Gabriela Sabatini took Argentine women’s tennis to the stratosphere. 

A full-blown superstar from the late 1980s through the mid-90s, she reached the highest singles ranking ever for an Argentine player (World No. 3 in 1989) and won the country’s only Grand Slam women’s singles title.

The sport is currently far from those heights.  

At the 2026 Australian Open, top-ranked Argentine Solana Sierra, the only one in the singles main draw, lost in the opening round. At the 2025 Argentina Open, one of two WTA tournaments in the country, no local players made it past the third round.

Despite this stark present, the data shows that Argentine women’s tennis has been making steady progress. The 2024 season wrapped up with three players in the top 100, the most in 17 years. But progress hit a hurdle in 2025, with rising prospects struggling to improve and good results far and few in between. 

For former top-30-ranked Argentine tennis star and Argentina Billie Jean King Cup team captain Mercedes Paz, the sport is trending upwards after what she calls a “very dark period.” However, she cautions current players to use Sabatini’s legacy as a yardstick.

“She’s a beacon, and I think it’s important to have those,” she told the Herald. 

“But she’s also the summit of Argentine women’s tennis history. She was a Roland Garros semifinalist at 15. That’s not normal.”

The 2021 Argentina Open, the first WTA tournament to be played in the........

© Buenos Aires Herald