Sabine Appelmans

Sabine Appelmans listen^ⓘ (born 22 April 1972) is a former professional tennis player from Belgium. She was Belgium's Fed Cup captain from 2007 until 2011.

Sabine Appelmans

Country (sports)	Belgium
Residence	Asse, Belgium
Born	(1972-04-22) 22 April 1972 (age 53) Aalst, Belgium
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Turned pro	1988
Retired	2001
Plays	Left-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$ 2,041,247
Singles
Career record	346–237 (59.3%)
Career titles	7 WTA, 1 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 16 (24 November 1997)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	QF (1997)
French Open	4R (1991)
Wimbledon	4R (1996, 1997, 2000)
US Open	4R (1992, 1999)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	QF (1992)
Doubles
Career record	147–162 (47.6%)
Career titles	4 WTA, 1 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 21 (25 August 1997)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	QF (1991)
French Open	3R (1992)
Wimbledon	SF (1997)
US Open	3R (1991)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games	2R (1996)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	32–22

Career

Appelmans started playing at the neighbour's court at the age of seven. Her first trainer, Fred Debruyn, saw immediately that she was very talented. Although right-handed, she played left-handed; at a children's tennis training session she claimed to be left-handed so she could stay with her friend in the left-handed group.

Appelmans turned pro in 1988, and won her first title against Chanda Rubin in Scottsdale in 1991. She made her first Fed Cup appearance in 1988, with a 1–2 loss against Austria. In 1997, she married Serge Haubourdin. Throughout her career, she won seven singles and four doubles titles.

She participated three times in the Olympics (in 1992, 1996 and 2000) - at the 1992 Games in Barcelona she reached the quarterfinals in singles. Her best result in the Grand Slam tournaments is reaching the quarterfinals at the 1997 Australian Open after defeating then world No. 3, Conchita Martínez. Her highest spot on the WTA rankings is the 16th place, which she reached in November 1997. In the doubles she reached, together with Miriam Oremans, the semi-finals of 1997 Wimbledon.

In February 2007, she was appointed captain of Belgium's Fed Cup squad in replacement of Carl Maes, leading the team to a semifinal in 2011.^[1] That year, she was replaced herself in October 2011 by Ann Devries.

Awards

Appelmans was elected as the Belgian Sportswoman of the year 1990 & 1991. She was nominated for the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award in 1994 & 1995.

WTA career finals

Singles: 12 (7 titles, 5 runner-ups)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Jan 1990	Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	Leila Meskhi	1–6, 0–6
Loss	0–2	Apr 1991	Japan Open	Hard	Lori McNeil	6–2, 2–6, 1–6
Win	1–2	Nov 1991	Scottsdale, US	Hard	Chanda Rubin	7–5, 6–1
Win	2–2	Nov 1991	Nashville, US	Hard (i)	Katrina Adams	6–2, 6–4
Loss	2–3	Apr 1992	Japan Open	Hard	Kimiko Date	5–7, 6–3, 3–6
Win	3–3	Apr 1992	Pattaya, Thailand	Hard	Andrea Strnadová	7–5, 3–6, 7–5
Loss	3–4	Oct 1993	Budapest, Hungary	Carpet (i)	Zina Garrison	5–7, 2–6
Win	4–4	Feb 1994	Linz, Austria	Carpet (i)	Meike Babel	6–1, 4–6, 7–6(7–3)
Win	5–4	Apr 1994	Pattaya, Thailand	Hard	Patty Fendick	6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–5), 6–2
Win	6–4	Apr 1995	Bol, Croatia	Clay	Silke Meier	6–4, 6–3
Win	7–4	Mar 1996	Linz, Austria	Carpet (i)	Julie Halard-Decugis	6–2, 6–4
Loss	7–5	Apr 1997	Budapest, Hungary	Clay	Amanda Coetzer	1–6, 3–6

