Swiss · Basel, Switzerland · Born 14 December 1978Patty Schnyder is a Swiss former tennis player who reached a career-high ranking of World No. 7, renowned for a distinctive left-handed, two-handed backhand game that troubled the sport's biggest stars.
Patty Schnyder's career produced victories over Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Kim Clijsters, and Justine Henin — a list of former world No. 1s that speaks to a quality of tennis that her ranking of No. 7 and her 11 WTA titles only partially capture. Playing left-handed with an unorthodox, flowing service motion and a two-handed backhand, she reached her first WTA Tour final in 1996 and won her maiden title in 1998. Schnyder built one of the more unpredictable and stylish games on tour, capable of beating the very best players in the world: over her career she recorded wins against Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Serena Williams, Steffi Graf, Jennifer Capriati, Kim Clijsters, and Justine Henin, among other reigning or former World No. 1s. Her signature title win came at the 2002 Zurich Open, where she defeated Davenport in a final-set tiebreak as an unseeded player. Schnyder reached her career-high ranking of World No. 7 in November 2005, and helped Switzerland reach the Fed Cup final in 1998, going on to become the country's all-time leader in Fed Cup wins, ties played, and years of service. She reached six Grand Slam quarterfinals and one semifinal, at the 2004 Australian Open, across a long and unconventional career that included multiple retirements and comebacks between 2011 and her final retirement in 2018, finishing with 11 WTA singles titles and over $8.5 million in career prize money.
A distinctive left-handed playing style that produced upset wins over multiple World No. 1 players
How They Played
Unorthodox left-handed baseliner with a flowing service motion and a reliable two-handed backhand
Lasting Impact
Switzerland's most successful Fed Cup player and one of the WTA Tour's most stylistically unique competitors of her era
Career Honours
- 11x WTA Tour singles titles
- Career-high ranking of World No. 7
- Fed Cup runner-up with Switzerland (1998)
- Beat World No. 1 players Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport
Swiss Athletes