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Former World No. 1 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario turned 50 in December, but her birthday celebrations were overshadowed by news of her facing a possible four-year jail term in her home country of Spain in a fraud case.
Sanchez Vicario, who lifted her fourth and final Grand Slam singles trophy at the 1998 Roland Garros, has endured a tumultuous phase since her retirement. A complicated personal life and multiple tax evasion cases have kept the Spaniard in the headlines, and her latest row dates back a few years.
Sanchez Vicario was married to businessman Josep Santacana between 2008-2019. Her ex-husband was accused of carrying out financial operations, including transfer of assets, to avoid paying the Banque de Luxembourg dues worth £5.1 million.
The Banque de Luxembourg had put in money to bail out the former tennis player in an earlier tax evasion case, but after Sanchez Vicario failed to repay the debt, the bank took to court seeking compensation.
Sanchez Vicario is said to have moved her assets "under instructions from Santacana" to avoid paying the large debt and is now facing a four-year jail term along with her ex-husband, a co-accused in the case.
The 14-time Grand Slam champion earned around $16.9 million over the course of her illustrious career. Her improbable run to the 1998 Roland Garros title remains one of her most memorable displays.
Arantxa Sanchez Vicario beat Venus Williams on the American's debut in 1994
Arantxa Sanchez Vicario handed Venus Williams her first WTA main draw defeat when the two played at the 1994 Bank of the West Classic.
Williams, who was 14 at the time, was making her senior debut in front of her home crowd. The American led Sanchez Vicario, the then World No. 2, by a set and a break, but the Spaniard's bathroom break shifted the tide completely.
Sanchez Vicario returned rejuvenated and managed to turn the encounter around, winning 2-6, 6-3. 6-0. Williams later described the match as one of the few in her career that she should have won, but admitted that she had plenty to take away from the encounter.
"[I didn't know] what I was doing," Williams said in an interview with USA Today. "I mean, I had a huge lead. She took a bathroom break and I fell apart.”
"I was young," she continued. "Take a break on me now, it's like, 'Great! You can keep going.' But at the time, would I have won that match without the break? You can't ever say. But probably."
For Sanchez Vicario, the win was just one of several tenacious come-from-behind victories in the Spaniard's career.