Doubles: 14 (4 titles, 10 runner-ups)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1.	Feb 1991	Oslo Open, Norway	Carpet (i)	Raffaella Reggi	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Silke Meier	6–3, 3–6, 4–6
Loss	2.	Sep 1991	Milan Indoor, Italy	Carpet (i)	Raffaella Reggi	Sandy Collins Lori McNeil	6–7(0–7), 3–6
Loss	3.	Oct 1991	Puerto Rico Open	Hard	Camille Benjamin	Rika Hiraki Florencia Labat	3–6, 3–6
Loss	4.	Feb 1992	Faber Grand Prix, Germany	Carpet (i)	Claudia Porwik	Katerina Maleeva Barbara Rittner	5–7, 3–6
Loss	5.	Feb 1992	Cesena Championship, Italy	Carpet (i)	Raffaella Reggi	Catherine Suire Catherine Tanvier	w/o
Win	1.	Feb 1994	Paris Indoor, France	Carpet (i)	Laurence Courtois	Mary Pierce Andrea Temesvári	6–4, 6–4
Loss	6.	May 1995	Internationaux de Strasbourg, France	Hard (i)	Miriam Oremans	Lindsay Davenport Mary Joe Fernandez	2–6, 3–6
Loss	7.	May 1996	Madrid Open, Spain	Clay	Miriam Oremans	Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–7, 2–6
Loss	8.	Oct 1996	Sparkassen Cup, Germany	Carpet (i)	Miriam Oremans	Kristie Boogert Nathalie Tauziat	4–6, 4–6
Loss	9.	Mar 1997	Key Biscayne Open, United States	Hard	Miriam Oremans	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Natasha Zvereva	2–6, 3–6
Win	2.	Feb 1998	Paris Indoor, France	Carpet (i)	Miriam Oremans	Anna Kournikova Larisa Neiland	1–6, 6–3, 7–6(7–3)
Win	3.	Jun 1998	Rosmalen Championships, Netherlands	Grass	Miriam Oremans	Cătălina Cristea Eva Melicharová	6–7(4–7), 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–5)
Loss	10.	Jan 2000	Australian Hardcourts	Hard	Rita Grande	Julie Halard-Decugis Anna Kournikova	3–6, 0–6
Win	4.	May 2000	Belgian Open	Clay	Kim Clijsters	Jennifer Hopkins Petra Rampre	6–1, 6–1

ITF finals

$50,000 tournaments

$25,000 tournaments

$10,000 tournaments

Singles: 4 (1–3)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	10 April 1988	ITF Bari, Italy	Clay	Petra Schwarz	3–6, 4–6
Loss	2.	24 July 1989	ITF Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Federica Bonsignori	3–6, 6–4, 6–7(2)
Loss	3.	12 June 1989	ITF Porto, Portugal	Clay	Emanuela Zardo	5–7, 3–6
Win	4.	26 April 1993	ITF Porto, Portugal	Clay	Barbara Mulej	2–6, 7–6(1), 7–5

Doubles: 2 (1–1)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1.	16 August 1987	ITF Koksijde, Belgium	Clay	Caroline van Renterghem	Kathleen Schuurmans Joy Tacon	6–7(2), 6–2, 7–6(3)
Loss	2.	7 December 1992	ITF Val-d'Oise, France	Hard (i)	Julie Halard-Decugis	Isabelle Demongeot Catherine Suire	5–7, 4–6

Singles performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

DNQ

A

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Tournament	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Australian Open	A	A	3R	4R	1R	1R	3R	3R	4R	QF	1R	3R	3R	2R
French Open	2R	A	1R	4R	2R	2R	2R	3R	3R	1R	1R	1R	1R	A
Wimbledon	A	A	A	1R	2R	3R	1R	1R	4R	4R	3R	2R	4R	A
US Open	A	A	3R	1R	4R	2R	1R	3R	1R	1R	A	4R	1R	A
WTA Championships	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A