Barbara Paulus
Barbara Paulus is a former professional top-ten 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. 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, 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)
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Winner | 1. | 16 May 1988 | Geneva | Clay |  Lori McNeil | 6–4, 5–7, 6–1 |
| Runner-up | 1. | 8 August 1988 | Sofia | Hard |  Conchita Martínez | 6–1, 6–2 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 10 July 1989 | Arcachon | Clay |  Judith Wiesner | 6–3, 6–7, 6–1 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 8 January 1990 | Sydney | Hard |  Natasha Zvereva | 4–6, 6–1, 6–3 |
| Winner | 2. | 21 May 1990 | Swiss Open, Geneva | Clay |  Helen Kelesi | 2–6, 7–5, 7–6 |
| Runner-up | 4. | 9 July 1990 | Palermo | Clay |  Isabel Cueto | 6–2, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 5. | 15 October 1990 | Filderstadt | Hard | Mary Joe Fernández | 6–1, 6–3 |
| Winner | 3. | 11 September 1995 | Warsaw | Clay |  Alexandra Fusai | 7–6, 4–6, 6–1 |
| Winner | 4. | 13 November 1995 | Pattaya | Hard |  Yi Jingqian | 6–4, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 6. | 1 January 1996 | Auckland | Hard | Sandra Cacic | 6–3, 1–6, 6–4 |
| Runner-up | 7. | 1 April 1996 | Hilton Head Island | Clay | Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | 6–2, 2–6, 6–2 |
| Runner-up | 8. | 20 May 1996 | Strasbourg | Clay | Lindsay Davenport | 6–3, 7–6 |
| Winner | 5. | 5 August 1996 | Maria Lankowitz | Clay |  Sandra Cecchini | 40–15 ret. |
| Runner-up | 9. | 16 September 1996 | Warsaw | Clay |  Henrieta Nagyová | 3–6, 6–2, 6–1 |
| Runner-up | 10. | 28 October 1996 | Moscow | Carpet | Conchita Martínez | 6–1, 4–6, 6–4 |
| Winner | 6. | 21 July 1997 | Warsaw | Clay | Henrieta Nagyová | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Runner-up | 11. | 20 October 1997 | Luxembourg | Carpet |  Amanda Coetzer | 6–4, 3–6, 7–5 |
Doubles: 1 (1–0)
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Winner | 1. | 8 August 1988 | Vitosha New Otani Open, Sofia | Hard | Conchita Martínez |  Sabrina Goleš  Katerina Maleeva | 1–6, 6–1, 6–4 |