Conchita Martínez was born in Monzón, in the Aragonese province of Huesca, on 16 April 1972. She turned professional in February 1988, a right-hander with a one-handed backhand, and within a few years she was one of the best clay-court players in the world.
Her favourite tournament was the Italian Open in Rome, which she won four years in a row, from 1993 to 1996, beating Martina Hingis in the 1996 final. Her greatest win, though, came on grass. In the 1994 Wimbledon final she beat Martina Navratilova in three sets, becoming the first Spanish woman to win the tournament. She was named Spanish Sportswoman of the Year, and on 30 October 1995 she reached world No. 2, her career high. She reached two more major finals, losing to Hingis at the 1998 Australian Open and to Mary Pierce at the 2000 French Open.
With Spain she won the Fed Cup five times, in 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1998, and at the Olympics she won three doubles medals: silver in 1992 and bronze in 1996 with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, and silver in 2004 with Virginia Ruano Pascual. She won 33 singles titles with a 739–297 record, as well as 13 doubles titles, reaching No. 7 in the doubles rankings in January 1993. She earned more than 11.5 million US dollars in prize money and retired on 15 April 2006, the day before her 34th birthday.
Her second career has been almost as successful. She captained Spain's Fed Cup team from 2013 to 2017 and its Davis Cup team from 2015 to 2017. As a coach she guided Garbiñe Muguruza to the 2017 Wimbledon title and was named WTA Coach of the Year in 2021 for her work with her. She has also coached Karolína Plíšková, and since 2024 she has worked with Mirra Andreeva. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2020.