Nicolás Massú

 

Nicolás Massú

Nickname(s)	Vampiro
Country	Chile
Residence	Viña del Mar
Date of birth	October 10 1979 (1979--) (age 28)
Place of birth	Viña del Mar
Height	m ({{FORMATNUM:5 ft 11+1⁄2 in}})
Weight	80 kg (176 lb)
Turned Pro	1998
Plays	Right
Career Prize Money	US$ 3,775,608
Singles
Career record:	234 - 197
Career titles:	6
Highest ranking:	No. 9 (September 13, 2004)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	2nd (2005)
French Open	3rd (2004, 2006)
Wimbledon	3rd (2001)
U.S. Open	4th (2005)
Doubles
Career record:	74 - 82
Career titles:	1
Highest ranking:	No. 31 (July 25, 2005)
Infobox last updated on: September 18, 2007.

Olympic medal record
Competitor for  Chile
Men's Tennis
Gold	2004 Athens	Singles
Gold	2004 Athens	Doubles

Nicolás Alejandro Massú Fried (born October 10 1979, in Viña del Mar, Chile), nicknamed Vampiro (Spanish: "vampire"), is a Chilean tennis player.

Tennis career

Massú was introduced to tennis at age five by his Hungarian grandfather, Ladislao Fried. From age 12, he was trained by Leonardo Zuleta, with whom he perfected his forehand and double-handed backhand.

Massú became a professional tennis player in 1997. That year he won the prestigious juniors year-end Orange Bowl tournament.

In late 2003, Massú reached the final at the Madrid Tennis Masters Series tournament, losing to Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero.

In 2004 Massú attained his best ATP Singles Ranking, reaching the 9th spot. In mid-2004, he parted ways with Argentinian coach Gabriel Markus, whom he replaced with Chilean Patricio Rodríguez. The Olympic champion underwent groin surgery in November 2004, and therefore entered the 2005 season off top form.

Olympics

Massú represented Chile at the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Australia, and was the country's standard bearer at the Games' opening ceremony, after Marcelo Ríos failed to show up.

In August, at the Olympic Games in Athens, Massú and doubles partner Fernando González gave their country its first-ever Olympic gold medal, when they defeated Nicolas Kiefer and Rainer Schüttler of Germany to win the men's doubles tournament. The next day, he captured his second gold medal by defeating American Mardy Fish in five sets in the men's singles final. Massú was overwhelmed that he had won two gold medals: "I was so happy because this is my best memory in my sport career. If I look back in 10 more years, I look back on this, I'm gonna be so happy. Now I can die happy."[1]

He was chosen as Athlete of the Day on August 23 by the 2004 Athens Olympics' organization, following his victory in singles.

Davis Cup

Massú is 26-14 in Davis Cup competition, including 14-3 on clay.[2] In September 2007 he lost to Dudi Sela, as Israel defeated Chile to advance to the world group.

Playing style

Massú has a style characteristic of a clay court specialist, with strong baseline play characterized by a solid forehand and backhand. However, his play at the net is weaker, and he relies on long rallies from the baseline to win points. His serve is average.^{[citation needed]}

Massú is known for his fighting spirit, especially when playing for Chile, as he has demonstrated at the 2004 Olympics and at numerous Davis Cup matches. He has also turned around difficult matches.

Personal life

Massú, who is Jewish, was born in Viña del Mar, Chile. His mother, Sonia Fried, is Jewish, and his father, Manuel Massú, is of Lebanese ancestry.

ATP Masters Series finals

Singles runners-up

Year	Tournament	Opponent in final	Score in final
2003	Madrid	Juan Carlos Ferrero	3-6, 4-6, 3-6

All finals

Singles (6)

Legend Grand Slam (0) WTA Championships (0) ATP Masters Series (0) Olympic Gold (1) ATP Tour (5)

Titles by Surface Hard (1) Clay (5) Grass (0) Carpet (0)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	24 February 2002	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	Agustín Calleri	2-6, 7-6(5), 6-2
2.	20 July 2003	Amersfoort, Netherlands	Clay	Raemon Sluiter	6-4, 7-6(3), 6-2
3.	28 September 2003	Palermo, Italy	Clay	Paul-Henri Mathieu	1-6, 6-2, 7-6(0)
4.	25 July 2004	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Gastón Gaudio	7-6(3), 6-4
5.	22 August 2004	Athens Olympic Games	Hard	Mardy Fish	6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
6.	26 February 2006	Costa do Sauípe, Brazil	Clay	Alberto Martin	6-3, 6-4

Singles runners-up

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	May 7 2000	Orlando, U.S.	Clay	Fernando González	2-6, 3-6
2.	January 7 2001	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Tommy Haas	3-6, 1-6
3.	July 27 2003	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Guillermo Coria	1-6, 4-6, 2-6
4.	September 14 2003	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	David Sánchez	2-6, 2-6
5.	October 19 2003	Madrid, Spain	Hard (i)	Juan Carlos Ferrero	3-6, 4-6, 3-6
6.	February 5 2006	Viña del Mar, Chile	Clay	José Acasuso	4-6, 3-6
7.	April 30 2006	Casablanca, Morocco	Clay	Daniele Bracciali	1-6, 4-6
8.	July 23 2006	Amersfoort, Netherlands	Clay	Novak Đoković	6-7(5), 4-6
9.	February 4 2007	Viña del Mar, Chile	Clay	Luis Horna	5-7, 3-6

Doubles wins

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponents in the final	Score
1.	August 21 2004	Athens Olympics	Hard	Fernando González	Nicolas Kiefer Rainer Schüttler	6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-4

Team competition wins

• 2003 - World Team Championship, Düsseldorf, Germany (Clay)
• 2004 - World Team Championship, Düsseldorf, Germany (Clay)

External links

• ATP Tour profile for Nicolás Massú
• Massu Recent Match Results
• Massu World Ranking History
• Davis Cup record

Preceded by Yevgeny Kafelnikov

Olympic Champion 2004

Succeeded by reigning champion

Tennis at the Summer Olympics • Olympic Champions in men's tennis
1896: John Pius Boland • 1900: Lawrence Doherty • 1904: Beals Wright • 1908: Josiah Ritchie, Arthur Gore (indoors) John Pius Boland • 1912: Charles Winslow, André Gobert (indoors) • 1920: Louis Raymond • 1924: Vincent Richards • 1988: Miloslav Mečíř • 1992: Marc Rosset • 1996: Andre Agassi • 2000: Yevgeny Kafelnikov • 2004: Nicolás Massú

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