Former tennis star is living a very different life now after $41,000,000 fortune 'vanished'
Topics: Sport
Kiesha Dosanjh
Featured Image Credit: Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for The Buoniconti Fund To Cure Paralysis
Topics: Sport
A three time French Open champion, who was once the Number 1 tennis player in the world, has revealed how she lost her whopping $41 million fortune.
Spanish player Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario rose to the top after winning the French Open and US Open in 1994, but over three decades later, her life, and bank account, look very different.
Away from the sport, in 2008, the tennis player tied the knot with entrepreneur Josep Santacana, with their marriage ending in 2019.
In 2024, it was reported the two had been found guilty of fraud in Spain, and although the 52-year-old avoided jail time, her former husband was sentenced to three years and three months in prison.
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It was reported that the couple had avoided paying debts to the Banque de Luxembourg by hiding assets.
Vicario's two-year-sentence was waived as she was a first time offender, according to the New York Post, but had an agreement she would pay the banks back her debt.
The former couple were also ordered to pay a fine of $7.1 million.
“I trusted him because he was the father of my children. I fell blindly in love, and he really isn’t the person I thought he was," the former tennis star said on Spanish TV show Universo Callejo, The Sun reports.
Addressing the rumors that she lost her $41 million fortune, the 54-year-old responded: “It’s true, that’s the amount that appeared in the press."
Sánchez-Vicario then claimed to the outlet that she 'never handled her own financial affairs' as she 'didn't know how'. Instead, she said she focused on playing tennis.
“I trusted my husband… And the [$41m] vanished. I was left to shoulder the entire burden," she added.
Sánchez-Vicario, who claims she is a 'victim', also revealed that she avoided jail time as she's 'paying 50 per cent of her earnings to the bank', reportedly, the Bank of Luxembourg.
The retired tennis player also said she had to go to therapy due to the shock of it all.
Elsewhere, in 2009, the tennis player was ordered to pay a $5.9 million fine for tax fraud, by the Supreme Court. During the years of 1989-93, as per a court ruling, the tennis player was residing in Spain, although claimed she had been living in Andorra.
Throughout her career - which ended in retirement in 2002, before returning to play doubles in the 2004 Olympics - Sánchez-Vicario won a total on 14 Grand Slam titles.
Four of these were Singles, six were Womens' Doubles, and a further four were won in Mixed Doubles.