Spanish tennis great avoids prison after being found guilty of fraud
The four-time Grand Slam winner hid assets in an attempt to avoid paying a multimillion-euro debt, a court found.
Former women’s number one tennis player Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and her ex-husband have been found guilty of fraud in a Spanish court.
The Barcelona-based court found that Sanchez Vicario and her former husband had hidden assets in an attempt to avoid paying a multimillion-euro debt to Banque de Luxembourg.
The four-time Grand Slam winner was sentenced to two years of prison time, but she avoided going behind bars since the court waived her sentence as a first-time offender.
She reached a deal with prosecutors last year to admit to the accusations in exchange for a reduced sentence.
Her husband, Josep Santacana, received a prison sentence of three years and three months.
The former couple must also pay a fine of 6.6 million euro (£5.68 million).
Sanchez Vicario, 52, won the French Open in 1989, 1994, and 1998, and the US Open in 1994. She was twice runner-up at Wimbledon.