including work as a TV commentator and tournament director. Her extensive team experience naturally made Martinez a fitting choice to be named Spain’s Fed Cup captain in 2013 and Davis Cup captain two years later. She held those positions until 2017. More recently, Martinez has been a coach, most notably with a pair of players who’ve each been ranked number one in the world, Karolina Pliskova and two-time Grand Slam winner, fellow Spaniard Garbine Muguruza.
HALL OF FAMER
As she ponders her enshrinement, Martinez speaks with pride. “It's a great honor to be a part of the Hall of Fame,” she says, “to have your name among these amazing other champions and friends, for me is just an unbelievable feeling and I can't wait to celebrate with a lot of people in Newport.”
