Spanish Tennis Star, Wimbledon Finalist, and Many Grand Slam Winner Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Sent To Jail For 2 Years. Know Why
Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, a former tennis pro who won 14 Grand Slams in her illustrious career, was sentenced to two years of suspended jail time for fraud.
The 52-year-old Spanish celebrity was found guilty by a Barcelona court on Wednesday, but she has agreed to pay €6.6 million (£5.6 million) in debts, so she will not go to prison. Since 2009, she has been involved in numerous court cases including fraud and tax evasion.
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Josep Santacana, the ex-husband of Sanchez Vicario, was also sentenced to three years and three months in prison. The ex-couple, who separated in 2019, came under fire for allegedly concealing assets to avoid having to pay the Bank of Luxembourg a multi-million-pound loan.
El Pais, a Spanish news source, reported that Sanchez Vicario was found to have “at all times had sufficient assets to cover the debt” by the court. She “assumed her responsibility for the facts” and agreed to pay reparations, so the judge reduced her sentence.
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Speaking before a Barcelona court in September of last year, Sanchez Vicario placed the responsibility squarely on Santacana. She said: “I did what he told me to do, because I am a tennis player, I have no knowledge of assets or companies or anything. I trusted my husband.”
In an interview with El Pais last year, she added that “falling in love” with Santacana was her mistake. Santacana, however, denied this, arguing that her mistake was failing to file her taxes. He stated in September of last year, “I just expect the truth to be told and this to be over.”
Furthermore, Sanchez Vicario “had full knowledge of what was being done with her assets,” according to the judge, who declined to exonerate her.
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Sanchez Vicario, who has won 14 Grand Slam titles—four of them came in the singles—is considered one of Spain’s best tennis players. In 1989, 1994, and 1998, she won the women’s singles title at the French Open. In 1994, she repeated her victory at the US Open.
She lost the Wimbledon women’s singles finals against the legendary Steffi Graf in 1995 and 1996, although she was very close to taking home the crown. She also lost to Graf in the 1994 Australian Open final before Mary Pierce defeated her once more in the championship match in Melbourne a year later.
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Sanchez Vicario won Wimbledon in 1995, the US Open in 1993 and 1994, and the Australian Open in 1992, 1995, and 1996 in doubles. She won the US Open in 2000, the Australian Open in 1993, the French Open in 1990 and 1992, and the Australian Open in mixed doubles.
Additionally, Sanchez Vicario won four Olympic medals in both singles and doubles competitions and assisted Spain in winning the Billie Jean King Cup five times. At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, she took home silver and bronze, and four years later, she duplicated the performance in Atlanta.
