Arantxa Sánchez Vicario lifted the Suzanne Lenglen Cup for the third time in 1998 after defeating Mónica Seles in the final 7-6(5), 0-6 and 6-2, in one of the most emotional finals in the history of Roland Garros , “I'm so sorry I beat you. I have enormous respect for everything you've done to reach the final. We both deserved to win ”, she declared after receiving the trophy from the Romanian Virginia Ruzici, champion in Paris in 1978, who had come accompanied by her compatriot Ilie Nastase.
In 1995, the tennis player had become the first Spaniard to top the WTA ranking, a list of the best tennis players in the world. She, the winner of four Grand Slam titles in the individual category, six in the doubles category and four in mixed doubles, four Olympic medals and five Federation Cup titles with the Spanish Team of which she would be captain in 2012 attested to this.
Arantxa would announce her retirement from tennis in November 2002, although she would return in 2004 to play in some doubles tournaments and be able to play her fifth Olympic Games.
