Career

Bueno began playing tennis at a very young age at the Clube de Regatas Tiete in Sao Paulo and, without having received any formal training, won her first tournament at age 12. She was 14 when she captured her country's women's singles championship.

She went abroad in 1957 at age 17 and won the Orange Bowl juniors tournament in Florida. Joining the international circuit in 1958, Bueno won the singles title at the Italian Championships and the first of her Grand Slam titles, capturing 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 straights set 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 capture both Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships in the same calendar year. In her native Brazil, she returned as a national heroine, honored 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 Court. 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 by Christine Truman Janes at the Australian Championships and Hard at the French Championships, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Championships.

In 1978, Bueno was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

At the 2006 US Open, Maria Bueno was invited to attend the rededication ceremony of the USTA National Tennis Center as the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, which took place on the first day of the event. Bueno and King were rivals in singles and, on occasion, doubles partners. According to Bueno, the only players invited were those who had won the US Open "more than twice" (she won it four times). At the same event, Bueno debuted as a commentator for SporTV, a Brazilian cable television sports channel. She commentated on the women's singles semifinals and final and the men's singles final as well as offering opinions during the live broadcast of the USTA's induction of Martina Navratilova and Don Budge in the "Court of Champions".

Grand Slam finals: 35 (19 titles, 16 runners-up)

Bueno won 19 and lost 16 of her Grand Slam finals. This represents a success rate of 54%.

Singles: 12 (7 titles, 5 runners-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1959	Wimbledon	Grass	Darlene Hard	6-4, 6-3
Winner	1959	U.S. Championships	Grass	Christine Truman Janes	6-1, 6-4
Winner	1960	Wimbledon	Grass	Sandra Reynolds Price	8-6, 6-0
Runner-up	1960	U.S. Championships	Grass	Darlene Hard	6-4, 10-12, 6-4
Winner	1963	U.S. Championships	Grass	Margaret Court	7-5, 6-4
Runner-up	1964	French Championships	Clay	Margaret Court	5-7, 6-1, 6-2
Winner	1964	Wimbledon	Grass	Margaret Court	6-4, 7-9, 6-3
Winner	1964	U.S. Championships	Grass	Carole Caldwell Graebner	6-1, 6-0
Runner-up	1965	Australian Championships	Grass	Margaret Court	5-7, 6-4, 5-2, retired
Runner-up	1965	Wimbledon	Grass	Margaret Court	6-4, 7-5
Runner-up	1966	Wimbledon	Grass	Billie Jean King	6-3, 3-6, 6-1
Winner	1966	U.S. Championships	Grass	Nancy Richey	6-3, 6-1

Doubles: 16 (11 wins, 5 runners-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1958	Wimbledon	Grass	Althea Gibson	Margaret Osborne duPont Margaret Varner Bloss	6-3, 7-5
Runner-up	1958	U.S. Championships	Grass	Althea Gibson	Jeanne Arth Darlene Hard	2-6, 6-3, 6-4
Runner-up	1959	U.S. Championships	Grass	Sally Moore	Jeanne Arth Darlene Hard	6-2, 6-3
Winner	1960	Australian Championships	Grass	Christine Truman Janes	Lorraine Coghlan Robinson Margaret Court	6-2, 5-7, 6-2
Winner	1960	French Championships	Clay	Darlene Hard	Ann Haydon-Jones Patricia Ward Hales	6-2, 7-5
Winner	1960	Wimbledon	Grass	Darlene Hard	Sandra Reynolds Price Renee Schuurman Haygarth	6-4, 6-0
Winner	1960	U.S. Championships	Grass	Darlene Hard	Ann Haydon-Jones Deidre Catt	6-1, 6-1
Runner-up	1961	French Championships	Clay	Darlene Hard	Sandra Reynolds Price Renee Schuurman Haygarth	walkover
Winner	1962	U.S. Championships	Grass	Darlene Hard	Billie Jean King Karen Hantze Susman	4-6, 6-3, 6-2
Winner	1963	Wimbledon	Grass	Darlene Hard	Margaret Court Robyn Ebbern	8-6, 9-7
Runner-up	1963	U.S. Championships	Grass	Darlene Hard	Margaret Court Robyn Ebbern	4-6, 10-8, 6-3
Winner	1965	Wimbledon	Grass	Billie Jean King	Françoise Dürr Jeanine Lieffrig	6-2, 7-5
Winner	1966	Wimbledon	Grass	Nancy Richey	Margaret Court Judy Tegart Dalton	6-3, 4-6, 6-4
Runner-up	1967	Wimbledon	Grass	Nancy Richey	Rosemary Casals Billie Jean King	9-11, 6-4, 6-2
Winner	1966	U.S. Championships	Grass	Nancy Richey	Billie Jean King Rosemary Casals	6-3, 6-4
Winner	1968	US Open	Grass	Margaret Court	Billie Jean King Rosmary Casals	4-6, 9-7, 8-6

Mixed doubles: 7 (1 wins, 6 runners-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1958	U.S. Championships	Grass	Alex Olmedo	Margaret Osborne duPont Neale Fraser	6-3, 3-6, 9-7
Runner-up	1959	Wimbledon	Grass	Neale Fraser	Darlene Hard Rod Laver	6-4, 6-3
Winner	1960	French Championships	Clay	Bob Howe	Ann Haydon-Jones Roy Emerson	1-6, 6-1, 6-2
Runner-up	1960	Wimbledon	Grass	Bob Howe	Darlene Hard Rod Laver	13-11, 3-6, 8-6
Runner-up	1960	U.S. Championships	Grass	Antonio Palafox	Margaret Osborne duPont Neale Fraser	6-3, 6-2
Runner-up	1965	French Championships	Clay	John Newcombe	Margaret Court Ken Fletcher	6-4, 6-4
Runner-up	1967	Wimbledon	Grass	Ken Fletcher	Billie Jean King Owen Davidson	3-6, 6-2, 15-13

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

R#

RR

Q#

A

NH

(W) Won tournament; reached (F) final, (SF) semifinal, (QF) quarterfinal; (R#) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; competed at a (RR) round-robin stage; reached a (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent from tournament; or (NH) tournament not held.

Tournament	1958	1959	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969-1975	1976	1977	Career SR
Australia	A	A	QF	A	A	A	A	F	A	A	A	A	A	A / A	0 / 2
France	SF	QF	SF	QF	A	A	F	SF	SF	QF	QF	A	1R	A	0 / 10
Wimbledon	QF	W	W	A	SF	QF	W	F	F	4R	QF	A	4R	3R	3 / 12
United States	QF	W	F	A	SF	W	W	SF	W	2R	SF	A	3R	2R	4 / 12
SR	0 / 3	2 / 3	1 / 4	0 / 1	0 / 2	1 / 2	2 / 3	0 / 4	1 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 0	0 / 3	0 / 2	7 / 36

A = did not participate in the tournament.

SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.

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

[ Source: Wikipedia ]