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Appearing on the Spanish TV program “Universo Calleja” broadcast on July 23, Vicario shared details about the financial shock that left her almost penniless following her retirement.

“I focused on playing tennis and never handled my own financial affairs because I didn’t know how. I trusted my husband… And [$41 million] vanished. I was left to shoulder the entire burden,” she said, as quoted by The Sun.

According to Vicario, the estimated $41 million in assets generated from prize money, sponsorship deals and commercial activities are entirely gone. She stated that she placed her complete trust in businessman Josep Santacana, whom she was married to from 2008 to 2019. They had a son and a daughter together.

“I trusted him because he was the father of my children,” she added. “I fell blindly in love, and he really isn’t the person I thought he was.”

The financial woes of Vicario started from a high-profile lawsuit to a multi-million dollar debt owed to the Banque de Luxembourg. The couple was accused of concealing their wealth to avoid paying back the bank, New York Post reported

In January 2024, a court in Barcelona found both Vicario and Santacana guilty of concealing assets. The former world number one received a two-year prison sentence, which was suspended on the condition that she continue to repay the $7.3-million debt. Santacana was sentenced to three years and three months in prison.

Throughout the trial, Vicario maintained that she was unaware of her husband’s financial activities and consistently affirmed that she was the victim. She revealed that she had to seek therapy after this shock.

Former tennis player Arantxa Sanchez Vicario is surrounded by reporters as she leaves a court in Barcelona after a trial in September 2023, after being charged with concealing assets to evade debt obligations. Photo by Reuters

“I did not go to jail because I am paying 50% of my earnings to the bank, she said. “I am complying when deep down I was a victim. It was like waking up from a dream and thinking, ‘This can’t be happening to me.'”

This was not the first time Vicario faced financial trouble. In 2009, the Spanish Supreme Court ordered her to pay back taxes and fines totaling approximately $5.9 million for tax fraud. The court determined that between 1989 and 1993, she had actually resided in Spain rather than Andorra, where she had claimed residency to benefit from tax advantages.

Vicario is widely regarded as the greatest female tennis player in Spain. She won four Grand Slam titles, including Roland Garros in 1989, 1994, and 1998, and the US Open in 1994. She also reached the finals of both the Australian Open and Wimbledon four times during her career.

In 1995, she climbed to number one in the world ranking. Representing Spain on the international stage, she won four Olympic medals, taking home two silvers and two bronzes across the Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 Games.

Following her retirement in 2002, the Madrid Masters organizers named a court after her to recognize her contributions to Spanish tennis. She later returned to the sport as a coach, working with former world number one Caroline Wozniacki in 2015.