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Marcelo Ríos

 
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Marcelo Ríos
Nickname(s) El Chino, El zurdo de Vitacura
Country  Chile
Residence Santiago, Chile
Date of birth December 26, 1975 (1975-12-26) (age 33)
Place of birth Santiago, Chile
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 73 kg (160 lb; 11.5 st)
Turned pro 1994
Retired 2004
Plays Left-handed; two-handed backhand
Career prize money $9,713,771
Singles
Career record 391 - 192
Career titles 18
Highest ranking No. 1 (March 30, 1998)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open F (1998)
French Open QF (1997, 1998)
Wimbledon 4R (1997)
US Open QF (1997)
Doubles
Career record 36 - 57
Career titles 1
Highest ranking 141 (May 7, 2001)
Last updated on: April 17, 2007.
Medal record
Pan American Games
Silver 2003 Santo Domingo Men's Singles
Silver 2003 Santo Domingo Men's Doubles
This is a Spanish name; the first family name is Ríos and the second is Mayorga.

Marcelo Andrés Ríos Mayorga (born December 26, 1975) is a retired and former World No. 1 tennis player from Chile. Nicknamed El Chino ("The Chinese") and El zurdo de Vitacura ("The lefty from Vitacura"), he became the first Latin American player to reach the top position on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles rankings in 1998. He held the World No. 1 ranking for six weeks. He also has held the top ranking in juniors and seniors. He was the first player in tennis history to win the three clay-court Masters Series tournaments (Monte Carlo, Rome, and Hamburg). He is the only male player in the open era to have held the World No. 1 ranking despite never winning a Grand Slam singles tournament.

He retired prematurely in 2004, after being overtaken by a back injury. He played his last ATP level tournament while only 27 years old at the 2003 French Open.

Contents

Tennis career

Early years

Ríos began playing tennis at the age of 11 at the Sport Française country club in Vitacura (Greater Santiago), adjacent to his house. He was soon recognized for his talented left-hand and reserved personality.

Juniors

In 1993, Ríos became the first male player from Latin America to be ranked world number one in juniors. That year, he won the boys' singles title at the US Open and his first satellite tournament in Chile.

ATP Tour

1994

Ríos became professional in 1994 and quickly began to acquire international fame after his participation in Roland Garros, where in the second round and with 18 years confronted Pete Sampras, giving hard battle to lose 6-7, 6-7 and 4-6. His great skill with the left hand side and his novel-long hair and used of visor-back, drew the attention of the media, being his first step to international stardom. That same year he won his first challenger in Dresden, Germany.

1995

In May 1995, when he was 19 years old, Ríos won his first tournament title in Bologna defeating Marcelo Filippini of Uruguay 6-2 6-4, and entering for the first time in the 50 best players in the world. Then in June he won the Amsterdam tournament in both singles - before Jan Siemerink by 6-4 7-5 6-4 - and doubles (with Sjeng Schalken) and won the tournament in Kuala Lumpur before Mark Philippoussis by 7-6 6-2. Furthermore he reached the final of the ATP tournament of his country, in Santiago de Chile. Ríos ended the year as No. 25 in the world.

1996

Marcelo achieved this year but now having great performances in Masters Series (then called super 9) tournaments category. He reached the quarterfinals in Stuttgart and the Masters Series of Rome, the semifinals in Indian Wells, Monte Carlo and Canada. It also achieved its fourth title in Sankt Polten, Austria to the Spaniard Felix Mantilla by 6-1 6-4 and reach the final again in Santiago de Chile forming a kind of curse that prevented him from winning their local tournament with his public. Also reached the finals in Barcelona and Scottsdale. For much of the year Marcelo would be within the Top Ten, becoming the first Chilean in history to do so. He ended the year as No. 11 in the world, improving his ranking again.

1997

In 1997 Ríos reached for the first time the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam tournament at both the Australia Open and the US Open. He also won the final of the Super 9 tournament at Monte Carlo. After the free first round, he beat Andrea Gaudenzi, Albert Costa, Carlos Moya and Magnus Larsson, and, in the final, Alex Corretja, by 6-4, 6-3 and 6-3. Two weeks later reached the final of the Rome Masters before the same Spaniard, but this time he lost. Other successes of the year were the quarterfinals again in the Madrid Masters and the finals in Marseille, Boston, and for the third time in Santiago. Ríos will end the year for the first time into the Top Ten being No.10, and reaching No. 6 during the year.

