 | Born: 16/4/72 Nationality: Spanish Seeded: 20 World ranking: 21 French Open best:
Runner-up (2000) Recent record:
2003: Quarter-final
2002: 2nd round
2001: 3rd round |
The 32-year-old Spaniard may not be the biggest draw or most exciting name on the tour but her consistency is remarkable. A former world number two and Wimbledon champion, there was every reason to think Martinez was heading for retirement until last year.
The days of the mid-1990s when she was a Grand Slam contender seemed long gone and her last title came in Berlin back in 2000.
Martinez's slow-paced baseline game based on looping groundstrokes looked out of touch compared with the aggression of the Williams sisters and the Belgians.
But she had something of a revival last season that saw her ranked as high as 12 going into the US Open.
Experience counts, and Martinez used all hers to earn some notable results on her favoured clay and in the grass-court season.
And that has continued in 2004 as she has been a regular in the latter stages of tournaments, where it has usually taken the likes of Justine Henin-Hardenne or Venus Williams to stop her.
MMIX
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