Mara Santangelo

Mara Santangelo (born 28 June 1981) is a former tennis player from Italy and Grand Slam champion in doubles, winning 2007 French Open. As single player, she won a decisive match in the final Italy vs Belgium against Kirsten Flipkens allowing her national team to win for the first time the 2006 Fed Cup.

Tennis career

Santangelo reached the fourth round at the 2004 Australian Open, defeating 16th-seeded Magüi Serna, Barbara Schett, and 19th-seeded Eleni Daniilidou—losing to eventual champion and world No. 1 Justine Henin, after having been up 4–2 in the second set. She also won her first WTA Tour title in 2006, defeating Jelena Kostanić in the final.

She took a set from top-seeded Amélie Mauresmo in the third round of the 2006 US Open, and led 2–0 in the deciding set, only to lose the next six games. She also defeated Anastasia Myskina in 2006, her first win over a top-20 player. She and her Italian teammates Francesca Schiavone, Flavia Pennetta, and Roberta Vinci beat the Belgian team 3–2 in the 2006 Fed Cup final. Justine Henin had to retire in the fifth and final match because of an injury in her right knee, which let Italy win their first Fed Cup trophy.

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 three set matches. In Moscow, Santangelo lost in the first round to Iveta Benešová in another three-setter. In Linz, Santangelo defeated Alona Bondarenko; she lost to eventual semifinalist Nicole Vaidišová. At her final tournament of the year in Hasselt, Santangelo retired while 5–2 down against Michaëlla Krajicek in the first round. She ended the year ranked world No. 31, a new career high.

Santangelo was still recovering from injury when 2007 commenced. At her first tournament in Hobart, she defeated countrywoman Maria Elena Camerin in the first round, losing to Catalina Castaño in the second round. At the Australian Open, Santangelo drew then-world No. 81 eventual champion Serena Williams in the first round, losing in two sets. She reached her first quarterfinal of the year at the Tier IV Pattaya City tournament, losing to Sania Mirza in straight sets. 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.

In Doha during the second round, Santangelo faced fellow countrywoman Francesca Schiavone, and led 6–4, 6–6 (6–5), but lost 6–4, 6–7, 0–1 ret., after dropping a match point. She rebounded during her next tournament, however, in Key Biscayne, defeating Jelena Janković in the third round in three sets – which was the first top 10 victory of her career. She lost in the round of 16 to Anna Chakvetadze. Reaching the fourth round of Key Biscayne has thus far been the best showing of Santangelo's in a high-tier event.

During the clay court season, Santangelo defeated Nadia Petrova 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. At the French Open, in singles, Santangelo reached the third round, losing to eventual champion Henin. For doubles, however, partnering 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 fourth-seeded, Amélie Mauresmo, in 57 minutes. Santangelo took part in the 2007 Fed Cup final, where she was defeated by Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second rubber and by Elena Vesnina in the fourth rubber; Italy failed in defending the title and Russia won the trophy with a 4–0 score. Santangelo had to miss the warm-ups for the Australian Open and the Australian Open itself in 2008 because of a troublesome left foot injury. She also missed the Paris indoors event and the Bangalore Open event, where she had previously won a WTA-level title and been a runner-up.

Santangelo returned from eight-month left foot injury lay-off in May; she reached the second round twice (including the 2008 Wimbledon Championships) and she won two ITF tournaments, Biella and Ortisei. At the Beijing Olympics, she was defeated by Dinara Safina in the first round.

In 2009, once again plagued by her foot injury, Santangelo won three doubles tournaments, all of them partnering Nathalie Dechy: Auckland Open where they defeated Nuria Llagostera Vives and Arantxa Parra Santonja, the Monterrey Open with a two-sets win over Iveta Benešová and Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová and, finally, Strasbourg, defeating Claire Feuerstein and Stéphanie Foretz with a 6–0, 6–1 score. On 6 September, partnering Laura Olivieri, she won the 2009 European Beach Tennis Championships with a straight-sets win over the defending champions, Simona Briganti and Rossella Stefanelli.

In May 2010, Santangelo announced her decision to compete in doubles events only, citing her recurrent left foot injury as the main cause that persuaded her to renounce to play singles matches. On 28 January 2011, she declared her retirement from professional tennis due to recurring injuries with her left foot.

Personal life Santangelo was born in Latina, but grew up in the Fiemme Valley in Trentino. She started playing tennis at the age of 6. Her mother, Patrizia, died in a car accident in 1997, when she was sixteen.

Santangelo is a Catholic. In 2010, she went on a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Medjugorje, and has been vocal about her faith since then. Santangelo has written an autobiography, Te lo prometto (I promise you), based on her tennis career and spiritual life.