1998: World No.1

The year 1998 represented the peak in the career of Ríos, who reached the number 1 in the world. The year began with success. Won the open tournament in Auckland, New Zealand, the first of the year, before Richard Fromberg and reached the final of the Australia Open, falling to the Petr Korda, who months later would be sanctioned by the ATP for giving positive for nandrolone in a doping test. The following months had highlighting achievements such as the title of the Super 9, the current Masters Series Indian Wells by defeating Greg Rusedski in the final. The consecration came in the final Super 9 Key Biscayne in the United States under the guidance of his coach Larry Stefanki.

After victories over Hendrik Dreekman, Tommy Haas, and then Goran Ivanišević, Ríos defeated Thomas Enqvist in the quarterfinals and, in semifinals, Tim Henman. In the final on March 29, 1998, Ríos won against Andre Agassi, for partial 7-5, 6-3 and 6-4. In Chile, thousands of people took to the streets to celebrate the triumph of the first Chilean to reach the sport's number one ranking in its field, grabbing the post to Pete Sampras who had a streak of 102 consecutive weeks as number one and 5 years ending of the season as a leader. In the days ahead, there was a crowded reception leading Ríos to former president Eduardo Frei from the balcony of La Moneda to ten thousand people who cheered outside the palace. Its classification as a number one lasted four weeks, until he lost by not being able to defend the title at Monte Carlo by a injury made in Davis Cup before defeting Hernán Gumy in Argentina, Buenos Aires. However, the August 10 recovered by the other two weeks. Throughout this extraordinary season Marcelo also won the Rome Masters to Albert Costa, Saint Poelten before Vincent Spadea, the Grand Slam Cup before Andre Agassi and Singapore to Mark Woodforde. Furthermore reached the quarterfinals in Madrid and Paris Masters. The year 1998 was a milestone in the career of Marcelo and sport history of Chile. Ríos won 7 titles, including 3 Masters Series, and the final of the controversial Australia Open. On July 27 of that year would reach the maximum number of points achieved throughout his career with 3719 units (according to the scoring system prior to year 2000). Finally, ending the year as No. 2 in the world, after Pete Sampras, who was top of the world rankings for his sixth consecutive year.

1999

Ríos maintained a high level throughout 1999, although his game was interrupted by repeated injuries and surgeries. This denied him to defending the final in the Australian Open, so he dropped several positions in the ranking. He then reached the final of the Monte Carlo Masters, where, after winning the first and second sets, had to leave due to a new injury and awarding the tournament to Gustavo Kuerten. He subsequently won the Hamburg Masters in a match that lasted more than four hours against Mariano Zabaleta; 2 weeks later he became champion for the third consecutive time in Sankt Pölten, after defeating the same Argentine player. In October, he won the Singapore tournament and reached the final of the Beijing tournament losing to the Swede Magnus Norman. He also reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and the Madrid Masters. Despite the many injuries and surgeries he suffered, Ríos would complete his third consecutive year as a Top Ten, at the No. 9 world ranking.

2000

This year was marked by repeated and disabling injuries that would prevent Ríos remain among the first in the world. He won the tournament of Umag, Croatia before the Argentine Mariano Puerta. Ríos also reached the semifinals at the Hamburg Masters losing to Marat Safin, one of the new stars of the circuit. Ríos finished the year as No. 37 in the world.

2001

In 2001 Ríos won the first tournament of the year in Doha. However performance in the following tournaments would be lesser, weakened by an ankle operation, which resulted have him out of the top 50 in the world for the first time since he was a teenager. Ríos in September won another title, this time in Hong Kong, defeating German Rainer Schüttler in the final. Ríos decided to return in October to play a Challenger tournament, winning the final of Santiago before the Argentine Edgardo Massa. Also reached a doubles final in Scottsdale. Ríos ended the year as No.39 in the world.

2002

In early 2002 achieved good results, but a back injury in the season prevent him from develop normally. It would be the same injury that led him to the operation room twice and never allowed to return to a competitive level. His best results were the quarterfinals at the Australia Open, the semifinal at the Miami Masters, and the final in Stockholm tournament before the Thai Paradorn Srichaphan. Ríos would again finish among the 25 best players in the world in post No. 24, but without managing to recover from injuries that beset him since late 1999.

