Former world No. 1 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario has blamed ex-husband Josep Santacana for the loss of her £31million tennis fortune. And the four-time major champion, who became a global star when she beat Steffi Graf to the French Open title at just 17 years old, has said her children are her greatest motivation to get her life back on track. The worst is behind her, according to Spain’s first female Grand Slam-winner, although she is still paying off a tax debt to the Bank of Luxembourg that equates to roughly £5.5million.
Two-time Wimbledon runner-up Sanchez Vicario was one of the biggest tennis stars on the planet throughout the 1990s and amassed riches on the court but has been hit with multiple charges of tax evasion and fraud over the last 20 years or so. The 54-year-old, who is working as a tennis instructor in the United States and has coached Caroline Wozniacki since 2015, married businessman Santacana in 2008 before they divorced 11 years later. She’s currently paying off her debt to the Bank of Luxembourg by garnishing 50 per cent of her wages, though she has said the blame for her financial collapse lies squarely with the father of her son and daughter.
“I trusted him because he was the father of my children,” said the Spaniard during a recent appearance on ‘Universo Calleja’. “I fell blindly in love, and he really isn’t the person I thought he was.”
Sanchez Vicario, who has been handed a suspended prison sentence, told host Jesus Calleja the reported figure of almost £31m in career earnings is accurate but she never had a hand in managing her assets: “It’s true; that’s the amount that appeared in the press.
“I focused on playing tennis and never handled my own financial affairs because I didn’t know how. I trusted my husband… And the [£31m] vanished. I was left to shoulder the entire burden.”
Early in her career, Sanchez Vicario was charged with tax evasion when she claimed to be living in Andorra between 1989 and 1993 when she was actually residing in Barcelona. Later charges from the Bank of Luxembourg relating to credit and property fraud emerged, as well as charges relating to disguising assets.
“I did not go to jail because I am paying 50 per cent of my earnings to the bank,” she continued. “I am complying when deep down I was a victim.”
Commenting on the process of going through the courts and the resilience that’s allowed her to weather the storm, Sanchez Vicario added: “It was a shock. I had to go to therapy because I couldn’t believe it. It was like waking up from a dream and thinking, ‘This can’t be happening to me.’”
Sanchez Vicario still harbours an ambition to return to Spain and credits her kids as her driving motivation. The two-time Olympic silver medallist boasts 14 Grand Slam titles in total when including her doubles achievements, not to mention two Tour Finals triumphs, five Fed Cups and two Hopman Cups.
Sanchez Vicario said: “I wasn’t myself back then. I let myself be persuaded, and it was a huge mistake.”