Sabine Appelmans (born 22 April 1972) is a former professional tennis player from Belgium. She was Belgium's Fed Cup captain from 2007 until 2011.

Career Appelmans started playing at the neighbour's court at the age of seven. Her first trainer, Fred Debruyn, saw immediately that she was very talented. Although right-handed, she played left-handed; at a children's tennis training session she claimed to be left-handed so she could stay with her friend in the left-handed group.

Appelmans turned pro in 1988, and won her first title against Chanda Rubin in Scottsdale in 1991. She made her first Fed Cup appearance in 1988, with a 1–2 loss against Austria. In 1997, she married Serge Haubourdin. Throughout her career, she won seven singles and four doubles titles.

She participated three times in the Olympics (in 1992, 1996 and 2000) - at the 1992 Games in Barcelona she reached the quarterfinals in singles. Her best result in the Grand Slam tournaments is reaching the quarterfinals at the 1997 Australian Open after defeating then world No. 3, Conchita Martínez. Her highest spot on the WTA rankings is the 16th place, which she reached in November 1997. In the doubles she reached, together with Miriam Oremans, the semi-finals of 1997 Wimbledon.

In February 2007, she was appointed captain of Belgium's Fed Cup squad in replacement of Carl Maes, leading the team to a semifinal in 2011. That year, she was replaced herself in October 2011 by Ann Devries.

Awards Appelmans was elected as the Belgian Sportswoman of the year 1990 & 1991. She was nominated for the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award in 1994 & 1995.

WTA career finals Singles: 12 (7 titles, 5 runner-ups) ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 0–1 Jan 1990 Auckland, New Zealand Hard Leila Meskhi 1–6, 0–6Loss 0–2 Apr 1991 Japan Open Hard Lori McNeil 6–2, 2–6, 1–6Win 1–2 Nov 1991 Scottsdale, US Hard Chanda Rubin 7–5, 6–1Win 2–2 Nov 1991 Nashville, US Hard (i) Katrina Adams 6–2, 6–4Loss 2–3 Apr 1992 Japan Open Hard Kimiko Date 5–7, 6–3, 3–6Win 3–3 Apr 1992 Pattaya, Thailand Hard Andrea Strnadová 7–5, 3–6, 7–5Loss 3–4 Oct 1993 Budapest, Hungary Carpet (i) Zina Garrison 5–7, 2–6Win 4–4 Feb 1994 Linz, Austria Carpet (i) Meike Babel 6–1, 4–6, 7–6(7–3)Win 5–4 Apr 1994 Pattaya, Thailand Hard Patty Fendick 6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–5), 6–2Win 6–4 Apr 1995 Bol, Croatia Clay Silke Meier 6–4, 6–3Win 7–4 Mar 1996 Linz, Austria Carpet (i) Julie Halard-Decugis 6–2, 6–4Loss 7–5 Apr 1997 Budapest, Hungary Clay Amanda Coetzer 1–6, 3–6

Doubles: 14 (4 titles, 10 runner-ups) ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 0–1 Feb 1991 Oslo Open, Norway Carpet (i) Raffaella Reggi Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Silke Meier 6–3, 3–6, 4–6Loss 0–2 Sep 1991 Milan Indoor, Italy Carpet (i) Raffaella Reggi Sandy Collins Lori McNeil 6–7(0–7), 3–6Loss 0–3 Oct 1991 Puerto Rico Open Hard Camille Benjamin Rika Hiraki Florencia Labat 3–6, 3–6Loss 0–4 Feb 1992 Faber Grand Prix, Germany Carpet (i) Claudia Porwik Katerina Maleeva Barbara Rittner 5–7, 3–6Loss 0–5 Feb 1992 Cesena Championship, Italy Carpet (i) Raffaella Reggi Catherine Suire Catherine Tanvier w/oWin 1–5 Feb 1994 Paris Indoor, France Carpet (i) Laurence Courtois Mary Pierce Andrea Temesvári 6–4, 6–4Loss 1–6 May 1995 Internationaux de Strasbourg, France Hard (i) Miriam Oremans Lindsay Davenport Mary Joe Fernandez 2–6, 3–6Loss 1–7 May 1996 Madrid Open, Spain Clay Miriam Oremans Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6–7, 2–6Loss 1–8 Oct 1996 Sparkassen Cup, Germany Carpet (i) Miriam Oremans Kristie Boogert Nathalie Tauziat 4–6, 4–6Loss 1–9 Mar 1997 Key Biscayne Open, United States Hard Miriam Oremans Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Natasha Zvereva 2–6, 3–6Win 2–9 Feb 1998 Paris Indoor, France Carpet (i) Miriam Oremans Anna Kournikova Larisa Neiland 1–6, 6–3, 7–6(7–3)Win 3–9 Jun 1998 Rosmalen Championships, Netherlands Grass Miriam Oremans Cătălina Cristea Eva Melicharová 6–7(4–7), 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–5)Loss 3–10 Jan 2000 Australian Hardcourts Hard Rita Grande Julie Halard-Decugis Anna Kournikova 3–6, 0–6Win 4–10 May 2000 Belgian Open Clay Kim Clijsters Jennifer Hopkins Petra Rampre 6–1, 6–1

ITF finals $50,000 tournaments $25,000 tournaments $10,000 tournaments

Singles: 4 (1–3) ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore Loss 1. 10 April 1988 ITF Bari, Italy Clay Petra Schwarz 3–6, 4–6 Loss 2. 24 July 1989 ITF Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Federica Bonsignori 3–6, 6–4, 6–7(2) Loss 3. 12 June 1989 ITF Porto, Portugal Clay Emanuela Zardo 5–7, 3–6Win 4. 26 April 1993 ITF Porto, Portugal Clay Barbara Mulej 2–6, 7–6(1), 7–5

Doubles: 2 (1–1) ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore Win 1. 16 August 1987 ITF Koksijde, Belgium Clay Caroline van Renterghem Kathleen Schuurmans Joy Tacon 6–7(2), 6–2, 7–6(3) Loss 2. 7 December 1992 ITF Val-d'Oise, France Hard (i) Julie Halard-Decugis Isabelle Demongeot Catherine Suire 5–7, 4–6

Singles performance timeline

Tournament 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001Australian OpenAA3R4R1R1R3R3R4RQF1R3R3R2RFrench Open2RA1R4R2R2R2R3R3R1R1R1R1RAWimbledonAAA1R2R3R1R1R4R4R3R2R4RAUS OpenAA3R1R4R2R1R3R1R1RA4R1RAWTA ChampionshipsAAAAAAAAA1RAAAA

References

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