Maria Esther Andion Bueno (11 October 1939 – 8 June 2018) was a Brazilian professional tennis player. During her 11-year career in the 1950s and 1960s, she won 19 major titles (seven in women's singles, 11 in women's doubles and one in mixed doubles), making her the most successful South American tennis player in history and the only one ever to win Wimbledon in singles. Bueno was the year-end No. 1 female player in 1959 and 1960 and was known for her graceful style of play, that earned her the nickname "tennis ballerina".

In 1960, Bueno became the first woman to win the Grand Slam in doubles (all four majors in a year), three of them partnering Darlene Hard and one with Christine Truman.

For 65 years, Bueno remained the only Brazilian woman to have won a Grand Slam title, until Luisa Stefani won the mixed doubles title alongside fellow Brazilian Rafael Matos at the Australian Open in 2023.

Tennis career Bueno was born in São Paulo. Her father, a businessman, was a keen club tennis player. Her elder brother Pedro was also a tennis player. She began playing tennis aged six at the Clube de Regatas Tiete in São Paulo and, without having received any formal training, won her first tournament at age 12. She was 15 when she won her country's women's singles championship. She first went abroad in 1957 at age 17 and won the Orange Bowl juniors tournament in Florida, USA.

Joining the international circuit in 1958, Bueno won the singles title at the Italian Championships. The same year she gained the first of her Grand Slam titles, winning the women's doubles at Wimbledon with Althea Gibson. The following year, Bueno won her first singles title at Wimbledon, defeating Darlene Hard in the final. She also won the singles title at the U.S. Championships after a straight-sets victory in the final against Christine Truman, earning the World No. 1 ranking for 1959 and the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year award. Bueno was the first non-North-American woman to win both Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships in the same calendar year. In her native Brazil, she returned as a national heroine, honoured by the country's president and given a ticker-tape parade on the streets of São Paulo.

According to Lance Tingay of the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail and Bud Collins, Bueno was ranked in the world top ten from 1958 through 1960 and from 1962 through 1968, reaching a career high of World No. 1 in those rankings in 1959 and 1960. The International Tennis Hall of Fame also lists her as the top ranked player in 1964 (after losing the final at the French Championships and winning both Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships) and 1966. Bueno won the singles title at Wimbledon three times and at the U.S. Championships four times. She was a singles finalist at the Australian Championships and the French Championships, losing both finals to Margaret Smith. Bueno reached at least the quarterfinals in each of the first 26 Grand Slam singles tournaments she played. This streak ended at Wimbledon in 1967 when she lost in the fourth round because of an arm injury.

As a doubles player, Bueno won twelve Grand Slam championships with six different partners. In 1960, she became the first woman to win the women's doubles title at all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same calendar year, partnered with Christine Truman at the Australian Championships and Hard at the French Championships, Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships.

Her playing career was affected by various arm and leg injuries. She played only intermittently after 1968; her final tournament win was the Japan Open in 1974, her only professional win. She retired from playing in 1977.

Her playing style was described as bold and aggressive; she had a hard serve, was a strong volleyer and often came into the net. Bud Collins described her as "incomparably balletic and flamboyant". She did not use a coach and attributed her speed on the court to training with men. The American player Billie Jean King acknowledged her as an influence. She was also known for her on-court style, wearing tennis dresses designed by Ted Tinling.

Later career

Bueno worked as a commentator for SporTV, a Brazilian cable television sports channel.

One of the last public appearances by Maria Bueno was at the 2016 Summer Olympics closing ceremony, in which she carried the national flag of Brazil during the playing of the Brazilian national anthem.

Death Bueno died on 8 June 2018, aged 78, at a hospital in São Paulo, Brazil, where she had been admitted for mouth cancer. She was diagnosed in 2016 with virulent Merkel-cell carcinoma, a rare and highly aggressive skin cancer. A minute's applause in honour of Bueno was held as a tribute before the Women's Singles final at the 2018 French Open the day after her death.

Honours In 1959 Correios do Brasil issued a postal stamp honouring her title at the Wimbledon Ladies Singles Championships. That same year the Associated Press voted her Female Athlete of the Year. In 1978, Bueno was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.

Bueno was awarded the International Club's prestigious Jean Borotra Sportsmanship Award in 2003.

The Seniors World Team Championships for the women's 50 age category is named "Maria Esther Bueno Cup" by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in her honour. In 2015 the centre court of the Olympic Tennis Centre in Rio de Janeiro was named after her.

In October 2018, Maria Esther Bueno received the Medal of Sporting Merit from the Chamber of Councilors of São Paulo, according to the Resolution 03/2014. The award is instituted within the scope of the Municipality of São Paulo, to be awarded annually to the entity or citizen of São Paulo in recognition of the relevance of services rendered in favor of sport in the Municipality of São Paulo, or that, in any case, have contributed to the aggrandizement of the sport or significantly encourage its practice, whether through personal goals achieved or activity with society.

The Maria Esther Bueno Cup, an under-24 men's tennis competition that ran from 2018 to 2023, was named in her honour.

The centre court used at the SP Open tournament in the Villa-Lobos State Park is named in her honour.

Statues Several statues honoring Bueno have been unveiled over the years.

One of them, made by artist Gustavo Rosa and unveiled in 1998, is located in the California square, in the neighbourhood of Jardim América in the city of São Paulo, Brazil.

Another one, also located in São Paulo, in front of the Pacaembu Stadium, in the neighbourhood of the same name, was made by artist Arlindo Castellane de Carli and unveiled in 1960 and initially located next to the main gates of the stadium, but was later moved closer to the stadium´s tennis courts in 1989.