Grand Slam tournament finals Doubles: 1 (title) ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 2007 French Open Clay Alicia Molik Katarina Srebotnik Ai Sugiyama 7–6(7–5), 6–4

WTA Tour finals Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up) Legend Grand Slam Tier I Tier II Tier III (1–1) Tier IV & V ResultW/LDateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 1–0 Feb 2006 Bangalore Open Hard Jelena Kostanić 3–6, 7–6(7–5), 6–3Loss 1–1 Feb 2007 Bangalore Open Hard Yaroslava Shvedova 4–6, 4–6

Doubles: 12 (9 titles, 3 runner-ups) Legend: Before 2009 Legend: Starting in 2009 Grand Slam (1–0) Tier I (1–0) Premier Mandatory (0–0) Tier II (2–1) Premier 5 (0–0) Tier III (1–0) Premier (0–0) Tier IV & V (1–2) International (3–0)

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

Singles (8–4) ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 1. 14 August 2000 ITF Aosta, Italy Clay Andreea Ehritt-Vanc 1–6, 6–0, 6–1Win 2. 27 August 2000 ITF Cuneo, Italy Clay Edith Nunes 6–2, 3–6, 6–3Loss 3. 24 June 2002 ITF Fontanafredda, Italy Clay Alona Bondarenko 3–6, 0–6Win 4. 25 August 2002 Maribor Open, Slovenia Clay Edina Gallovits-Hall 6–2, 6–3Loss 5. 8 September 2002 ITF Fano, Italy Clay Flavia Pennetta 6–3, 4–6, 0–6Loss 6. 20 October 2002 Open de Touraine, France Hard (i) Camille Pin 6–2, 3–6, 0–6Win 7. 2 February 2003 ITF Ortisei, Italy Carpet (i) Sofia Arvidsson 2–6, 6–2, 6–2Win 8. 29 March 2005 ITF Poza Rica, Mexico Hard Ryōko Fuda 3–6, 6–2, 6–0Win 9. 26 April 2005 ITF Taranto, Italy Clay Kira Nagy 6–1, 6–0 Loss 10. 23 October 2005 Open Saint Raphael, France Hard (i) Maret Ani 3–6, 5–7Win 11. 20 July 2008 ITF Biella, Italy Clay Jelena Kostanić Tošić 6–3, 6–1Win 12. 19 October 2008 ITF Ortisei, Italy Carpet (i) Kristina Barrois 6–3, ret.

Doubles (14–5) ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1. 16 August 1998 Alghero, Italy Hard Laura Dell'Angelo Alessia Lombardi Elena Pioppo 6–3, 2–6, 4–6Win 2. 14 September 1998 Reggio di Calabria, Italy Clay Katia Altilia Andreea Ehritt-Vanc Elena Pioppo 7–6(3), 4–6, 6–4Win 3. 26 September 1999 Horb, Germany Clay Rewa Hudson Eva Fislová Andrea Šebová 6–2, 6–2Loss 4. 30 August 1999 Zadar, Croatia Clay Natasha Galouza Jana Macurová Olga Vymetálková 1–6, 3–6Win 5. 13 September 1999 Biograd na Moru, Croatia Clay Natasha Galouza Silvia Uríčková Eva Fislová 6–2, 6–2Win 6. 4 October 1999 Girona, Spain Clay Maria Wolfbrandt Marina Escobar Rocia Gonzalez 6–7(3), 6–1, 6–3Win 7. 10 April 2000 Hvar, Croatia Clay Marijana Kovačević Zuzana Hejdová Petra Kučová 6–3, 4–6, 6–3Loss 8. 30 April 2000 Cerignola, Italy Clay Maria Elena Camerin Maria Boboedova Liudmila Nikoyan w/oWin 9. 20 August 2000 Aosta, Italy Clay Maria Elena Camerin Oana-Elena Golimbioschi Andreea Ehritt-Vanc 7–5, 4–6, 6–1Win 10. 27 August 2000 Cuneo, Italy Clay Maria Elena Camerin Silvia Disderi Anna Floris 7–5, 6–2Win 11. 3 September 2000 Spoleto, Italy Clay Maria Elena Camerin Oana-Elena Golimbioschi Andreea Ehritt-Vanc w/oWin 12. 30 September 2000 Tbilisi, Georgia Clay Mariana Díaz Oliva Jolanda Mens Alena Paulenková 4–6, 6–3, 6–2Loss 13. 21 July 2003 Innsbruck, Austria Clay Melinda Czink Kira Nagy Maria Wolfbrandt 4–6, 6–4, 4–6Loss 14. Bronx Open, United States Hard Selima Sfar Yuliya Beygelzimer Tatiana Poutchek 4–6, 5–7Win 15. Open Denain, France Clay Antonella Serra Zanetti Yuliya Beygelzimer Tatiana Poutchek 7–5, 6–3Win 16. 12 October 2003 Latina, Italy Clay Roberta Vinci Maret Ani Libuše Průšová 3–6, 6–2, 6–4Win 17. 2 April 2005 Poza Rica, Mexico Hard Seda Noorlander Daniela Klemenschits Sandra Klemenschits 6–2, 4–6, 6–3Win 18. Prostějov, Czech Republic Clay Yuliya Beygelzimer Dája Bedáňová Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová 6–1, 4–6, 6–2Win 19. 3 August 2008 Rimini, Italy Clay Roberta Vinci Stefanie Vögele Kathrin Wörle 6–1, 6–4

Grand Slam performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

Head-to-head record against top players Players who have been ranked world No. 1 are in boldface.

Martina Hingis 0–1 Nadia Petrova 1–2 Serena Williams 0–2 Dinara Safina 0–3 Elena Dementieva 0–2 Jelena Janković 1–3 Nicole Vaidišová 1–1 Lindsay Davenport 0–1 Elena Vesnina 1–1 Flavia Pennetta 0–3 Ana Ivanovic 0–2 Agnieszka Radwańska 1–1