Marta Menegatti

Career 2006–2008: Junior years Menegatti made her international debut on the Challenger and Satellite circuit in August 2006, where she and her partner Debora Pini placed ninth at the $10K Eboli Satellite tournament. From 2006 to 2008, Menegatti was paired with various partners to represent Italy at the annual U20 European, U19 World and U21 World Championships. She won her first international medal in the age-group category when she and Gilda Lombardo were runners-up at the 2007 edition of the U19 World Championships.

2009: Partnering with Cicolari, World Tour debut In the summer of 2009, at the age of 19, Menegatti was offered a spot on the Italian beach volleyball national team. and the two began competing together on the Challenger and Satellite circuit, winning one silver and three bronze medals in 2009. They concluded their first year as teammates ranked 43 in the world.

Menegatti also continued to represent her country in age-group events. In August, she played with Laura Giombini at the U23 European Championships where they finished 19th. Later in the month, Menegatti and her partner Debora Allegretti won the U20 European Championships; they went on to compete at the U21 World Championships in September, finishing 9th. Menegatti and Rosso became the first Italian pair to reach a World Tour final at the $190K Phuket Open in November. Seeded 16th, they upset three of the top-ten seeds before falling to the fourth-seeded Nicole Branagh and Kerri Walsh Jennings of the United States in the gold-medal match.

Menegatti attained two more podium finishes on the age-group circuit. She was the silver medalist at the U23 European Championships with Giombini in August, following a loss to the Czech team of Kristýna Kolocová and Markéta Sluková in the gold-medal match. The next month, Menegatti briefly teamed up with Viktoria Orsi Toth to claim another silver medal at the U21 World Championships, losing a tight three-setter to the American team of Tara Roenicke and Summer Ross in the finals. In the semifinals, they lost to the second-seeded Juliana Silva and Larissa França of Brazil, but came back the next day to beat another Brazilian team of Maria Elisa Antonelli and Talita Antunes to claim the bronze medal. Menegatti closed out the year by medalling at the $190K Phuket Open once again, this time with a third-place finish with Cicolari. They were eliminated from the competition in the Round of 16 by China's Xue Chen and Zhang Xi in straight sets. and Menegatti was named the FIVB Most Improved Player.

The pair competed at the European Championships for the first time in August.

2012: London Olympics alt=Menegatti walking across the sand court with her head turned to the left. In the lead up to the 2012 Summer Olympics, Menegatti and Cicolari competed in seven World Tour events. They medalled in three of them, starting off 2012 with a bronze at the $190K Brasília Open, followed by a silver at the $300K Beijing Grand Slam, and another bronze at the $300K Berlin Grand Slam. They notched victories against top teams including the Brazilian pairs of Juliana and Larissa, and Maria Antonelli and Talita, as well as the American pairs of May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings, and Kessy and April Ross.

Menegatti and Cicolari qualified for the London Olympics on 18 June 2012 via their Olympic ranking points. They were ranked No. 5 in the world at the time and were considered the tournament's dark horse due to their recent success on the World Tour. The duo went undefeated in the group stage. They rallied from a set down to win their first match against Russia's Ekaterina Birlova and Evgeniya Ukolova. This was followed by a 21–18, 21–12 victory over Zara Dampney and Shauna Mullin of Great Britain. They won their first knockout match against Spain's Elsa Baquerizo and Liliana Fernandez to progress to the quarterfinals where they faced May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings.

A few days after the Olympics, they entered their last tournament of the year at the $300K Stare Jablonki Grand Slam; they came in second with a loss to Juliana and Larissa in the gold-medal match.

2013: Partnering with Orsi Toth Menegatti and Cicolari represented Italy at the 2013 Mediterranean Games in June. They finished a dominant tournament run—in which they did not drop a set—with a 21–16, 21–13 victory over Vassiliki Arvaniti and Peny Karagkouni of Greece. The duo took part in the World Championships the following month, advancing to the quarterfinals where they were defeated by Brazil's Liliane Maestrini and Bárbara Seixas. On the World Tour, Menegatti and Cicolari competed in five events together in the first half of 2013; their best results were three fifth-place finishes. In what would be their last tournament together, they placed ninth at the $220K Gstaad Grand Slam in July. Menegatti and Orsi Toth did not win any of their group stage matches and exited the Grand Slam tied for 25th. The new pairing's results improved after Long Beach, with two fourth-place finishes at the $220K Moscow and São Paulo Grand Slams.

2014–2015: First World Tour title At the beginning of 2014, Carvalho abruptly Menegatti and Orsi Toth had a slow start to the season, failing to reach the podium in their first ten World Tour events. The duo finally earned their first World Tour medal as a team—after 15 previous attempts—at the $400K São Paulo Grand Slam in September. Seeded 11th, they upset the second-seeded Walsh Jennings and April Ross of the United States in the quarterfinals, followed by the ninth-seeded Madelein Meppelink and Marleen van Iersel of the Netherlands in the semifinals. The pair also represented Italy at the European Championships, finishing fifth with a three-set loss to Meppelink and van Iersel in the quarterfinals.

