Virginia Ruano Pascual (born 21 September 1973) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. She had moderate success in singles, winning three WTA Tour titles as well as reaching two major quarterfinals and a top-30 ranking, but she had been far more successful in doubles. She won 43 career doubles titles, including eleven at Grand Slam tournaments: ten in women's doubles (eight partnering Paola Suárez, and two partnering Anabel Medina Garrigues) and one in mixed doubles (partnering Tomás Carbonell). Between 2002 and 2004, along with Suárez, she reached nine consecutive Grand Slam tournament finals (won five) and they reached at least the semifinals of the last twelve Grand Slam tournaments they played. Their winning run came to an end when they lost in the 2009 Wimbledon semifinals. Alongside Suarez, the pair was named as a ITF World Champions for the three consecutive years in a row (2002-2004).

Personal life

Her father, Juan Manuel Ruano, worked for Iberia Airlines; her mother, Virginia Pascual, is a housewife. She has a brother, Juan Ramón, a tennis pro who also serves as her coach, and a sister, Marbella. Initially, Virginia hyphenated her family names ("Ruano-Pascual") but has omitted the hyphen since 1998.

Career

Women's doubles

Majors

Ruano Pascual was very successful at the Grand Slam tournaments. In total, she won ten titles in doubles events. She lifted the French Open trophy six times. The first one she won in 2001 along with Paola Suárez, with whom she one year ago played final but they lost. In 2002, she defended her title again with Suárez. The following year, she also reached final but finished as a runner-up, again with Suárez. The pair then triumphed again in 2004 and 2005. After three years without reaching final at the French Open, in 2008 she won another title but this time with Anabel Medina Garrigues. They successfully defended their title in 2009. French Open is not the only major she has won. In 2004, with Suarez, she won her first and only Australian Open title. At the US Open, she collected three titles. Her first final and also title was in 2002 with Suarez. After that, the pair defended their title in the following two years (2003 and 2004). Despite not winning any title at the Wimbledon Championships, she finished as a runner-up three times (2002, 2003 and 2006). Along with her success in women's doubles, she also won one mixed doubles title at the 2001 French Open. Alongside Suárez, the pair was named as a ITF World Champions for three consecutive years in-a-row (2002-2004).

Other significant results

Along with great performances at the highest-level tournaments (Grand Slams), she had success at the WTA Premier Mandatory & 5 tournaments as well. It all started with the title at the Italian Open in 1998, that also was her first either quarterfinal, semifinal or final on this level. In 2000, she did well at the Charleston Open, winning her second level title. Two years later, she went a step further, winning two titles (Italian Open & Canadian Open). After winning per two titles in 2003 and 2004, in 2005 she won three titles to reach the total of 11 titles from this level. Her last title was the 2005 San Diego Open. At most of the level tournaments, she had at least quarterfinal with one exception, the China Open that was reclassified as WTA Premier Mandatory tournament just two years before Pascual's retirement. She also has one year-end championships title at the 2003 WTA Tour Championships.

Ranking and national contribution

Being one of the most successful doubles players, she did not leave her mark only on the Grand Slams & WTA Premier Mandatory/5 tournaments. She also is former world No. 1 that she achieved in September 2003. She finished 2004 as the top ranked player. In 2005, she also spent some weeks at the highest position, but finished the year as world No. 4. Until her retirement in 2010, she spent at least one week in the top 10 in each season. She also left her mark playing for Spain at the national competitions. At the Summer Olympics, she won two silver medals, in 2004 with Conchita Martínez and in 2008 with Medina Garrigues.

Singles

Along with her doubles success, she had a solid singles career as well. In April 1999, she reached 28th place. She has won three WTA Tour titles. At the majors, she reached two quarterfinals; at the French Open in 1995 and Australian Open in 2003.

Performance timelines

Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Fed Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.

Singles

Doubles

Grand Slam tournament finals

Doubles: 16 (10 titles, 6 runner-ups)

Mixed doubles: 1 (title)

Other significant finals

WTA Tour Championships

Doubles: 1 (title)

Summer Olympics

Doubles: 2 (2 silver medals)

Premier Mandatory & 5

Doubles: 22 (11 titles, 11 runner-ups)

WTA Tour finals

Singles: 3 (3 titles)

Doubles: 78 (43 titles, 35 runner-ups)

ITF finals

Singles: 7 (4 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Doubles: 18 (10 titles, 8 runner-ups)

Top 10 wins

Awards