Paola Suárez facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Paola Suárez

Country (sports)	Argentina
Residence	Oviedo, Spain
Born	(1976-06-23) 23 June 1976 (age 49) Pergamino, Argentina
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Turned pro	1 March 1991
Retired	2007, 2014
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$5,217,775
Singles
Career record	371–239 (60.82%)
Career titles	4
Highest ranking	No. 9 (7 June 2004)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	4R (2001)
French Open	SF (2004)
Wimbledon	QF (2004)
US Open	QF (2003)
Doubles
Career record	513–192 (72.77%)
Career titles	44
Highest ranking	No. 1 (9 September 2002)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	W (2004)
French Open	W (2001, 2002, 2004, 2005)
Wimbledon	F (2002, 2003, 2006)
US Open	W (2002, 2003, 2004)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour Finals	W (2003)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open	F (2002)
French Open	F (2001)
Wimbledon	3R (2000, 2003)
US Open	2R (2000, 2003, 2007)
Medal record Olympic Games Bronze 2004 Athens Women's doubles

Paola Suárez (born on June 23, 1976) is a retired tennis player from Argentina. She was one of the best women's doubles players in the early and mid-2000s. Paola won eight Grand Slam titles, all with her partner Virginia Ruano Pascual. She was also ranked No. 1 in doubles for 87 weeks. Besides her doubles success, she was a top ten singles player and reached the semi-finals at the 2004 French Open.

Paola Suárez's Tennis Journey

Paola Suárez started playing professional tennis when she was 15 years old. In 1994, she joined the professional tour as a singles player.

Singles Career Highlights

Paola won four major WTA titles and 12 other smaller tournaments in her singles career. In 2004, she reached her only Grand Slam singles semi-final at the French Open. She beat Maria Sharapova, who would later become a Wimbledon champion. However, she lost to Elena Dementieva in that match. That same year, she reached her highest singles ranking of No. 9 in the world. This made her the highest-ranked Argentine woman tennis player since Gabriela Sabatini in 1989. Also in 2004, she won a bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Athens for women's doubles with her partner Patricia Tarabini.

Doubles Success and Partnerships

While Paola had some success in singles, she truly shined in doubles. She won many titles with her fellow Argentine player Laura Montalvo. But her most famous partnership was with the Spanish player Virginia Ruano Pascual. Together, they won 32 of Paola's 39 doubles titles.

They won the French Open four times, the US Open three times, and the Australian Open in 2004. Paola and Virginia were the No. 1 women's doubles team for three years in a row, starting in September 2002. They were also named the WTA Tour Doubles Team of the Year in 2002, 2003, and 2004. They even reached nine Grand Slam finals in a row!

Later Career and Retirement

In 2005, Paola announced she would be retiring soon. She had a hip injury that needed surgery, which kept her off the court for several months. She returned to play in January 2006 with Virginia Ruano Pascual, reaching a final. Later that year, they also reached the final at Wimbledon. This was her third time reaching a Wimbledon final.

Paola made a brief return to singles, winning a match at the San Diego Open. On September 1, 2007, Paola officially retired after losing in the mixed doubles at the US Open. She played with Kevin Ullyett in that match. She briefly returned to the WTA doubles tour in 2012, partnering with another Argentine player, Gisela Dulko. They played at the London Summer Olympics but lost in the first round.

Throughout her amazing career, Paola Suárez earned over $5.2 million. She won four singles titles and eight Grand Slam doubles titles.

Major Tournament Finals

Paola Suárez played in many important finals during her career.

