Albert Costa

Albert Costa Casals (; born 25 June 1975) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He is best remembered for winning the men's singles title at the French Open in 2002.

Tennis career Costa began playing tennis at the age of five. He first gained attention as an outstanding junior player, reaching the French Open junior final and winning the Orange Bowl in 1993. He turned professional later that year and quickly established a reputation as a strong clay court player. Spanish former player and commentator Andrés Gimeno referred to him as "the man with two forehands", because of his ability to hit forehands and backhands with same accuracy and strength. In 1994, he won two challenger events and was named the ATP's Newcomer of the Year.

In 1995, Costa won his first top-level singles title at Kitzbühel, defeating "King of Clay", Thomas Muster, in a five set final, beating Muster "with a mix of good ground shots, well-judged drop and slice winners and simple stamina in long baseline duels". It was Muster's first of 2 losses on clay in 1995. Costa ended Muster's streak of 40 consecutive clay match wins and his 11 consecutive final wins. Costa won three further titles in 1996. In 1997, he claimed two singles titles and was part of the Spanish team that won the World Team Cup. In 1998, he won another two singles titles, including the Tennis Masters Series event in Hamburg. He won three more titles in 1999.

In 2000, Costa was part of the Spanish team that won its first Davis Cup. Although he was eliminated in the first round in men's singles, he also won a bronze medal in the men's doubles at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, partnering Álex Corretja.

At the 2002 French Open, Costa had not won a tour title since 1999 and was seeded 20th, he defeated Richard Gasquet, Nikolay Davydenko and Andrea Gaudenzi to reach the fourth round, where he defeated two time defending-champion and former world No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten in straight sets. Costa followed up with a five-set victory over Argentina's Guillermo Cañas in the quarterfinals. Costa destroyed Ferrero, who could only win nine points during Costa's service games in the first 2 sets. "It was the best match of my life" said Costa afterwards. Costa became the most successful Spanish Davis Cup captain to date as he led Spain to two Davis Cup titles in 2009 and 2011, before handing the captaincy over to Àlex Corretja.

Following his captaincy, Costa took up coaching duties, working with ATP professional Feliciano López.

Personal life He grew up idolising John McEnroe. Beyond tennis, he enjoys playing cards, table tennis, golf, and soccer. He is also a fan of Barcelona and his hometown club, UE Lleida. He also admires sporting legends such as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Ronaldo.

Less than a week after his victory at the 2002 French Open, Costa married his long-time girlfriend, Cristina Ventura. Àlex Corretja was the best man at the wedding. The couple have twin daughters, Claudia and Alma, born on 21 April 2001.

Career statistics

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Finals (1 title)

Year-End Championship performance timeline