Sylvia Hanika

West German tennis player Sylvia Hanika participated in the women’s singles at the 1988 Seoul Olympics but lost her third round match to Gabriela Sabatini 6-1, 4-6, 2-6. Her greatest moment was in 1981 when she reached her only Grand Slam final at the French Open, where she lost to the Czech Hana Mandlíková 2-6, 4-6. Hanika was one of the female tennis players in the 1980s that started a tennis boom in Germany.

Hanika’s highest world ranking was number five in 1983. The previous year she surprisingly won the WTA Masters, beating Czech-born American Martina Navratilova 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. In total, she won four WTA tournaments. In 1991, Hanika retired from playing professional tennis and settled near München.