Former tennis world No. 1 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario has blamed her ex-husband after losing her £31 million fortune. The four-time Grand Slam singles champion was married to entrepreneur Josep Santacana between 2008 and 2019.
Financial downfall and legal troubles
Two-time Wimbledon runner-up Vicario was one of the biggest tennis stars on the planet throughout the 1990s and amassed riches on the court. However, her world came crashing down when she and Santacana went to trial in 2023, accused of hiding assets to avoid paying back a debt owed to the Bank of Luxembourg.
The now 54-year-old was handed a suspended two-year prison sentence and ordered to pay back £5.5m worth of debt. Asked about losing her career earnings, an estimated £31m, Sanchez Vicario revealed to Spanish TV show Universo Callejo: “It’s true, that’s the amount that appeared in the press.”
Blame on ex-husband
“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,” she said. On her ex-husband, Sanchez Vicario said: “I trusted him because he was the father of my children. I fell blindly in love, and he really isn’t the person I thought he was.”
Avoiding prison and emotional impact
Asked about avoiding prison time, she added: “I did not go to jail because I am paying 50 per cent of my earnings to the bank. I am complying when deep down I was a victim.” Before she continued: “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.'”
Previous tax issues and family rift
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.
The Barcelona-born star hung up her racquet in 2002 and subsequently had a court named after her at the Madrid Masters tournament. Sanchez Vicario still harbours an ambition to return to Spain and credits her kids as her driving motivation.
Back in 2012, she claimed in a high-profile autobiography that her family left her with ‘nothing’, having managed her finances during her career. "My parents left me with nothing and now I am indebted to the [tax authorities] and I will not be quiet," she wrote. "In recent months I have lived through situations so difficult that there are still times when I think it is a nightmare. The truth is the relationship with my family is nonexistent. How is it possible that everything I obtained has disappeared, does not exist? I am the victim and the cheated one."
