Manuela Georgieva Maleeva (Bulgarian: Мануела Георгиева Малеева; born 14 February 1967) is a Bulgarian former professional tennis player. She played on the WTA Tour between 1982 and 1994. Through her marriage, Maleeva began representing Switzerland officially from January 1990 until her retirement in February 1994.

Quick Facts Native name, Country (sports) ...

Manuela Maleeva

Native name	Мануела Малеева
Country (sports)	Bulgaria (1982–89)   Switzerland (1990–94)
Residence	La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland
Born	(1967-02-14) 14 February 1967 (age 57) Sofia, Bulgaria
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Turned pro	May 1982
Retired	February 1994
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$ 3,244,811
Singles
Career record	475–187 (71.8%)
Career titles	19
Highest ranking	No. 3 (4 February 1985)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	QF (1985, 1992, 1994)
French Open	QF (1985, 1987, 1989, 1990)
Wimbledon	QF (1984)
US Open	SF (1992, 1993)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	SF (1987)
Olympic Games	Bronze Medal (1988)
Doubles
Career record	129–131 (49.6%)
Career titles	4
Highest ranking	No. 11 (2 August 1993)
Mixed doubles
Career titles	1
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
US Open	W (1984)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	Bulgaria SF (1985, 1987)   Switzerland QF (1991)
Hopman Cup	Switzerland W (1992)
Medal record Women's tennis Representing  Bulgaria Olympic Games 1988 Seoul Women's singles

Close

One of the most consistent players on tour in the 1980s and early 1990s, Maleeva reached her career-high singles ranking of No. 3 in the world in February 1985 and finished with a year-end top 10 ranking for nine consecutive years (1984 till 1992). A winner of 19 WTA singles titles and four doubles titles, she also reached a total of 14 Grand Slam quarterfinals in her career, including two US Open semifinals in 1992 and 1993, which are her career-best Grand Slam results. She was a semifinalist at the 1987 Virginia Slims Championships.

Maleeva was the bronze medalist in singles at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, winning Bulgaria's first (and thus far, only) Olympic tennis medal. In 1992, she paired up with Jakob Hlasek at the Hopman Cup where they took home Switzerland's first ever title at the event.

Maleeva was born in Sofia, the oldest of the three children of Georgi Maleev and Yuliya Berberyan. Her mother, who came from an Armenian family, was the best Bulgarian tennis player in the 1960s. After she retired from professional tennis in the 1970s, Berberyan started a coaching career. She coached all three of her daughters, Manuela, Katerina, and Magdalena, each of whom became a top six player.^[1]

In 1982, Maleeva won the junior French Open, and also made her debut on the senior tour, ending the year ranked in the top 100.^[2] After ending the 1983 season in the top 40, she won five tournaments in 1984, and made her debut in the top 10 after defeating Chris Evert in the final of the Italian Open. She also won her only Grand Slam title that year – in mixed doubles at the US Open with American Tom Gullikson.^[2]

In 1988, Maleeva-Fragnière won a bronze medal in singles at the Seoul Olympics in Seoul. In 1992 and 1993, Maleeva-Fragnière registered her all-time best achievement in Grand Slam singles competition when she reached the semifinals of the US Open both years (in 1992, after beating youngest sister Magdalena in the quarterfinals).^[2]

In 1994, Maleeva-Fragnière retired from professional tennis, after winning the title in Osaka where she beat Iva Majoli in the final. During her 12-year career, she won 19 WTA singles titles, four doubles titles, and one mixed doubles title. She also teamed with Jakob Hlasek to help Switzerland win the Hopman Cup in 1992.^[2]

In Fed Cup competition, Maleeva twice helped Bulgaria reach the semifinals (1985 and 1987), and then led Switzerland to the quarterfinals in 1991.^[2]

Maleeva married Swiss tennis coach François Fragnière in December 1987 and from then on, began competing as Manuela Maleeva-Fragnière. She represented Switzerland from 1990 until her retirement. They have three children, Lora, born in 1995, Iva in 1997, Timo in 1999, but divorced in 2003.^[1] She currently resides in La Tour-de-Peilz, about 90 km northeast of Geneva across Lake Geneva.^[2][3]

Maleeva has been active in politics back in her home country, being one of the founding members of Yes, Bulgaria! which was founded in 2017. The party focuses on institutional reforms and an anti-corruption agenda.^[4][5][6] Prior to that, she also advocated the 2015 Bulgarian electoral code referendum.^[7][1]

Outside politics, Maleeva is also active in her foundation, Fondation Swissclinical, which she co-founded in 2008.^[8] The foundation focuses on helping handicapped children and children in need by providing them with good medical care and long-term support.^[3][1]

Manuela Maleeva debuted for the Bulgaria Fed Cup team in 1983. She has a 21–5 singles record and a 7–10 doubles record (28–15 overall).

Singles (21–5)

More information Edition, Round ...

