1990 - In her Tour debut at Boca Raton, became youngest-ever player to reach a pro final, aged 13 years, 11 months; d. four seeded players (including world No. 10 Sukova) before falling to Sabatini 64 75; in third Tour event, reached final of Hilton Head, upsetting world No. 5 Sanchez-Vicario (l. to Navratilova); debuted on rankings at No. 25 on April 9; youngest-ever semifinalist at Roland Garros aged 14 years, 2 months (l. to Seles); ranking leapt from No. 24 to No. 13; at Wimbledon, youngest-ever seed in Grand Slam history (No. 12), bettering Rinaldi by two days; won first title at Puerto Rico, d. Garrison in final (fourth-youngest to win a title after Austin, Rinaldi and Jaeger) and rising to No. 10, the youngest-ever to be ranked in Top 10 at age 14 years, 235 days; youngest qualifier for season-ending Championships at 14 years, 8 months, stretching world No. 1 Graf to 3s in 1r; finished first season ranked No. 8
1991 - Won two titles and reached consecutive Grand Slam SF; aged 15 yrs, 95 days, youngest-ever semifinalist at Wimbledon (d. defending champion Navratilova in QF, forcing her earliest exit in 14 years); compiled 16-match win streak, which included titles at San Diego — d. world No. 1 Seles in third-set tie-break in youngest Tour final in Open Era (combined age of 33 years) bettering Austin-Jaeger at 1980 Tampa by four months — and Canadian Open (Toronto; d. world No. 3 Sabatini en route); dethroned reigning champion Sabatini at US Open and came within two points of defeating Seles in titanic SF (served for match twice) before falling 63 36 76(3); qualified for season-ending Championships, reaching QF; won first Tour doubles title at Italian Open (w/Seles); improved season-ending ranking to No. 6, a career-high at the time
1992 - Reached three Grand Slam QF and won two titles consecutively; won singles Gold Medal at Barcelona Olympics, d. No. 2 seed Sanchez-Vicario in SF and No. 1 Graf in Gold Medal match, both in 3s; successfully defended San Diego title; at Miami, upset world No. 1 Seles in QF, ending Seles’ 21 consecutive finals streak (two short of tying Navratilova’s record); at Wimbledon, became youngest player to surpass $1 million in career prize money at 16 years, 3 months (now second youngest behind Hingis — 16 years, 1 month, 10 days); in third consecutive season-ending Championships, reached second QF; finished season at No. 7
1993 - Won sixth career title at Sydney (d. world No. 3 Sabatini in SF); repeated 1992 effort of reaching QF at Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon (l. to Graf each time); runner-up at Canadian Open (Toronto; d. No. 3 Sanchez-Vicario), l. to Graf in 3s; after US Open 1r loss to Meskhi, did not play on the Tour for 14 months; finished fourth consecutive season in Top 10
1994 - Fell out of Top 10 on January 17 and off the rankings on June 27; accepted a wildcard into Philadelphia in November for her only match of the year, l. 1r to eventual champion Huber in 3s
1995 - Did not play
1996 - Fifteen months since last Tour match, returned at Essen unranked, reaching QF (l. to Novotna in 3s); scored five Top 20 wins throughout season and reached first final in more than three years at Chicago (d. co-No. 1 Seles in SF, l. to No. 5 Novotna in 3s); also reached Zurich QF (in 1r, d. Sabatini in last match of her career); reappeared on rankings on April 1 at No. 103 and finished at No. 24
1997 - Reached Sydney final (d. world No. 9 Davenport, l. to No. 4 Hingis in 3s); also reached Oklahoma City QF (l. to Davenport) and Hilton Head 3r (d. world No. 11 MJ. Fernandez en route); slipped to No. 66 by season-end
1998 - Reached Hamburg QF as a wildcard ranked No. 227 (l. to world No. 1 Hingis); also reached Palermo QF and Amelia Island 3r; at Wimbledon, won first Grand Slam singles match in five years; fell as low as No. 267 (on April 6 ) but finished No. 101
1999 - Enjoyed best season in six years, winning two singles titles and finishing season ranked No. 23; captured first title in six years at Strasbourg (d. world No. 9 Tauziat 61 60 in QF for first Top 10 win since Davenport at 1997 Sydney); won Quebec City (d. Rubin in final); reached 4r at Roland Garros and US Open
2000 - Reached first Grand Slam SF in nine years at Australian Open (l. to eventual champion Davenport); ranking improved to No. 17, first time in Top 20 since April 10, 1994; won ninth career title at Luxembourg (d. Mag. Maleeva in final); also reached final at Quebec City, SF at Zurich (d. Kournikova) and ’s-Hertogenbosch; at Miami, d. world No. 6 S. Williams to reach QF, her first win over a Top 6 player since November 1996, (d. co-No. 1 Seles in Chicago); sidelined in April with right Achilles tendonitis and hindered by an elbow injury in June; qualified for season-ending Championships for first time since 1993; member of winning US Fed Cup team, winning a singles and doubles rubber in final vs. Spain; finished season inside Top 20 for first time in seven years