On 24 November 2018, the Sociedade Harmonia de Tênis club in São Paulo unveiled a statue of Bueno during the Maria Esther Bueno Cup. The ceremony, attended by members of her family, also featured an exhibition of trophies and clothing celebrating her career.

A 190 kilograms and 2.37 meters statue of Bueno created by artist Celina Kihel Lara Leite Ribeiro was inaugurated in March 2000 at the headquarters of the Federação Paulista de Tênis. In 2025, it was displayed to the public for the first time during the SP Open.

Grand Slam finals

Bueno won 19 of her 35 Grand Slam finals. This represents a success rate of 54%.

Singles: 12 (7 titles, 5 runners-up) ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScoreWon 1959 Wimbledon Grass Darlene Hard 6–4, 6–3Won 1959 U.S. Championships Grass Christine Truman 6–1, 6–4Won 1960 Wimbledon (2) Grass Sandra Reynolds 8–6, 6–0Loss 1960 U.S. Championships Grass Darlene Hard 4–6, 12–10, 4–6Won 1963 U.S. Championships (2) Grass Margaret Court 7–5, 6–4Loss 1964 French Championships Clay Margaret Court 7–5, 1–6, 2–6Won 1964 Wimbledon (3) Grass Margaret Court 6–4, 7–9, 6–3Won 1964 U.S. Championships (3) Grass Carole Caldwell Graebner 6–1, 6–0Loss 1965Australian Championships Grass Margaret Court 7–5, 4–6, 2–5, ret.Loss 1965 Wimbledon Grass Margaret Court 4–6, 5–7Loss 1966 Wimbledon Grass Billie Jean King 3–6, 6–3, 1–6Won 1966 U.S. Championships (4) Grass Nancy Richey 6–3, 6–1

Doubles: 16 (11 wins, 5 runners-up) ResultYearChampionship SurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWon 1958 Wimbledon Grass Althea Gibson Margaret Osborne duPont Margaret Varner 6–3, 7–5Loss 1958 U.S. Championships Grass Althea Gibson Jeanne Arth Darlene Hard 6–2, 3–6, 4–6Loss 1959 U.S. Championships Grass Sally Moore Jeanne Arth Darlene Hard 2–6, 3–6Won 1960 Australian Championships Grass Christine Truman Lorraine Coghlan Robinson Margaret Court 6–2, 5–7, 6–2Won 1960 French Championships Clay Darlene Hard Ann Haydon-Jones Patricia Ward Hales 6–2, 7–5Won 1960 Wimbledon (2) Grass Darlene Hard Sandra Reynolds Renée Schuurman 6–4, 6–0Won 1960 U.S. Championships Grass Darlene Hard Ann Haydon-Jones Deidre Catt 6–1, 6–1Loss 1961 French Championships Clay Darlene Hard Sandra Reynolds Renée Schuurman walkoverWon 1962 U.S. Championships (2) Grass Darlene Hard Billie Jean Moffitt Karen Hantze Susman 4–6, 6–3, 6–2Won 1963 Wimbledon (3) Grass Darlene Hard Margaret Court Robyn Ebbern 8–6, 9–7Loss 1963 U.S. Championships Grass Darlene Hard Margaret Court Robyn Ebbern 6–4, 8–10, 3–6Won 1965 Wimbledon (4) Grass Billie Jean Moffitt Françoise Dürr Janine Lieffrig 6–2, 7–5Won 1966 Wimbledon (5) Grass Nancy Richey Margaret Court Judy Tegart 6–3, 4–6, 6–4Won 1966 U.S. Championships (3) Grass Nancy Richey Billie Jean King Rosemary Casals 6–3, 6–4Loss 1967 Wimbledon Grass Nancy Richey Rosemary Casals Billie Jean King 11–9, 4–6, 2–6Won 1968 US Open (4) Grass Margaret Court Billie Jean King Rosemary Casals 4–6, 9–7, 8–6

Mixed doubles: 7 (1 win, 6 runners-up) ResultYearChampionship SurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1958 U.S. Championships Grass Alex Olmedo Margaret Osborne duPont Neale Fraser 3–6, 6–3, 7–9Loss 1959 Wimbledon Grass Neale Fraser Darlene Hard Rod Laver 4–6, 3–6Won 1960 French Championships Clay Bob Howe Ann Haydon-Jones Roy Emerson 1–6, 6–1, 6–2Loss 1960 Wimbledon Grass Bob Howe Darlene Hard Rod Laver 11–13, 6–3, 6–8Loss 1960 U.S. Championships Grass Antonio Palafox Margaret Osborne duPont Neale Fraser 3–6, 2–6Loss 1965 French Championships Clay John Newcombe Margaret Court Ken Fletcher 4–6, 4–6Loss 1967 Wimbledon Grass Ken Fletcher Billie Jean King Owen Davidson 6–3, 2–6, 13–15

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Tournament 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969–1975 1976 1977 Career SR AustraliaAAAQFAAAA FAAAAAA / A 0 / 2 France1R SFQF SFQFAA F SF SFQFQFA1RA 0 / 11 WimbledonAQF W WA SFQF W F F4RQFA4R3R 3 / 12 United StatesAQF W FA SF W W SF W2R SFA3R2R 4 / 12 SR0 / 10 / 32 / 31 / 40 / 10 / 21 / 22 / 30 / 41 / 30 / 30 / 30 / 00 / 30 / 2 7 / 37

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

See also Performance timelines for all female tennis players since 1978 who reached at least one Grand Slam final

Notes

References

External links