The mistake that cost the tennis star a $41 million fortune
Former world number one Arantxa Sánchez Vicario has lost her entire $41 million fortune. The tennis star, who retired in 2002 after winning four Grand Slam titles, is now mired in heavy debt and prolonged legal battles.
Former tennis player Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, once ranked number one in the world, has lost her entire fortune, estimated at $41 million. The tennis star, who retired in 2002 after a glorious career that included four Grand Slam titles, found herself mired in heavy debts and prolonged legal battles. According to her, the reason for the financial collapse is simple: she blindly trusted her ex-husband to manage her money, without being involved in the financial details at all.
Debts to the bank and conviction for fraud
In 2024, a court in Spain convicted Sánchez Vicario and her ex-husband, Josep Santacana, of concealing assets in order to avoid paying a debt to a Luxembourg bank. The two were ordered to pay the bank more than $7.5 million. While the tennis player was sentenced to two years in prison, she avoided serving the actual sentence after agreeing to transfer half of her income to the bank. Her ex-husband, who denied the allegations and claimed he only wanted the truth to come out, was sentenced to three years and three months in prison.
This entanglement is not Sánchez Vicario's first financial problem. In 2009, the Supreme Court in Spain ruled that she must pay about $5.9 million for tax offenses. The court determined that the tennis player falsely declared residency in Andorra instead of Spain between 1989 and 2003, in order to avoid paying taxes on her high income. This affair significantly worsened her economic situation and paved the way for her complete financial collapse.
The heavy price of lack of involvement
Today, Sánchez Vicario is trying to rehabilitate her financial life, but is forced to transfer a significant and constant portion of her income to cover the debts she accumulated. She admitted that during her career she focused solely on playing tennis and never managed her financial affairs herself simply because she did not know how to do so. Her total lack of involvement and complete reliance on her ex-partner left her to bear the heavy financial burden alone.