2001 - Career-best season included first Grand Slam titles, reaching the world No.1 ranking for the first time; earned a career-high $2,268,624; won Australian Open, d. world No. 1 Hingis, No. 2 Davenport and No. 4 Seles, the last three winners of tournament; became lowest seed (No. 12) to win a Grand Slam title in Open Era (there was one unseeded winner); first player since Austin (1979 US Open) to d. world’s Top 2 players in straight sets at a Grand Slam; ranking reentered Top 10 for first time in seven years at No. 7; went on to win Family Circle Cup (first American-born winner since 1985) and her second Grand Slam title at Roland Garros; d. S. Williams, world No. 1 Hingis and No. 12 seed Clijsters 16 64 12-10 in longest-ever third set in a Roland Garros women’s final; became fifth woman in history to win Australian Open and Roland Garros in the same year (after Connolly, Court, Graf and Seles); was two points from defeat on four occasions during final vs. Clijsters; also runner-up four other times (including Miami after holding 8 mp vs. V. Williams); only player in 2001 to reach SF or better at all four Grand Slams (first SF appearances at Wimbledon and US Open in 10 years); ending Hingis’ 73 consecutive-weeks run, became ninth No. 1-ranked player in the world on October 15, the fourth American-born No. 1 since computer rankings debuted on November 3, 1975; finished season with 56-14 record, first time to win 50+ matches in a season, and as world No.2, her highest season-ending rank and first in Top 10 since 1993
2002 - Entered Australian Open as world’s top-ranked and top seeded player, and first time as No. 1 seed at a Grand Slam; trailing Hingis 64 4-0, completed a record comeback for a women’s Grand Slam tournament, saving 4 mp to defend her title 46 76(7) 62 (third Grand Slam win in past five entered); Hingis had 1 mp at 5-3 second set, two more at 6-5 and another at 7-6 in tie-break (note: Blanche Bingley Hillyard saved 3 mp to win 1889 Wimbledon final vs. Lena Rice and Margaret Smith saved 1 mp to win 1962 Roland Garros final vs. Lesley Turner); her SF win over Clijsters in 3s was first Top 5 win since d. S. Williams in 2001 Wimbledon QF; last four tournament wins (2001 Australian Open, Charleston, Roland Garros and 2002 Australian Open) have all come defeating Hingis en route; became first world No. 1 to win a Grand Slam since 1998 Australian Open (Hingis), breaking a 15-Grand Slam streak; six-week stint at No. 1 (nine weeks in total) ended on February 25 when V. Williams ascended; at Scottsdale as No. 1 seed and world No. 2, reached final without dropping a set, l. to S. Williams in 3s (Capriati would have regained No. 1 ranking had she won); returned to No. 1 on March 18; at Miami, survived two scares to reach final; d. world No. 36 Myskina 36 75 62 in 3r after Myskina served for match in second set and in SF d. No. 6 Seles 46 63 76(4), saving 2 mp at 5-6 third set; l. to S. Williams after leading 5-4 first set and 5-3 second set, holding seven set points; as defending champion, reached SF at Charleston (l. to Schnyder); loss cost her No. 1 ranking to V. Williams on April 22 after five-week run (14 in total); reached SF at German Open, l. to world No. 8 Henin, saving three set points to claim first set; tied 2-2 in second set, returned from a two-hour rain delay and won just one more game in a 57 62 61 loss; at Italian Open, regained No. 1 ranking on May 20 by defeating Mauresmo 64 third set to reach SF (fell to S. Williams after holding point for 4-0 final set lead); hadn’t won a match in Rome in nine years
June - Playing fifth tournament in 2002 as world No. 1, reached SF at Roland Garros, d. Schnyder and Dokic before falling to No. 3 seed S. Williams in 3s after holding 63 6-5 lead; sixth consecutive Grand Slam tournament to reach at least SF; dropped to world No. 3 on June 10 behind Williams sisters (first time in 10 months outside Top 2), ending three-week run at No. 1 (17 in total); reached Wimbledon quarterfinalist (l. to Mauresmo); reached QF at San Diego, l. to No. 5 Dokic in 3s; reached QF again in Los Angeles, l. to Sugiyama; at Canadian Open (Montreal), reached fourth final of 2002, avenging recent losses to Sugiyama, Henin and Dokic; l. to Mauresmo to finish as runner-up for second straight year; career prize money surpassed $6-million mark; in doubles, teamed with Navratilova for first time in 12 years (1990 Italian Open), reaching 2r; reached QF at US Open, l. to No. 10 seed Mauresmo 46 76(5) 63, having served for the match at 6-5 second set; fell 2r (after 1r bye) at Filderstadt to qualifier Stevenson for second time in three 2002 meetings; as No. 1 seed in Zurich, l. to Martinez for third time in five meetings; her 60 63 loss was most one-sided since losing 60 61 to Graf in 1999 Miami; as No. 1 seed in Linz, reached QF but again fell to Stevenson, the 61 61 loss her worst in more than three years; qualified for season-ending Championships for third consecutive year and seventh overall; in one of her career-best indoor performances, reached SF at the event for first time, l. to world No. 1 and defending champion S. Williams in 3s after being within a point of serving for match twice in second set and within two points of a 4-1 third set lead; underwent eye surgery to remove sun spots in both eyes