Sabine Appelmans
# Sabine Appelmans

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

## 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. 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 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 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 |