Carvalho returned as their coach in early 2015, and Menegatti and Orsi Toth started off the year with a bronze medal at the $300K Moscow Grand Slam in May. Their results got better in September when they won their first World Tour title at the $75K Sochi Open, coming back from a five-point deficit in the first set to beat Isabelle Forrer and Anouk Vergé-Dépré of Switzerland in two sets. The gold medal in Sochi made them the first Italian women's team to ever win a World Tour event. Menegatti and Orsi Toth went on to medal at their next two tournaments, with a bronze at the $75K Puerto Vallarta Open and a silver at the $75K Antalya Open. Menegatti and Orsi Toth did not medal on the World Tour in 2016; their highest finish was a fourth at the $75K Sochi Open, as well as fifth-place finishes at three $400K Majors. The pair were ranked No. 7 in the world at the time. On 2 August, three days before the start of the Olympics, Orsi Toth was found to have tested positive for the banned substance clostebol and was suspended from competition. Rebecca Perry, a professional indoor volleyball player who had transitioned to beach volleyball earlier that year, was initially selected by FIPAV as Orsi Toth's replacement. However, Perry was found by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) to be ineligible as she had not participated in sufficient qualifying tournaments. Instead, Laura Giombini, who Menegatti last played with at the 2010 U23 European Championships, was brought in as she was the only Italian athlete who met the FIVB's eligibility criteria. Giombini arrived in Rio three days before their first match was scheduled to take place.

As both Menegatti and Giombini specialised as right-side defenders at the time, they had to adapt positions: Giombini became the team's blocker, while Menegatti moved to the left side of the court. commentators observed in their opening match against Canada that the two had difficulties coordinating on defense, resulting in positioning errors and confusion between the blocker and defender. Seeded ninth, they suffered three-set losses against the 16th-seeded Jamie Broder and Kristina May of Canada and the fourth-seeded Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst of Germany in the group stage, but were still able to advance to the knockout stage following a victory over Egypt's Doaa Elghobashy and Nada Meawad. A two-set loss to Walsh Jennings and April Ross in the next round saw them exit from the competition. With Giombini replacing Orsi Toth, However, Menegatti and Perry struggled on the World Tour and did not manage better than a 17th place in nine tournaments. During this time, both Perry and Menegatti's longtime coach Carvalho left the national team programme. Carvalho was replaced by his coaching assistant, Terenzio Feroleto, in 2018. quote="I love this sport and it doesn't bother me if I have to restart and begin from the bottom. I want to gain the position I had before. I know I have to work and fight a lot. It will take me some time but I'm confident I can get there." — —Menegatti on her slump. No longer having sufficient ranking points to play in the major events,

2018–present: Orsi Toth's return Orsi Toth served a two-year suspension and returned to international competition in July at the $50K Agadir Open, resuming her partnership with Menegatti. The pair won the tournament as the No. 13 seeds. The following week, they were given a wild card into the main draw of the $300K Vienna Major as the 31st seeds. In the group stage, they upset the second-seeded Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson of Canada, and the 15th-seeded Nina Betschart and Tanja Huberli of Switzerland to top their group. They advanced to the Round of 16 where they were knocked out of the tournament by Sara Hughes and Summer Ross of the United States. Orsi Toth's return produced a turnaround in results for Menegatti, with the duo posting top-ten finishes in all seven World Tour events they entered, including a second-place finish at the $75K Qinzhou Open in October. They concluded the year ranked No. 25 in the world.

Style of play Menegatti receives a serve and attacks from the right side of the court to score a point against Spain at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She has played on the right side for the majority of her career. Menegatti is a defender and a right-handed left-side player. —and later Orsi Toth —in 2018. La Gazzetta dello Sports Mario Salvini praised Menegatti as one of the best technical players in the world in 2015, Olympic gold medalist Dain Blanton commented at the 2018 Vienna Major that one of Menegatti's strengths is her ability to turn backcourt defense into offensive plays. Prior to her post-Rio Olympics slump, she was regarded as one of the most consistent players on the international circuit.

In her partnership with Orsi Toth, opponents almost always serve the latter as they fear Menegatti. Menegatti has assumed a leadership role within this pairing as she is the more experienced of the two—a role reversal of when she played with Cicolari. Menegatti has described herself as a more "explosive" player compared to Orsi Toth's calmer demeanor.

Personal life Menegatti graduated from secondary school with a diploma in accounting, specialising in foreign languages. She went on to enroll in the Faculty of Motor Sciences at the University of L'Aquila. and as such receives a monthly stipend from the Italian Air Force. As members of the Air Force, Menegatti and Cicolari participated in the 2011 Military World Games. previous sponsors include Red Bull (energy drink) and Smart (automotive). and Unet Energia Italiana (renewable energy).

Since she was young, Menegatti respected Misty May-Treanor for both her playing style and her on-court demeanor. During matches, Menegatti wears a pair of pearl earrings that were a gift from her parents as a symbolic way of having them with her. According to the subsequent investigation, the accused parties had allegedly sent threats and insults via text and social media in the years following the acrimonious 2013 split between Menegatti and Cicolari. in November 2018, Menegatti testified in court that the alleged harassment was still ongoing and that she has had to see a psychologist to deal with the resulting anxiety.

Career statistics World Tour finals: 9 (2–7)

Legend $400,000 tournaments (0–1) $300,000 tournaments (0–2) $190,000 tournaments (0–2) $75,000 tournaments (1–2) $50,000 tournaments (1–0)

European finals: 1 (1–0)

ResultW–LDateTournamentPartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1–0 European Championships Greta Cicolari Barbara Hansel Sara Montagnolli 21–10, 21–12(0:31)

Performance timeline

Current through the 2018 FIVB World Tour Finals. 44 10 42 25