Edition	Round	Date	Against	Surface	Opponent	W/L	Result
1983 World Group I	R1	17 July 1983	Switzerland	Clay	Christiane Jolissaint	L	4–6, 6–4, 4–6
	PO	19 July 1983	Zimbabwe		Angela Longo	W	6–1, 6–0
	PO	21 July 1983	Soviet Union		Olga Zaitseva	W	6–0, 6–3
1984 World Group I	R1	15 July 1984	Great Britain	Clay	Jo Durie	W	6–4, 4–6, 6–4
	R2	16 July 1984	Soviet Union		Natasha Reva	W	6–2, 6–0
	QF	18 July 1984	Yugoslavia		Mima Jaušovec	W	3–6, 6–3, 6–1
1985 World Group I	R1	6 October 1985	Soviet Union	Hard	Larisa Savchenko	W	6–7(3–7), 6–4, 6–1
	R2	8 October 1985	Yugoslavia		Sabrina Goleš	W	6–1, 6–3
	QF	10 October 1985	Great Britain		Annabel Croft	W	6–2, 6–2
	SF	12 October 1985	Czechoslovakia		Hana Mandlíková	L	6–3, 2–6, 1–6
1986 World Group I	R1	20 July 1986	Soviet Union	Clay	Larisa Savchenko	W	6–2, 6–1
	R2	21 July 1986	France		Catherine Tanvier	W	6–0, 6–1
	QF	23 July 1986	West Germany		Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	W	6–4, 6–2
1987 World Group I	R1	26 July 1987	Greece	Hard	Angeliki Kanellopoulou	W	6–0, 6–0
	R2	27 July 1987	Indonesia		Yayuk Basuki	W	6–4, 6–0
	QF	29 July 1987	Australia		Elizabeth Smylie	W	6–4, 6–4
	SF	31 July 1987	United States		Chris Evert	L	2–6, 6–2, 4–6
1989 World Group I	R1	1 October 1989	South Korea	Hard	Kim Il-soon	W	6–1, 6–0
	R2	3 October 1989	Argentina		Mercedes Paz	W	4–6, 6–1, 6–3
	QF	5 October 1989	Australia		Anne Minter	L	3–6, 6–2, 4–6
↓  Representing   Switzerland  ↓
1991 World Group I	R1	23 July 1991	Argentina	Hard	Mercedes Paz	W	6–0, 7–6(7–5)
	R2	24 July 1991	China		Li Fang	W	6–7(5–7), 7–5, 6–2
	QF	25 July 1991	Czechoslovakia		Jana Novotná	L	4–6, 4–6
1992 World Group I	R1	14 July 1992	Sweden	Clay	Catarina Lindqvist	W	6–0, 6–2
	PO	16 July 1992	Israel		Anna Smashnova	W	6–1, 6–0
	PO	17 July 1992	Paraguay		Rossana de los Ríos	W	6–2, 6–2

Close

Doubles (7–10)

More information Edition, Round ...

Edition	Round	Date	Partner	Against	Surface	Opponents	W/L	Result
1983 World Group I	PO	19 July 1983	Marina Kondova	Zimbabwe	Clay	Angela Longo Lindsay Standen	W	6–4, 6–2
	PO	21 July 1983	Adriana Velcheva	Soviet Union		Svetlana Cherneva  Larisa Savchenko	L	4–6, 3–6
1984 World Group I	R1	15 July 1984	Katerina Maleeva	Great Britain	Clay	Amanda Brown Anne Hobbs	W	7–6, 7–5
	R2	16 July 1984	Katerina Maleeva	Soviet Union		Elena Eliseenko  Larisa Savchenko	L	7–5, 5–7, 1–6
	QF	18 July 1984	Katerina Maleeva	Yugoslavia		Sabrina Goleš  Mima Jaušovec	L	3–6, 1–6
1985 World Group I	R1	6 October 1985	Katerina Maleeva	Soviet Union	Hard	Natalia Egorova Svetlana Cherneva	W	6–3, 7–5
	R2	8 October 1985	Katerina Maleeva	Yugoslavia		Sabrina Goleš Aila Winkler	W	6–4, 7–6(9–7)
	QF	10 October 1985	Katerina Maleeva	Great Britain		Jo Durie  Anne Hobbs	L	4–5, Ret.
	SF	12 October 1985	Katerina Maleeva	Czechoslovakia		Hana Mandlíková  Helena Suková	L	3–6, 6–7(4–7)
1986 World Group I	R1	20 July 1986	Katerina Maleeva	Soviet Union	Clay	Svetlana Cherneva  Larisa Savchenko	L	6–1, 4–6, 1–6
	QF	23 July 1986	Katerina Maleeva	West Germany		Bettina Bunge  Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	L	4–6, 2–6
1989 World Group I	R1	1 October 1989	Katerina Maleeva	South Korea	Hard	Kim Il-soon  Lee Jeong-myung	W	7–5, 6–0
	R2	3 October 1989	Katerina Maleeva	Argentina		Florencia Labat  Mercedes Paz	W	6–1, 3–6, 6–1
	QF	5 October 1989	Katerina Maleeva	Australia		Elizabeth Smylie  Janine Tremelling	L	7–5, 4–6, 0–6
↓  Representing   Switzerland  ↓
1991 World Group I	R2	24 July 1991	Cathy Caverzasio	China	Hard	Li Fang Yi Jing-Qian	L	1–3, Ret.
	QF	25 July 1991	Cathy Caverzasio	Czechoslovakia		Jana Novotná  Regina Rajchrtová	W	6–4, 2–1, Ret.
1992 World Group I	R1	14 July 1992	Michèle Strebel	Sweden	Clay	Maria Lindström  Maria Strandlund	L	4–6, 7–5, 4–6

Close

Maleeva's win–loss record against certain players who have been ranked world No. 10 or higher is as follows:

Players who have been ranked world No. 1 are in boldface.

• Katerina Maleeva
• Magdalena Maleeva
• List of female tennis players