2003

In Viña del Mar tournament (formerly Santiago tournament) Ríos reached the final, losing to Spaniard David Sánchez, losing the fourth of four finals he disputed in his home tournament. However achieved, representing Chile together with Fernando González and Nicolás Massú, the World Team Cup in Düsseldorf. The same year also won silver medals in singles and doubles alongside Adrián García in the 2003 Pan American Games. In May Ríos played his last ATP-level match, losing in the first round at Roland Garros by Mario Ančić 1-6 0-1 and withdrawal. In 2003 Ríos played very few tournaments, in most of which he had to withdraw. This resulted in ending the year only as No. 105 in the world.

Tour retirement

In 2004, six years after claiming the World No. 1 ranking, and after a long absence from the tour, Ríos returned to competition with a 6–0, 6–0 victory at a Challenger Series tournament in Ecuador. He played his last competitive match in early April 2004 at a challenger in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, where he retired in the round of 16.

Finally, on July 16, 2004, after years of constant injuries and back discomfort—and at just 28 years old—Rios announced his retirement from tennis during a press conference in Santiago. He organized a farewell tour across his home country, travelling through several cities, meeting with fans, offering tennis clinics, and playing friendly matches with international and local tennis players such as Petr Korda, Goran Ivanišević. The tour ended on December 22, 2004, at a soccer stadium in Santiago, where he played his final tennis match against Guillermo Coria of Argentina.

Ríos intended to return to ATP competition in February 2007 at the Viña del Mar tournament (Movistar Open); however, he retired because of the same back injury that made him retire from the tour.

On March 30, 2007, Ríos played an exhibition match in the Movistar Arena against Andre Agassi, both as a way to commemorate the match where Ríos rose to World No. 1 and as way of having the American play in Chile. On June 24, 2008, Ríos defeated Pete Sampras in an exhibition match that conmemorated the ten years of having reached the Number 1 in the world.

Seniors

This section requires expansion.

On March 29, 2006, Ríos, aged 30, debuted on the ATP Champions Tour, a tour for senior's players. At his first tournament on the tour in Doha, Qatar, he defeated Thomas Muster, Henri Leconte, Pat Cash, and Cédric Pioline to claim the title. The following week he repeated, this time winning the crown in Hong Kong, where he won the final before an also former world No. 1 Thomas Muster. Rios won six tournaments in a row, adding Algarve Graz, Paris and Eindhoven to the above. His inclusion on the senior circuit caused mild controversy, as he was significantly younger than many of his fellow competitors.[1] He ended the year as number one, winning a total of six tournaments and holding a winning streak of 25 matches, achieving the record of being the only player in history to be No. 1 in the world as a junior, professional and veteran.

In 2008 Ríos came back to veteran's tour where he won the tournaments in Barcelona and Algarve. On June 22, 2008, he was defeated by Pete Sampras in the final of a seniors tournament in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Ríos ended the year as No.3 in the veteran's world rankings.

Personal life

Ríos was born in Santiago, Chile to Jorge Ríos Jarvis, a businessman, and Alicia Mayorga, a teacher. He has an older sister, Paula.

Ríos married Costa Rican Giuliana Sotela in December 2000 in Santiago. He met her while training at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida. Their only child, Constanza, was born in June 2001. Soon after returning to competition in 2004, Ríos and his wife separated, and their marriage was annulled. During this period, Ríos worked as a sports commentator for a radio station in Chile.

Ríos was remarried in April 2005 to model María Eugenia "Kenita" Larraín, a former fiancée of football player Iván Zamorano. The couple subsequently experienced a very public break-up in September of the same year after an incident in Costa Rica in which Larraín was allegedly injured in an accident. Ríos claimed that marrying her was "the biggest mistake of my life."

Controversies

Ríos' career has been marked by a number of controversies.

