Tennis Star Arantxa Sanchez Vicario Says She's Broke, Paying Half Earnings to Bank to Avoid Jail Amid Ex-Husband's Fraud Case Former world No. 1 tennis player Arantxa Sanchez Vicario claims she is financially destitute and must give 50% of her earnings to a bank to avoid a prison sentence, following her ex-husband's alleged squandering of her $41 million fortune and their joint fraud conviction for hiding assets from creditors. Former World No 1 tennis champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario has revealed she is now financially destitute, declaring that she is currently giving half of all her earnings to a bank to avoid a prison sentence. This stems from the alleged squandering of her estimated $41 million fortune by her ex-husband, Josep Santacana, a situation she described in a bombshell interview with the Spanish television program 'Universo Callejo,' as reported by The Sun. The former couple was embroiled in a legal battle where a Barcelona court in 2024 determined that both had committed fraud by hiding assets to evade a substantial debt to Banque de Luxembourg.While Santacana received a custodial sentence of three years and three months, Sanchez Vicario, categorized as a first-time offender, was given a two-year suspended sentence. Additionally, they were jointly ordered to pay €6.6 million in compensation. Sanchez Vicario asserted she was completely unaware of her husband's financial maneuvers, stating she had focused solely on her tennis career and never managed her finances personally due to a lack of knowledge, placing her trust entirely in Santacana.She portrayed herself as a victim left to bear the entire financial burden after the assets vanished. There are discrepancies regarding how she avoided incarceration. While The Athletic noted that Spanish law commonly suspends prison terms of two years or less for first-time offenders, Sanchez Vicario claimed her freedom is directly contingent on a current arrangement with the bank, paying 50 percent of her income.She expressed the profound personal toll, stating, "I did not go to jail because I am paying 50 percent of my earnings to the bank. I am complying when deep down I was a victim," and that she required therapy to cope with the shock, feeling as though she was "waking up from a dream." Her ex-husband's attorney has been approached for comment by The Daily Mail. This financial ruin follows earlier controversies; Sanchez Vicario previously engaged in a three-year legal dispute with her parents and older brother over alleged mismanagement of her finances, which concluded with a private settlement in 2015. Prior to that, she faced tax penalties for incorrectly claiming residency in Andorra while actually residing in Barcelona. Sanchez Vicario's tennis legacy is significant.The 54-year-old was a central figure in the women's game during the late 1980s and early 1990s, alongside Steffi Graf and Monica Seles, forming a trio that dominated after the eras of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova and before the emergence of players like Martina Hingis and the Williams sisters. She captured four Grand Slam singles titles and earned Olympic silver and bronze medals at the 1992 Barcelona Games and 1996 Atlanta Games, respectively.She and Santacana share two children, a daughter born in 2009 and a son born in 2011. Her story underscores the vulnerabilities even elite athletes can face regarding financial oversight and the devastating personal consequences when trust in a partner is betrayed, leading to public legal and financial ordeals despite a celebrated sporting career