# Barbara Paulus

Barbara Paulus (born 1 September 1970) is a former professional tennis player from Austria. She began playing on the WTA Tour in 1986 and retired in 2001. During her career, she won a total of seven WTA tournaments (six singles titles, one doubles title). Paulus competed for the Austria Fed Cup team on 21 occasions in singles and doubles, winning nine of her 22 matches.

## Career

Paulus is one of the most successful Austrian female tennis players, being one of only two to be ranked in the top 10 (along with Barbara Schett), despite having a career plagued with injuries. She won six singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour. Her best results include victories over Chris Evert, Mary Pierce, Gabriela Sabatini, Conchita Martínez, and Jana Novotná.
After reaching as high as No. 12 in the world in 1990, she sustained injuries to her knee and both wrists which required her to have surgery and kept her sidelined for many months through 1992 and 1993. Her comeback from injury eventually bore her much success, with four WTA titles between 1995 and 1997, a top-ten ranking, and reaching her biggest career final at the Tier I Family Circle Cup, where she lost in three sets to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario.
Her career effectively ended in 1998 after an elbow injury, though she made a brief return in 2001.

## Awards

* 1990: Golden Needle Award from Austrian Tennis Federation

## WTA career finals
### Singles: 17 (6–11)

* Winner – Legend
* Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
* WTA Tour Championships (0–0)
* Tier I (0–1)
* Tier II (0–1)
* Tier III (2–5)
* Tier IV (3–2)
* Tier V (1–2)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (1–4)
* Grass (0–0)
* Clay (5–5)
* Carpet (0–2)
| Result | W/L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | May 1988 | Geneva, Switzerland | Clay | Lori McNeil | 6–4, 5–7, 6–1 |
| Loss | 1–1 | Aug 1988 | Sofia, Bulgaria | Hard | Conchita Martínez | 6–1, 6–2 |
| Loss | 1–2 | Jul 1989 | Arcachon, Spain | Clay | Judith Wiesner | 6–3, 6–7$^{(3–7)}$, 6–1 |
| Loss | 1–3 | Jan 1990 | Sydney, Australia | Hard | Natasha Zvereva | 4–6, 6–1, 6–3 |
| Win | 2–3 | May 1990 | Geneva, Switzerland | Clay | Helen Kelesi | 2–6, 7–5, 7–6$^{(7–3)}$ |
| Loss | 2–4 | Jul 1990 | Palermo, Italy | Clay | Isabel Cueto | 6–2, 6–3 |
| Loss | 2–5 | Oct 1990 | Filderstadt, Germany | Hard (i) | Mary Joe Fernández | 6–1, 6–3 |
| Win | 3–5 | Sep 1995 | Warsaw, Poland | Clay | Alexandra Fusai | 7–6$^{(7–4)}$, 4–6, 6–1 |
| Win | 4–5 | Nov 1995 | Pattaya, Thailand | Hard | Yi Jingqian | 6–4, 6–3 |
| Loss | 4–6 | Jan 1996 | Auckland, New Zealand | Hard | Sandra Cacic | 6–3, 1–6, 6–4 |
| Loss | 4–7 | Apr 1996 | Hilton Head Island, US | Clay | Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | 6–2, 2–6, 6–2 |
| Loss | 4–8 | May 1996 | Strasbourg, France | Clay | Lindsay Davenport | 6–3, 7–6$^{(8–6)}$ |
| Win | 5–8 | Aug 1996 | Maria Lankowitz, Austria | Clay | Sandra Cecchini | 40–15 ret. |
| Loss | 5–9 | Sep 1996 | Warsaw, Poland | Clay | Henrieta Nagyová | 3–6, 6–2, 6–1 |
| Loss | 5–10 | Oct 1996 | Moscow, Russia | Carpet (i) | Conchita Martínez | 6–1, 4–6, 6–4 |
| Win | 6–10 | Jul 1997 | Warsaw, Poland | Clay | Henrieta Nagyová | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 6–11 | Oct 1997 | Luxembourg | Carpet (i) | Amanda Coetzer | 6–4, 3–6, 7–5 |

### Doubles: 1 (1–0)

* Winner – Legend'
* Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
* WTA Tour Championships (0–0)
* Tier I (0–0)
* Tier II (0–0)
* Tier III (0–0)
* Tier IV (0–0)
* Tier V (1–0)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (1–0)
* Grass (0–0)
* Clay (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
| Result | W/L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Aug 1988 | Sofia, Bulgaria | Hard | Conchita Martínez | Sabrina Goleš Katerina Maleeva | 1–6, 6–1, 6–4 |

## ITF finals

* $100,000 tournaments
* $75,000 tournaments
* $50,000 tournaments
* $25,000 tournaments
* $10,000 tournaments

### Singles (2–3)

| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Winner | 1. | 16 November 1987 | Wels, Austria | Hard (i) | Denisa Krajčovičová | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Runner-up | 1. | 27 September 1993 | Kirchheim, Austria | Clay | Laurence Courtois | 1–6, 3–6 |
| Winner | 2. | 29 August 1994 | Maribor, Slovenia | Hard (i) | Maja Živec-Škulj | 4–6, 6–4, 6–0 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 4 March 1996 | Prostějov, Czech Republic | Hard (i) | Martina Hingis | 1–6, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 27 January 1996 | Prostějov, Czech Republic | Carpet (i) | Karina Habšudová | 7–6$^{(9–7)}$, 1–6, 3–6 |

### Doubles (0–2)

| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Runner-up | 1. | 25 August 1986 | Wels, Austria | Clay | Bettina Diesner | Paulette Moreno Karin Oberleitner | 5–7, 6–7$^{(4–7)}$ |
| Runner-up | 2. | 16 November 1987 | Wels, Austria | Hard (i) | Petra Schwarz | Petra Hentschl Eva-Maria Schürhoff | 4–6, 4–6 |