  • He was fined US$10,000 for speeding during the 1998 Stuttgart tournament.[2]
  • In a confusing incident, he ran over his physical trainer, Manuel Astorga, with his jeep, leaving him gravely injured at the foot. Astorga was later fired as trainer.[2]
  • After a magazine published some photos of him dancing seductively with a woman at a Paris disco, his girlfriend Giuliana Sotela broke up with him. Later, during a Davis Cup press conference, he read a letter, asking Sotela for forgiveness. He ended the press conference in tears.[3]
  • He was accused by his second wife, María Eugenia Larraín, of throwing her off of his car while visiting his daughter in Costa Rica. Larraín arrived to Santiago's airport in dramatic fashion, on a wheelchair and showing multiple bruises on her legs. He claimed those bruises were caused by falling while skiing.[2]
  • He was arrested in Rome in 2001 after he punched a taxi driver in the nose and then had a fight with the policemen arresting him.[3]
  • In 2003, while training for a Davis Cup tie with Ecuador, he allegedly urinated on some men in a La Serena bar's bathroom and was later expelled from his hotel after being accused of swimming in the nude. As a consequence, the Chilean team lost a flight to Ecuador the following day. He later apologized for the incidents.[2][4]
  • In 2003 he and a friend were expelled from a Santiago bar after insulting other clients and being involved in a brawl with some waiters. Both were arrested and later released.[2]
  • He reportedly told Monica Seles to move her "fat ass" while on a lunch queue, but he has denied this.[3]
  • During the 1997 Wimbledon tournament he commented that grass was for "cows and soccer" and not suitable for tennis play.[3]
  • He was disqualified from the 2000 Mercedes-Benz Cup tennis tournament in Los Angeles, California during a first round match with Gouichi Motomura of Japan and fined US$5,000 for saying "fuck you" to the chair umpire.[3]
  • During a post-match interview at the Basel tournament, he insulted a journalist under his breath after she asked him whether he had Native American ancestry.[5]
  • He tried to moon some reporters who were recording him while partying outside his apartment in Reñaca.[3]
  • He fired his trainer Larry Stefanki shortly after he became World No. 1, claiming that he wanted to go in a different direction.

All finals (33)

Singles: 31 (18-13)

Wins (18)
Legend
Grand Slam (0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
Grand Slam Cup (1)
ATP Masters Series (5)
ATP Championship Series (2)
ATP Tour (10)
Titles by Surface
Hard (7)
Clay (9)
Grass (0)
Carpet (2)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
1. May 28, 1995 Bologna, Italy Clay Flag of Uruguay Marcelo Filippini 6–2, 6–4
2. July 30, 1995 Amsterdam, Netherlands Clay Flag of the Netherlands Jan Siemerink 6–4, 7–5, 6–4
3. October 8, 1995 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Carpet (i) Flag of Australia Mark Philippoussis 7–6(6), 6–2
4. May 26, 1996 Sankt Pölten, Austria Clay Flag of Spain Félix Mantilla 6–2, 6–4
5. April 27, 1997 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Flag of Spain Àlex Corretja 6–4, 6–3, 6–3
6. January 18, 1998 Auckland, New Zealand Hard Flag of Australia Richard Fromberg 4–6, 6–4, 7–6(3)
7. March 15, 1998 Indian Wells, USA Hard Flag of the United Kingdom Greg Rusedski 6–3, 6–7(15), 7–6(4), 6–4
8. March 29, 1998 Miami, USA Hard Flag of the United States Andre Agassi 7–5, 6–3, 6–4
9. May 17, 1998 Rome, Italy Clay Flag of Spain Álbert Costa walkover
10. May 24, 1998 Sankt Pölten, Austria Clay Flag of the United States Vincent Spadea 6–2, 6–0
11. October 5, 1998 Grand Slam Cup, Munich, Germany Hard (i) Flag of the United States Andre Agassi 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(1), 5–7, 6–3
12. October 18, 1998 Singapore Carpet (i) Flag of Australia Mark Woodforde 6–4, 6–2
13. May 9, 1999 Hamburg, Germany Clay Flag of Argentina Mariano Zabaleta 6–7(5), 7–5, 5–7, 7–6(5), 6–2
14. May 23, 1999 Sankt Pölten, Austria Clay Flag of Argentina Mariano Zabaleta 4–4, retired
15. October 17, 1999 Singapore Hard (i) Flag of Sweden Mikael Tillström 6–2, 7–6(5)
16. July 23, 2000 Umag, Croatia Clay Flag of Argentina Mariano Puerta 7–6(1), 4–6, 6–3
17. January 7, 2001 Doha, Qatar Hard Flag of the Czech Republic Bohdan Ulihrach 6–3, 2–6, 6–3
18. September 30, 2001 Hong Kong, China Hard Flag of Germany Rainer Schüttler 7–6(3), 6–2
Runners-ups (13)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
1. October 29, 1995 Santiago, Chile Clay Flag of the Czech Republic Sláva Doseděl 7–6(3), 6–3
2. March 10, 1996 Scottsdale, USA Hard Flag of South Africa Wayne Ferreira 2–6, 6–3, 6–3
3. April 21, 1996 Barcelona, Spain Clay Flag of Austria Thomas Muster 6–3, 4–6, 6–4, 6–1
4. November 10, 1996 Santiago, Chile Clay Flag of Argentina Hernán Gumy 6–4, 7–5
5. February 16, 1997 Marseille, France Hard (i) Flag of Sweden Thomas Enqvist 6–4, 1–0, retired
6. May 18, 1997 Rome, Italy Clay Flag of Spain Àlex Corretja 7–5, 7–5, 6–3
7. August 24, 1997 Boston, USA Hard Flag of the Netherlands Sjeng Schalken 7–5, 6–3
8. November 9, 1997 Santiago, Chile Clay Flag of Spain Julián Alonso 6–2, 6–1
9. February 1, 1998 Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia Hard Flag of the Czech Republic Petr Korda 6–2, 6–2, 6–2
10. April 25, 1999 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Flag of Brazil Gustavo Kuerten 6–4, 2–1, retired
11. October 10, 1999 Shanghai, China Hard Flag of Sweden Magnus Norman 2–6, 6–3, 7–5
12. October 27, 2002 Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i) Flag of Thailand Paradorn Srichaphan 6–7(2), 6–0, 6–3, 6–2
13. February 16, 2003 Viña del Mar, Chile Clay Flag of Spain David Sánchez 1–6, 6–3, 6–3

