Virginia Ruano Pascual (; born 21 September 1973) is a Spanish former professional

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player. She had moderate success in

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

, winning three

WTA Tour The WTA Tour (also known as the Hologic WTA Tour for sponsorship reasons) is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women and organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125 series, and third-tier is the ITF Wome ...

titles as well as reaching two

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

quarterfinals and a top-30 ranking, but she had been far more successful in doubles. She won 43 career doubles titles, including eleven at Grand Slam tournaments: ten in women's doubles (eight partnering

Paola Suárez Paola Suárez (; born 23 June 1976) is a retired tennis player from Argentina. She was one of the most prominent women's doubles players throughout the early and mid-2000s, winning eight Grand Slam titles, all of them with Virginia Ruano Pascua ...

, and two partnering

Anabel Medina Garrigues Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues (, ; born 31 July 1982) is a Spanish tennis coach and former professional player. As a player she reached a career-high ranking of world No. 16 in 2009, and won 11 singles and 28 doubles titles, including the 2008 ...

) and one in

mixed doubles Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis, and badminton (where it is known ...

(partnering

Tomás Carbonell Tomás Carbonell Lladó (born 7 August 1968) is a former professional tennis player from Spain. Carbonell won 2 singles and 22 doubles titles on the ATP Tour in his career. He won the French Open in 2001 in mixed doubles with Virginia Ruano P ...

). Between 2002 and 2004, along with Suárez, she reached nine consecutive Grand Slam tournament finals (won five) and they reached at least the semifinals of the last twelve Grand Slam tournaments they played. Their winning run came to an end when they lost in the 2009 Wimbledon semifinals. Alongside Suarez, the pair was named as a

ITF World Champions The International Tennis Federation (ITF) designates a World Champion each year based on its own majority opinion of performances throughout the year, emphasizing the Grand Slam tournaments,ITF Constitution, p.26, Rule 2.2(a)(iii) and also consid ...

for the three consecutive years in a row (2002-2004).

Personal life

Her father, Juan Manuel Ruano, worked for

Iberia Airlines Iberia (), legally incorporated as ''Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España, S.A. Operadora, Sociedad Unipersonal'', is the flag carrier of Spain. Founded in 1927 and based in Madrid, it operates an international network of services from its main ...

; her mother, Virginia Pascual, is a housewife. She has a brother, Juan Ramón, a tennis pro who also serves as her coach, and a sister, Marbella. Initially, Virginia hyphenated her family names ("Ruano-Pascual") but has omitted the hyphen since 1998.

Career

Women's doubles

Majors

Ruano Pascual was very successful at the Grand Slam tournaments. In total, she won ten titles in doubles events. She lifted the

French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...

trophy six times. The first one she won in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

along with Paola Suárez, with whom she one year ago played final but they lost. In

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, she defended her title again with Suárez. The following year, she also reached final but finished as a runner-up, again with Suárez. The pair then triumphed again in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. After three years without reaching final at the French Open, in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

she won another title but this time with

. They successfully defended their title in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

. French Open is not the only major she has won. In

, with Suarez, she won her first and only

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

title. At the

US Open U.S. Open or US Open are open championship sporting tournaments that are hosted in the United States and in which anyone, especially amateur and professional, or American and non-American, may compete. The term may also be applied to non-sporting ev ...

, she collected three titles. Her first final and also title was in

with Suarez. After that, the pair defended their title in the following two years (

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

and

). Despite not winning any title at the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...

, she finished as a runner-up three times (

and

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

). Along with her success in women's doubles, she also won one mixed doubles title at the

2001 French Open The 2001 French Open was the second Grand Slam event of 2001 and the 100th edition of the French Open. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from late May through early June, 2001. Seniors Men's singles Gustavo Kuerten de ...

. Alongside Suárez, the pair was named as a

for three consecutive years in-a-row (2002-2004).

Other significant results

Along with great performances at the highest-level tournaments (Grand Slams), she had success at the WTA Premier Mandatory & 5 tournaments as well. It all started with the title at the Italian Open in 1998, that also was her first either quarterfinal, semifinal or final on this level. In 2000, she did well at the

Charleston Open The Charleston Open, currently sponsored by Credit One, is a WTA Tour-affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1973. It is the oldest professional all-women's tournament in America with a $1,064,510 purse. The t ...

, winning her second level title. Two years later, she went a step further, winning two titles ( Italian Open & Canadian Open). After winning per two titles in 2003 and 2004, in 2005 she won three titles to reach the total of 11 titles from this level. Her last title was the 2005 San Diego Open. At most of the level tournaments, she had at least quarterfinal with one exception, the

China Open China Open may refer to: *China Open (snooker), a professional snooker tournament *China Open (tennis), a professional tennis tournament on the ATP World Tour and WTA Tour *China Open (badminton), an annual badminton tournament * China Open (squash) ...

that was reclassified as WTA Premier Mandatory tournament just two years before Pascual's retirement. She also has one year-end championships title at the 2003 WTA Tour Championships.

Ranking and national contribution

Being one of the most successful doubles players, she did not leave her mark only on the Grand Slams & WTA Premier Mandatory/5 tournaments. She also is former world No. 1 that she achieved in September 2003. She finished 2004 as the top ranked player. In 2005, she also spent some weeks at the highest position, but finished the year as world No. 4. Until her retirement in 2010, she spent at least one week in the top 10 in each season. She also left her mark playing for Spain at the national competitions. At the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

, she won two

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

s, in

with

Conchita Martínez Conchita Martínez Bernat (born 16 April 1972) is a Spanish former professional tennis player and current coach. She was the first Spaniard to win the women's singles title at Wimbledon, doing so in 1994. Martínez also was the runner-up at th ...

and in

with Medina Garrigues.

Singles

Along with her doubles success, she had a solid singles career as well. In April 1999, she reached 28th place. She has won three WTA Tour titles. At the majors, she reached two quarterfinals; at the French Open in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

and Australian Open in

Performance timelines

''Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Fed Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.''

Singles

Doubles

Grand Slam tournament finals

Doubles: 16 (10 titles, 6 runner-ups)

Mixed doubles: 1 (title)

Other significant finals

WTA Tour Championships

Doubles: 1 (title)

Summer Olympics

Doubles: 2 (2 silver medals)

Premier Mandatory & 5

Doubles: 22 (11 titles, 11 runner-ups)

WTA Tour finals

Singles: 3 (3 titles)

Doubles: 78 (43 titles, 35 runner-ups)

ITF finals

Singles: 7 (4 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Doubles: 18 (10 titles, 8 runner-ups)

Top 10 wins

Awards

* Named WTA Tour Doubles Team of the Year for third straight year for 2004 with partner Paola Suárez. * With partner Paola Suárez, received Premio Consagración Clarín al Mérito Deportivo 2003, an award presented to Argentine athletes for their achievements * With partner Paola Suárez, named 2002 WTA Tour Doubles Team of the Year and 2002 ITF Women's Doubles World Champions * In 1993 helped Spain recapture the

Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...

title and defended it in 1994

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruano Pascual, Virginia 1973 births Living people Tennis players from Madrid Spanish female tennis players Olympic tennis players for Spain Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Australian Open (tennis) champions French Open champions US Open (tennis) champions Olympic silver medalists for Spain Olympic medalists for Spain in tennis Hopman Cup competitors Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Spain Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Spain Competitors at the 1993 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in tennis WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players ITF World Champions