Catalina Castaño

Catalina Castaño Álvarez (; born 7 July 1979) is a Colombian former tennis player. Her highest singles ranking is world No. 35 which she achieved July 2006.

In her career, she won ten titles on the ITF Women's Circuit, six in singles and four in doubles, as well as one doubles title on both the WTA Tour and Challenger Tour.

Castaño defeated top-20 players such as Nicole Vaidišová, Anna-Lena Grönefeld, Patty Schnyder, Paola Suárez, Li Na and Lucie Šafářová. She was coached by Peruvian-born British citizen Pablo Giacopelli since 2004.

Career summary 1999–2004 In 1999 she won her first ITF title in Santiago. The following year she won two ITF titles in Midlothian and Cali. In 2001, she reached the quarterfinals in her home tournament of Bogotá, Colombia (Tier III). In 2002, Castaño advanced the semifinals in Bogotá. She reached four ITF finals, winning two of them - in Gorizia and Campobasso. She won 39 matches in the year and lost 18. In 2004, she reached the quarterfinals in Bogotá for the third time. She was the last player to be defeated by Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon in the ladies singles, losing the match 0–6, 1–6. She won her sixth ITF title in Orbetello.

2005 In April, she won five matches in Miami (Tier I) including back-to-back wins over world No. 19, Paola Suárez, and world No. 13, Patty Schnyder, before falling to world No. 9, Venus Williams, in three sets in the round of 16. In May, she won four matches in Rome (Tier I) before losing to world No. 10, Vera Zvonareva, in the round of 16. In August, she reached her first ever WTA Tour final in Budapest. She lost to the top seed Anna Smashnova in the final, in straight sets. In October, she reached the semifinals in Seoul (Tier IV) but lost to the eventual champion Nicole Vaidišová.

2006 She commenced January with a semifinal showing in Canberra (Tier IV) and passed the first round of the Australian Open for the first time. In Charleston in mid-April, Catalina reached her first Tier I quarterfinal, after defeating Ashley Harkleroad, Nicole Vaidišová and Marion Bartoli. Her two-sets win over Vaidišová, who was ranked 14 at the time, was her best win of the year. The following week in Berlin, Catalina beat Anna-Lena Grönefeld, who was ranked 14 at the time. It was her second win over a top-15 player in as many weeks. In May, she reached the quarterfinals in Istanbul (Tier III) for the first time. She reached her highest ranking of No. 35 on July 16.

2007 Catalina commenced the new season with a solid start, recording two quarterfinal appearances at the Gold Coast and Hobart in January. At the Gold Coast, she defeated Li Na who was ranked 21 at the time.

2014 Castaño retired from professional tennis after a diagnosis of breast cancer.

WTA Tour finals Singles: 1 (runner-up) OutcomeDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreRunner-upJul 2005Budapest Grand Prix, HungaryTier IVClay Anna Smashnova 2–6, 2–6

Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

WTA Challenger finals Singles: 1 (runner-up) ResultW–LDateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 0–1 Feb 2013Copa Bionaire, Colombia Clay Lara Arruabarrena 3–6, 2–6

Doubles: 1 (title) ResultW–LDateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore Win 1–0 Feb 2013Copa Bionaire, Colombia Clay Mariana Duque Mariño Florencia Molinero Teliana Pereira 3–6, 6–1, [10–5]

ITF Circuit finals Legend$100,000 tournaments$75,000 tournaments$50,000 tournaments$25,000 tournaments$10,000 tournaments

Singles (6–7) ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 1. 29 March 1999 ITF Santiago, Chile Clay María Fernanda Landa 6–4, 6–2Loss 1. 18 October 1999 ITF Nashville, United States Hard Florencia Labat 1–6, 1–6Win 2. 8 May 2000 ITF Midlothian, Canada Clay Evelyn Fauth 6–3, 7–5Loss 2. 23 April 2000 ITF San Luis Potosí, Mexico Clay Milagros Sequera 4–6, 6–3, 5–7Loss 3. 13 November 2000 ITF Naples, United States Clay Yvette Basting 0–4, 0–4, 2–4Win 3. 10 December 2000 ITF Bogotá, Colombia Clay Fabiola Zuluaga 4–1 ret.Loss 4. 14 October 2001 ITF Hallandale Beach, United States Clay Fabiola Zuluaga 6–3, 3–6, 4–3 ret.Win 4. 1 June 2003 ITF Campobasso, Italy Clay Nina Bratchikova 6–2, 6–2Loss 5. 9 June 2003 Grado Tennis Cup, Italy Clay Martina Suchá 1–6, 2–6Win 5. 16 June 2003 ITF Gorizia, Italy Clay Michaela Paštiková 7–6(2), 6–4Runner-up 6. 1 September 2003 ITF Fano, Italy Clay Cristina Torrens Valero 3–6, 7–5, 3–6Win 6. 29 June 2004 ITF Orbetello, Italy Clay Alona Bondarenko 2–6, 6–2, 6–3Loss 7. 24 June 2012 Open de Montpellier, France Clay Séverine Beltrame 2–6, 6–7(4)

Doubles (4–3) ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1. 14 September 1998 ITF La Paz, Bolivia Clay Carolina Mayorga Laura Bernal Daniela Olivera 5–7, 7–6(5), 1–6Win 1. 24 January 2011 ITF Bucaramanga, Colombia Clay Viky Núñez Fuentes Nathália Rossi Zuzana Zlochová 7–6(3), 6–1Loss 2. 25 July 2011 ITF Bad Saulgau, Germany Clay Mariana Duque Mariño Maria Abramović Nicole Clerico 3–6, 7–5, [7–10]Win 2. ITF Plantation, United States Clay Laura Thorpe Jessica Pegula Ahsha Rolle 6–4, 6–2 Win 3. 22 October 2012 Internationaux de Poitiers, France Hard Mervana Jugić-Salkić Stéphanie Foretz Gacon Tatjana Maria 6–4, 5–7, [10–4] Win 4. 29 October 2012 Open Nantes Atlantique, France Hard Mervana Jugić-Salkić Petra Cetkovská Renata Voráčová 6–4, 6–4Loss 3. 12 May 2013 Open de Cagnes-sur-Mer, France Clay Teliana Pereira Vania King Arantxa Rus 6–4, 5–7, [8–10]

Performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

Head-to-head record Players who have been ranked world No. 1 are in boldface. Martina Navratilova - 0–1 Nadia Petrova - 0–1 Serena Williams - 0–1