Bettina Fulco (born 23 October 1968) is a retired tennis player from Argentina. She reached her highest ranking of world, No. 23 on 10 October 1988.

Bettina Fulco
Country (sports) Argentina
ResidenceMar del Plata, Argentina
Born (1968-10-23) 23 October 1968 (age 56)
Mar del Plata
Height1.61 m (5 ft 3+12 in)
Turned pro1987
Retired1998
PlaysRight-handed (one handed backhand)
Prize money$654,309
Singles
Career record288–251
Career titles2 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 23 (10 October 1988)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (1995)
French OpenQF (1988)
Wimbledon3R (1987)
US Open2R (1991)
Doubles
Career record108–180
Career titles3 WTA, 1 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 62 (4 November 1991)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open2R (1992)
French Open2R (1987, 1988, 1989)
Wimbledon1R (1987, 1992, 1994)
US Open2R (1990, 1992)
Mixed doubles
Career record2–3
Career titles0
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
French Open2R (1989, 1990)

She began playing tennis at age ten, at the university club in her hometown of Mar del Plata,[1] having been inspired to start because of the increased interest in the sport in Argentina due to Guillermo Vilas' success.[2] As a junior, Bettina was among the best in the world, reaching the finals of the Orange Bowl 18-and-under championships in 1986,[3] and finishing second in the junior rankings in 1986.[2] She turned professional in 1987. Like many South American players, Bettina Fulco was considered a clay-court specialist,[4] and reached the quarterfinals of the French Open in 1988. Bettina beat Martina Navratilova in Houston 1994 for her biggest career victory.[1] She also achieved victories over Conchita Martínez, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Hana Mandlíková, Katerina Maleeva, Manuela Maleeva, Magdalena Maleeva, Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, Lori McNeil and Nathalie Tauziat.[2] She retired from professional tennis in 1998.[1]

Since retiring from tennis, Bettina has been the director of the School of Tennis at the Club Atlético Kimberley, based in Mar del Plata.[1] She is also a coach, having worked with notable players such as Victoria Azarenka, Kateryna Bondarenko, Angelique Widjaja and Emma Laine.[2] In addition, Bettina was the captain of the Argentina Fed Cup team from 2011 to 2013.[5]

WTA career finals

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Tournament ( W–R ) Singles Doubles
Grand Slam tournaments 0–0 0–0
Tier I 0–0 0–0
Tier II 0–0 0–0
Tier III 0–0 0–0
Tier IV 0–0 1–0
Tier V 0–1 1–0
VS 0–1 1–0

Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

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Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Oct 1986 Japan Open, Tokyo Hard   Helen Kelesi 6–2, 6–2
Loss 0–2 Apr 1988 Spanish Open, Barcelona Clay   Neige Dias 6–3, 6–3

Doubles: 3 (3 titles)

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Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Nov 1988 Brasil Open, Guarujá Hard   Mercedes Paz   Carin Bakkum
  Simone Schilder
6–3, 6–4
Win 2–0 Nov 1990 Brasil Open, São Paulo Clay   Eva Švíglerová   Mary Pierce
  Luanne Spadea
7–5, 6–4
Win 3–0 Jul 1991 Austrian Open, Kitzbühel Clay   Nicole Muns   Sandra Cecchini
  Patricia Tarabini
7–5, 6–4

ITF Circuit finals

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$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Singles: 6 (2–4)

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Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1. 9 June 1986 ITF Lyon, France Clay   Mariana Pérez Roldán 4–6, 6–3, 1–6
Winner 2. 21 July 1986 ITF Philadelphia, United States Hard   Susan Leo 3–6, 6–2, 6–0
Winner 3. 20 September 1993 ITF Capua, Italy Clay   Maja Palaveršić 2–6, 6–4, 6–4
Runner-up 4. 11 July 1994 ITF Darmstadt, Germany Clay   Svetlana Komleva 4–6, 1–6
Runner-up 5. 29 September 1997 ITF Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay   María Fernanda Landa 4–6, 1–6
Runner-up 6. 3 August 1998 ITF Catania, Italy Clay   Romina Ottoboni 4–6, 6–7(2–7)

Doubles: 3 (1–2)

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Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner 1. 7 April 1986 ITF Caserta, Italy Clay   Gisele Miró   Wiltrud Probst
  Marianne van der Torre
6–3, 6–3
Runner-up 2. 11 July 1994 ITF Darmstadt, Germany Clay   Patricia Tarabini   Park Sung-hee
  Choi Ju-yeon
4–6, 3–6
Runner-up 3. 9 August 1998 ITF Catania, Italy Clay   Jorgelina Torti   Chiara Dalbon
  Alberta Brianti
5–7, 4–6

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
Tournament 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 Career W-L
Australian Open A A A A A 1R 1R A 2R A 1R 1–4
French Open 2R QF 2R 1R 3R 1R 1R 1R Q1 A Q2 8–8
Wimbledon 3R A A A 2R 1R A 1R A A Q1 3–4
US Open 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R 1R A 1R A Q2 Q1 1–7

Source

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Match point para el tenis de Mar del Plata Match Point for tennis de Mar del Plata". Retrieved 2010-05-20.
  2. ^ a b c d "Bettina Fulco Career". Retrieved 2010-05-20.
  3. ^ "ORANGE BOWL INTERNATIONAL TENNIS CHAMPIONS". Retrieved 2010-05-20. [dead link]
  4. ^ "Shriver breezes, is confident for No. 5 Fernandez". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
  5. ^ Jorge Viale. "Americas – Day 1 report". fedcup.com. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
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