Barbara Paulus (born 1 September 1970) is a former professional tennis player from Austria. She began playing on the WTA Tour in 1986 and retired in 2001. During her career, she won a total of seven WTA tournaments (six singles titles, one doubles title). Paulus competed for the Austria Fed Cup team on 21 occasions in singles and doubles, winning nine of her 22 matches.
Paulus is one of the most successful Austrian female tennis players, being one of only two to be ranked in the top 10 (along with Barbara Schett), despite having a career plagued with injuries. She won six singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour. Her best results include victories over Chris Evert, Mary Pierce, Gabriela Sabatini, Conchita Martínez, and Jana Novotná.[2]
After reaching as high as No. 12 in the world in 1990,[2] she sustained injuries to her knee and both wrists which required her to have surgery and kept her sidelined for many months through 1992 and 1993.[2][3] Her comeback from injury eventually bore her much success, with four WTA titles between 1995 and 1997, a top-ten ranking, and reaching her biggest career final at the Tier I Family Circle Cup, where she lost in three sets to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario.[4]
Her career effectively ended in 1998 after an elbow injury, though she made a brief return in 2001.[5]
- 1990: Golden Needle Award from Austrian Tennis Federation[6]
| Winner – Legend
|
| Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
|
| WTA Tour Championships (0–0)
|
| Tier I (0–1)
|
| Tier II (0–1)
|
| Tier III (2–5)
|
| Tier IV (3–2)
|
| Tier V (1–2)
|
|
| Finals by surface
|
| Hard (1–4)
|
| Grass (0–0)
|
| Clay (5–5)
|
| Carpet (0–2)
|
|
| Result
|
W/L
|
Date
|
Tournament
|
Tier
|
Surface
|
Opponent
|
Score
|
| Win
|
1–0
|
May 1988
|
Geneva, Switzerland
|
Tier V
|
Clay
|
United States Lori McNeil
|
6–4, 5–7, 6–1
|
| Loss
|
1–1
|
Aug 1988
|
Sofia, Bulgaria
|
Tier V
|
Hard
|
Spain Conchita Martínez
|
6–1, 6–2
|
| Loss
|
1–2
|
Jul 1989
|
Arcachon, Spain
|
Tier V
|
Clay
|
Austria Judith Wiesner
|
6–3, 6–7(3–7), 6–1
|
| Loss
|
1–3
|
Jan 1990
|
Sydney, Australia
|
Tier III
|
Hard
|
Soviet Union Natasha Zvereva
|
4–6, 6–1, 6–3
|
| Win
|
2–3
|
May 1990
|
Geneva, Switzerland
|
Tier IV
|
Clay
|
Canada Helen Kelesi
|
2–6, 7–5, 7–6(7–3)
|
| Loss
|
2–4
|
Jul 1990
|
Palermo, Italy
|
Tier IV
|
Clay
|
West Germany Isabel Cueto
|
6–2, 6–3
|
| Loss
|
2–5
|
Oct 1990
|
Filderstadt, Germany
|
Tier II
|
Hard (i)
|
United States Mary Joe Fernández
|
6–1, 6–3
|
| Win
|
3–5
|
Sep 1995
|
Warsaw, Poland
|
Tier III
|
Clay
|
France Alexandra Fusai
|
7–6(7–4), 4–6, 6–1
|
| Win
|
4–5
|
Nov 1995
|
Pattaya, Thailand
|
Tier IV
|
Hard
|
China Yi Jingqian
|
6–4, 6–3
|
| Loss
|
4–6
|
Jan 1996
|
Auckland, New Zealand
|
Tier IV
|
Hard
|
United States Sandra Cacic
|
6–3, 1–6, 6–4
|
| Loss
|
4–7
|
Apr 1996
|
Hilton Head Island, US
|
Tier I
|
Clay
|
Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
|
6–2, 2–6, 6–2
|
| Loss
|
4–8
|
May 1996
|
Strasbourg, France
|
Tier III
|
Clay
|
United States Lindsay Davenport
|
6–3, 7–6(8–6)
|
| Win
|
5–8
|
Aug 1996
|
Maria Lankowitz, Austria
|
Tier IV
|
Clay
|
Italy Sandra Cecchini
|
40–15 ret.
|
| Loss
|
5–9
|
Sep 1996
|
Warsaw, Poland
|
Tier III
|
Clay
|
Slovakia Henrieta Nagyová
|
3–6, 6–2, 6–1
|
| Loss
|
5–10
|
Oct 1996
|
Moscow, Russia
|
Tier III
|
Carpet (i)
|
Spain Conchita Martínez
|
6–1, 4–6, 6–4
|
| Win
|
6–10
|
Jul 1997
|
Warsaw, Poland
|
Tier III
|
Clay
|
Slovakia Henrieta Nagyová
|
6–4, 6–4
|
| Loss
|
6–11
|
Oct 1997
|
Luxembourg
|
Tier III
|
Carpet (i)
|
South Africa Amanda Coetzer
|
6–4, 3–6, 7–5
|
| Winner – Legend'
|
| Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
|
| WTA Tour Championships (0–0)
|
| Tier I (0–0)
|
| Tier II (0–0)
|
| Tier III (0–0)
|
| Tier IV (0–0)
|
| Tier V (1–0)
|
|
| Finals by surface
|
| Hard (1–0)
|
| Grass (0–0)
|
| Clay (0–0)
|
| Carpet (0–0)
|
|
| $100,000 tournaments
|
| $75,000 tournaments
|
| $50,000 tournaments
|
| $25,000 tournaments
|
| $10,000 tournaments
|
| Result
|
No.
|
Date
|
Tournament
|
Surface
|
Opponent
|
Score
|
| Win
|
1.
|
16 November 1987
|
Wels, Austria
|
Hard (i)
|
Czechoslovakia Denisa Krajčovičová
|
6–2, 6–2
|
| Loss
|
1.
|
27 September 1993
|
Kirchheim, Austria
|
Clay
|
Belgium Laurence Courtois
|
1–6, 3–6
|
| Win
|
2.
|
29 August 1994
|
Maribor, Slovenia
|
Hard (i)
|
Germany Maja Živec-Škulj
|
4–6, 6–4, 6–0
|
| Loss
|
2.
|
4 March 1996
|
Prostějov, Czech Republic
|
Hard (i)
|
Switzerland Martina Hingis
|
1–6, 4–6
|
| Loss
|
3.
|
27 January 1996
|
Prostějov, Czech Republic
|
Carpet (i)
|
Slovakia Karina Habšudová
|
7–6(9–7), 1–6, 3–6
|
- ^ Barbara Paulus at the ITF official website
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- ^ Barbara Paulus Archived 2018-12-15 at the Wayback Machine at the WTA Tour's official website
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