Grand Slam Doubles Finals: 14 (8 Wins, 6 Losses)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	2000	French Open	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Martina Hingis Mary Pierce	2–6, 4–6
Win	2001	French Open	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Jelena Dokić Conchita Martínez	6–2, 6–1
Win	2002	French Open	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	6–4, 6–2
Loss	2002	Wimbledon	Grass	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Serena Williams Venus Williams	2–6, 5–7
Win	2002	US Open	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Elena Dementieva Janette Husárová	6–2, 6–1
Loss	2003	Australian Open	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Serena Williams Venus Williams	6–4, 4–6, 3–6
Loss	2003	French Open	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Kim Clijsters Ai Sugiyama	7–6(7–5), 2–6, 7–9
Loss	2003	Wimbledon	Grass	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Kim Clijsters Ai Sugiyama	4–6, 4–6
Win	2003	US Open	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Svetlana Kuznetsova Martina Navratilova	6–2, 6–3
Win	2004	Australian Open	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Svetlana Kuznetsova Elena Likhovtseva	6–4, 6–3
Win	2004	French Open	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Svetlana Kuznetsova Elena Likhovtseva	6–0, 6–3
Win	2004	US Open	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Svetlana Kuznetsova Elena Likhovtseva	6–4, 7–5
Win	2005	French Open	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Cara Black Liezel Huber	4–6, 6–3, 6–3
Loss	2006	Wimbledon	Grass	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Yan Zi Zheng Jie	3–6, 6–3, 2–6

Olympic Games Doubles Final: 1 (1 Bronze Medal)

Result	Year	Location	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Bronze	2004	Athens	Hard	Patricia Tarabini	Shinobu Asagoe Ai Sugiyama	6–3, 6–3

WTA Tour Finals

Paola Suárez competed in many finals on the WTA Tour, both in singles and doubles.

Singles Finals: 8 (4 Wins, 4 Losses)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1.	Feb 1998	Bogotá	Clay	Sonya Jeyaseelan	6–3, 6–4
Loss	1.	May 1999	Madrid	Clay	Lindsay Davenport	6–1, 6–3
Loss	2.	Feb 2000	São Paulo	Clay	Rita Kuti-Kis	4–6, 6–4, 7–5
Loss	3.	Jan 2001	Auckland	Hard	Meilen Tu	7–6(12–10), 6–2
Win	2.	Feb 2001	Bogotá	Clay	Rita Kuti-Kis	6–2, 6–4
Loss	4.	Mar 2002	Acapulco	Clay	Katarina Srebotnik	6–7(1–7), 6–4, 6–2
Win	3.	Jun 2003	Vienna	Clay	Karolina Šprem	7–6(7–0), 2–6, 6–4
Win	4.	Jan 2004	Canberra	Hard	Silvia Farina Elia	3–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–5)