Doubles: 2 (1-1)

Win (1)
No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponent in the final Score in the final
1. July 30, 1995 Amsterdam, Netherlands Clay Flag of the Netherlands Sjeng Schalken Flag of Australia Wayne Arthurs
Flag of the United Kingdom Neil Broad		 7–6, 6–2
Runner-up (1)
No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponent in the final Score in the final
1. March 11, 2001 Scottsdale, USA Hard Flag of the Netherlands Sjeng Schalken Flag of the United States Donald Johnson
Flag of the United States Jared Palmer		 7–6(3), 6–2

Team competition wins

Other wins

Performance timeline

Tournament 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Career
Australian Open - - 1R QF F - - 1R QF - 0
French Open 2R 2R 4R 4R QF QF 1R 2R - 1R 0
Wimbledon - 1R - 4R 1R - - - - - 0
US Open 2R 1R 2R QF 3R 4R 3R 3R 3R - 0
Grand Slam Win-Loss 2–2 1–3 4–3 14-4 12-4 7–2 2–2 3–3 6–2 0–1 51-26
ATP World Tour Finals - - - - RR - - - - - 0
Indian Wells Masters - 3R SF 2R W 3R 2R 1R 3R 2R 1
Miami Masters - 3R 3R 3R W 4R 4R 2R SF 4R 1
Monte Carlo Masters - - SF W - F 1R 2R 3R - 1
Rome Masters - 2R QF F W 1R 1R 2R - - 1
Hamburg Masters - - - 3R 2R W SF 2R - - 1
Canada Masters - - SF - - - 3R - 3R 0
Cincinnati Masters - 1R - 3R 2R - 2R - 2R - 0
Madrid Masters - - QF QF QF QF - 3R 2R - 0
Paris Masters - - 2R 2R QF 2R - - 1R - 0

Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-8 (quarter finals up to finalist).

ATP Tour career earnings

Year Majors ATP wins Total wins Earnings ($) Money list rank
1997 0 1 1 1,397,445 12
1998 0 7 7 3,420,054 2
1999 0 3 3 1,794,244 5
2000 0 1 1 493,816 40
2001 0 2 2 466,025 43
2002 0 0 0 506,160 39
2003 0 0 0 308,140 73
Career 0 18 18 9,713,771 30

References

  1. ^ McEnroe angry over young seniors. BBC News
  2. ^ a b c d e El escándalo tras regreso de Kenita
  3. ^ a b c d e f ¿Cuánto sabe del lado B del Chino?
  4. ^ Marcelo Ríos pidió disculpas al equipo y a su familia
  5. ^ D.N.I. / MARCELO RIOS

Sources

External links

Preceded by
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras		 World Number One
March 30, 1998 - April 26, 1998
August 10, 1998 - August 23, 1998		 Succeeded by
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras

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