Mara Santangelo

 

Mara Santangelo

Country	Italy
Residence	Cavalese, Italy
Date of birth	June 28 1981 (1981--) (age 26)
Place of birth	Latina, Italy
Height	m ({{FORMATNUM:5 ft 11+1⁄2 in}})
Weight	68 kg (150 lb)
Turned Pro	2003
Plays	Right (two-handed backhand)
Career Prize Money	$1,329,045
Singles
Career record:	266-206
Career titles:	1 WTA, 6 ITF
Highest ranking:	No. 27 (July 9, 2007)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	4R (2004)
French Open	3R (2007)
Wimbledon	3R (2007)
U.S. Open	3R (2006)
Doubles
Career record:	183-116
Career titles:	5 WTA, 13 ITF
Highest ranking:	No. 6 (July 9, 2007)
Infobox last updated on: July 9, 2007.

Mara Santangelo (born June 28, 1981 in Latina, Italy) is a professional female tennis player from Italy.

Tennis career

Santangelo reached the fourth round at the Australian Open in 2004, defeating 16th seed Magui Serna, Barbara Schett, and 19th seed Eleni Daniilidou—losing to eventual champion and World No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne after having been up 4-2 in the second set, 6-1 7-6 (5). She also won her first WTA title in 2006, defeating Jelena Kostanic in the final, her first one on the WTA level.

Along with that, she took a set from No. 1 seed Amelie Mauresmo in the third round at the 2006 US Open, after leading 3-6 6-3 2-0, to lose the next six games in the deciding set. She has also defeated Anastasia Myskina in 2006, her first win over a top 20 player.

She and her Italian team mates Francesca Schiavone, Flavia Pennetta and Roberta Vinci beat the Belgium team 3-2 in the 2006 Fed Cup final. Justine Henin-Hardenne had to retire in the fifth and final match due to an injury in her right knee, which let Italy win their first Fed Cup trophy.^[1]

Despite holding match points in both matches, Santangelo lost to Agnieszka Radwańska and Dinara Safina in successive first rounds at Luxembourg and Stuttgart respectively, in tight three set matches. In Moscow, Santangelo lost in the first round to Iveta Benesova, another three-setter. In Linz, Santangelo defeated Alona Bondarenko 6-4, 1-6, 6-3; she lost to eventual semifinalist Nicole Vaidišová. At her final tournament of the year in Hasselt, Santangelo retired 5-2 down against Michaella Krajicek in the first round. She ended the year ranked 31 in the world, a new career high.

Santangelo was still recovering from injury when the 2007 season commenced. At her first tournament in Hobart, she defeated countrywoman Maria Elena Camerin in the first round, losing to Catalina Castano in the second round. At the Australian Open, Santangelo drew eventual champion Serena Williams in the first round, losing 6-2, 6-1.

Santangelo reached her first quarterfinal of the year at the Tier IV Pattaya City tournament, losing to Sania Mirza 6-4, 7-6(4). At her very next tournament, the Tier III Bangalore, as the defending champion, Santangelo made the final for the second straight year, where she lost to Yaroslava Shvedova in the final 64 64.

In Doha during the second round, Santangelo faced countrywoman Francesca Schiavone, and led 64 66(6-5), but lost 46 76(6) 1-0 ret. after dropping match point. She rebounded during her next tournament, however, in Miami, defeating Jelena Janković in the third round 26 76(3) 64—which was the first top 10 victory of her career. She lost in the round of 16 to Anna Chakvetadze 61 75. Reaching the fourth round of Miami has thus far been the best showing of Santangelo's in a high tier event.

During the clay season, Santangelo defeated Nadia Petrova 63 63 in the second round of Warsaw, for her second career top 10 victory, reaching her third quarterfinal of the year. She lost to eventual champion Henin 62 61.

At the French Open, in singles, Santangelo reached the third round, losing to eventual champion Henin 62 63. For doubles, however, parterning Alicia Molik, she won the championship, winning her first Grand Slam title. The victory was her fourth title in doubles for the year, with four different partners at each championship.

In 2007 Wimbledon Championships, Santangelo was defeated in round three by the defending champion and No. 4 seed, Amelie Mauresmo, in straight sets 6-1 6-2, in 57 minutes.

Grand Slam women's doubles finals

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Partnering	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
2007	French Open	Alicia Molik	Katarina Srebotnik Ai Sugiyama	7-6, 6-4

Titles (6 WTA)

Singles (1)

Legend (Singles)

Tier I (0)

Tier II (0)

Tier III (1)

Tier IV (0)

Grand Slam Title (0)

WTA Tour Championship (0)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	19 February 2006	Bangalore, India	Hard	Jelena Kostanić	36 76(5) 63

Runner-ups (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	18 February 2007	Bangalore, India	Hard	Yaroslava Shvedova	64 64

Doubles (5 WTA)

Legend (Doubles)

Tier I (1)

Tier II (1)

Tier III (1)

Tier IV (1)

Grand Slam Title (1)

WTA Tour Championship (0)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	October 3 2004	Hasselt	Hard (I)	Jennifer Russell	Nuria Llagostera Vives Marta Marrero	63 75
2.	February 11 2007	Pattaya City	Hard	Nicole Pratt	Yung-Jan Chan Chia-Jung Chuang	64 76
3.	April 8 2007	Amelia Island	Clay	Katarina Srebotnik	Anabel Medina Garrigues Virginia Ruano Pascual	63 76
4.	May 20 2007	Rome	Clay	Nathalie Dechy	Tathiana Garbin Roberta Vinci	64 61
5.	June 8 2007	French Open	Clay	Alicia Molik	Katarina Srebotnik Ai Sugiyama	76 64

Performance timeline

Tournament	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	Career SR	Career W-L
Australian Open	-	4R	1R	3R	1R	0 / 4	5-4
French Open	-	1R	1R	2R	3R	0 / 3	3-4
Wimbledon	-	1R	2R	1R	3R	0 / 3	3-4
US Open	1R	1R	1R	3R	1R	0 / 3	2-5

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• Coached by Giampaolo Coppo.
• Trains in Rome.
• Started playing tennis at age nine.
• Favorite shot is the volley.
• Parents played recreational tennis; brother, Matteo, also plays.
• Likes to watch soccer and play volleyball and basketball; also runs and swims.
• Enjoys sightseeing, especially in historical cities.
• Admires her grandmother and tennis great Martina Navratilova.

References

1. ^ Italy wins the Fed Cup for the first time, fedcup.com, September 17

External links

• Mara Santangelo profile on the WTA Tour's official website
• Mara Santangelo Official Site

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