Doubles Finals: 69 (44 Wins, 25 Losses)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1.	5 May 1996	Bol	Clay	Laura Montalvo	Alexia Dechaume-Balleret Alexandra Fusai	6–7(5–7), 6–3, 6–4
Win	2.	18 January 1998	Hobart	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Julie Halard-Decugis Janette Husárová	7–6(8–6), 6–3
Win	3.	22 February 1998	Bogotá	Clay	Janette Husárová	Melissa Mazzotta Ekaterina Sysoeva	3–6, 6–2, 6–3
Win	4.	26 April 1998	Budapest	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Cătălina Cristea Laura Montalvo	4–6, 6–1, 6–1
Win	5.	3 May 1998	Bol	Clay	Laura Montalvo	Joannette Kruger Mirjana Lučić	w/o
Win	6.	10 May 1998	Rome	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Amanda Coetzer Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	7–6(7–1), 6–4
Win	7.	12 July 1998	Maria Lankowitz	Clay	Laura Montalvo	Tina Križan Katarina Srebotnik	6–1, 6–2
Loss	1.	21 February 1999	Bogotá	Clay	Laura Montalvo	Christína Papadáki Seda Noorlander	6–4, 7–6(7–5)
Win	8.	23 May 1999	Madrid	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	María Fernanda Landa Marlene Weingärtner	6–2, 0–6, 6–0
Win	9.	18 July 1999	Sopot	Clay	Laura Montalvo	Gala León García María Sánchez Lorenzo	6–4, 6–3
Win	10.	10 October 1999	São Paulo	Clay	Laura Montalvo	Janette Husárová Florencia Labat	6–7(1–7), 7–5, 7–5
Win	11.	20 February 2000	Bogotá	Clay	Laura Montalvo	Rita Kuti-Kis Petra Mandula	6–4, 6–2
Win	12.	27 February 2000	São Paulo	Clay	Laura Montalvo	Janette Husárová Florencia Labat	5–7, 6–4, 6–3
Win	13.	23 April 2000	Hilton Head	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Conchita Martínez Patricia Tarabini	7–5, 6–3
Loss	2.	11 June 2000	French Open	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Martina Hingis Mary Pierce	6–2, 6–4
Win	14.	16 July 2000	Klagenfurt	Clay	Laura Montalvo	Barbara Schett Patty Schnyder	7–6(7–5), 6–1
Win	15.	23 July 2000	Sopot	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Åsa Carlsson Rita Grande	7–5, 6–1
Loss	3.	21 August 2000	New Haven	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Julie Halard-Decugis Ai Sugiyama	6–4, 5–7, 6–2
Loss	4.	8 October 2000	Tokyo	Hard	Nana Miyagi	Julie Halard-Decugis Ai Sugiyama	6–0, 6–2
Loss	5.	19 February 2001	Bogotá	Clay	Laura Montalvo	Tathiana Garbin Janette Husárová	6–4, 2–6, 6–4
Loss	6.	4 March 2001	Acapulco	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Anabel Medina Garrigues María José Martínez Sánchez	6–4, 6–7(5–7), 7–5
Loss	7.	11 March 2001	Indian Wells	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Nicole Arendt Ai Sugiyama	6–4, 6–4
Loss	8.	22 April 2001	Charleston	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	5–7, 7–6(7–5), 6–3
Loss	9.	20 May 2001	Rome	Clay	Patricia Tarabini	Cara Black Elena Likhovtseva	6–1, 6–1
Win	16.	26 May 2001	Madrid	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	7–5, 2–6, 7–6(7–4)
Win	17.	10 June 2001	French Open	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Jelena Dokic Conchita Martínez	6–2, 6–1
Win	18.	15 July 2001	Vienna	Clay	Patricia Tarabini	Vanessa Henke Lenka Němečková	6–4, 6–2
Win	19.	24 February 2002	Bogotá	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Tina Križan Katarina Srebotnik	6–2, 6–1
Win	20.	3 March 2002	Acapulco	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Tina Križan Katarina Srebotnik	7–5, 6–1
Loss	10.	1 April 2002	Miami	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	7–6(7–4), 6–7(4–7), 6–3
Win	21.	19 May 2002	Rome	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Conchita Martínez Patricia Tarabini	6–3, 6–4
Win	22.	9 June 2002	French Open	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	6–4, 6–2
Loss	11.	24 June 2002	Wimbledon	Grass	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Serena Williams Venus Williams	6–2, 7–5
Win	23.	18 August 2002	Montreal	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Rika Fujiwara Ai Sugiyama	6–4, 7–6(7–4)
Win	24.	8 September 2002	US Open	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Elena Dementieva Janette Husárová	6–2, 6–1
Win	25.	14 September 2002	Bahia	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Émilie Loit Rossana de los Ríos	6–4, 6–1
Loss	12.	24 September 2002	Leipzig	Carpet	Janette Husárová	Alexandra Stevenson Serena Williams	6–3, 7–5
Loss	13.	13 October 2002	Filderstadt	Hard (i)	Meghann Shaughnessy	Lindsay Davenport Lisa Raymond	6–2, 6–4
Loss	14.	13 January 2003	Australian Open	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Serena Williams Venus Williams	4–6, 6–4, 6–3
Win	26.	13 April 2003	Charleston	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Janette Husárová Conchita Martínez	6–0, 6–3
Loss	15.	20 April 2003	Amelia Island	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Lindsay Davenport Lisa Raymond	7–5, 6–2
Win	27.	11 May 2003	Berlin	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Kim Clijsters Ai Sugiyama	6–3, 4–6, 6–4
Loss	16.	8 June 2003	French Open	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Kim Clijsters Ai Sugiyama	6–7(5–7), 6–2, 9–7
Loss	17.	6 July 2003	Wimbledon	Grass	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Kim Clijsters Ai Sugiyama	4–6, 6–4
Win	28.	23 August 2003	New Haven	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Alicia Molik Magüi Serna	7–6(8–6), 6–3
Win	29.	7 September 2003	US Open	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Svetlana Kuznetsova Martina Navratilova	6–2, 6–3
Loss	18.	19 October 2003	Zürich	Hard (i)	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Kim Clijsters Ai Sugiyama	7–6(7–3), 6–2
Win	30.	10 November 2003	Los Angeles	Hard (i)	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Kim Clijsters Ai Sugiyama	6–4, 3–6, 6–3
Loss	19.	5 January 2004	Auckland	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Mervana Jugić-Salkić Jelena Kostanić Tošić	7–6(8–6), 3–6, 6–1
Win	31.	1 February 2004	Australian Open	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Svetlana Kuznetsova Elena Likhovtseva	6–4, 6–3
Win	32.	21 March 2004	Indian Wells	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Svetlana Kuznetsova Elena Likhovtseva	6–1, 6–2
Win	33.	18 April 2004	Charleston	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Martina Navratilova Lisa Raymond	6–4, 6–1
Loss	20.	10 May 2004	Rome	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Nadia Petrova Meghann Shaughnessy	2–6, 6–3, 6–3
Win	34.	3 June 2004	French Open	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Svetlana Kuznetsova Elena Likhovtseva	6–0, 6–3
Loss	21.	26 July 2004	San Diego	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Cara Black Rennae Stubbs	4–6, 6–1, 6–4
Win	35.	11 September 2004	US Open	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Svetlana Kuznetsova Martina Navratilova	6–4, 7–5
Loss	22.	17 October 2004	Moscow	Carpet	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Anastasia Myskina Vera Zvonareva	6–3, 4–6, 6–2
Loss	23.	24 October 2004	Zürich	Hard (i)	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Cara Black Rennae Stubbs	6–4, 6–4
Win	36.	31 October 2004	Luxembourg City	Hard (i)	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Jill Craybas Marlene Weingärtner	6–1, 6–7(1–7), 6–3
Win	37.	5 March 2005	Dubai	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Svetlana Kuznetsova Alicia Molik	6–7(7–9), 6–2, 6–1
Win	38.	19 March 2005	Indian Wells	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Nadia Petrova Meghann Shaughnessy	7–6(7–3), 6–1
Win	39.	4 June 2005	French Open	Clay	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Cara Black Liezel Huber	4–6, 6–3, 6–3
Loss	24.	17 January 2006	Sydney	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Corina Morariu Rennae Stubbs	6–3, 5–7, 6–2
Loss	25.	8 July 2006	Wimbledon	Grass	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Zheng Jie Yan Zi	6–3, 3–6, 6–2
Win	40.	13 August 2006	Los Angeles	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Daniela Hantuchová Ai Sugiyama	6–3, 6–4
Win	41.	24 September 2006	Beijing	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Anna Chakvetadze Elena Vesnina	6–2, 6–4
Win	42.	1 October 2006	Seoul	Hard	Virginia Ruano Pascual	Chuang Chia-jung Mariana Díaz Oliva	6–2, 6–3
Win	43.	6 January 2007	Auckland	Hard	Janette Husárová	Hsieh Su-wei Shikha Uberoi	6–0, 6–2
Win	44.	25 February 2007	Bogotá	Clay	Lourdes Domínguez Lino	Flavia Pennetta Roberta Vinci	1–6, 6–3, [11–9]

Playing Against Top Players

Here's how Paola Suárez performed against some of the world's top 10 tennis players. Players who were ranked No. 1 are shown in bold.

See also

In Spanish: Paola Suárez para niños