Mara Santangelo

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Mara Santangelo

Country (sports)	Italy
Residence	Rome, Italy
Born	(1981-06-28) 28 June 1981 (age 42) Latina, Lazio, Italy
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Turned pro	1998
Retired	28 January 2011
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$1,691,518
Singles
Career record	286–238
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 27 (9 July 2007)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	4R (2004)
French Open	3R (2007)
Wimbledon	3R (2007)
US Open	3R (2006)
Doubles
Career record	219–143
Career titles	9
Highest ranking	No. 5 (10 September 2007)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	SF (2009)
French Open	W (2007)
Wimbledon	SF (2007)
US Open	3R (2007)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	W (2006)

Mara Santangelo (born 28 June 1981) is a retired tennis player from Italy and Grand Slam champion in double.

Tennis career[edit]

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.^[1]

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 retired 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.^[2]

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.^[3] On 28 January 2011, she declared her retirement from professional tennis due to recurring injuries with her left foot.

Personal life[edit]

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.^[4] 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.^[5]

Grand Slam finals[edit]

Doubles: 1 (1–0)[edit]

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	2007	French Open	Clay	Alicia Molik	Katarina Srebotnik Ai Sugiyama	7–6(7–5), 6–4

WTA career finals[edit]

Singles: 2 (1–1)[edit]

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1.	19 February 2006	Bangalore Open	Hard	Jelena Kostanić	3–6, 7–6(7–5), 6–3
Loss	1.	18 February 2007	Bangalore Open	Hard	Yaroslava Shvedova	4–6, 4–6

Doubles: 12 (9–3)[edit]

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1.	3 October 2004	Hasselt	Hard (i)	Jennifer Russell	Nuria Llagostera Vives Marta Marrero	6–3, 7–5
Loss	1.	11 October 2004	Tashkent	Hard	Marion Bartoli	Adriana Serra Zanetti Antonella Serra Zanetti	6–1, 3–6, 4–6
Loss	2.	8 August 2005	Stockholm	Hard	Eva Birnerová	Émilie Loit Katarina Srebotnik	4–6, 3–6
Win	2.	11 February 2007	Pattaya City	Hard	Nicole Pratt	Chan Yung-jan Chuang Chia-jung	6–4, 7–6(7–4)
Win	3.	8 April 2007	Amelia Island	Clay	Katarina Srebotnik	Anabel Medina Garrigues Virginia Ruano Pascual	6–3, 7–6(7–4)
Win	4.	20 May 2007	Rome	Clay	Nathalie Dechy	Tathiana Garbin Roberta Vinci	6–4, 6–1
Win	5.	8 June 2007	French Open	Clay	Alicia Molik	Katarina Srebotnik Ai Sugiyama	7–6(7–5), 6–4
Loss	3.	19 August 2007	Los Angeles	Hard	Alicia Molik	Květa Peschke Rennae Stubbs	0–6, 1–6
Win	6.	25 August 2007	New Haven	Hard	Sania Mirza	Cara Black Liezel Huber	6–1, 6–2
Win	7.	10 January 2009	Auckland	Hard	Nathalie Dechy	Nuria Llagostera Vives Arantxa Parra Santonja	4–6, 7–6(7–3), [12–10]
Win	8.	8 March 2009	Monterrey	Hard	Nathalie Dechy	Iveta Benešová Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová	6–3, 6–4
Win	9.	18 May 2009	Strasbourg	Clay	Nathalie Dechy	Claire Feuerstein Stéphanie Foretz	6–0, 6–1

ITF finals[edit]

Singles (8–4)[edit]

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	14 August 2000	ITF Aosta, Italy	Clay	Andreea Ehritt-Vanc	1–6, 6–0, 6–1
Winner	2.	27 August 2000	ITF Cuneo, Italy	Clay	Edith Nunes	6–2, 3–6, 6–3
Runner-up	3.	24 June 2002	ITF Fontanafredda, Italy	Clay	Alona Bondarenko	3–6, 0–6
Winner	4.	25 August 2002	Maribor Open, Slovenia	Clay	Edina Gallovits-Hall	6–2, 6–3
Runner-up	5.	8 September 2002	ITF Fano, Italy	Clay	Flavia Pennetta	6–3, 4–6, 0–6
Runner-up	6.	20 October 2002	Open de Touraine, France	Hard (i)	Camille Pin	6–2, 3–6, 0–6
Winner	7.	2 February 2003	ITF Ortisei, Italy	Carpet (i)	Sofia Arvidsson	2–6, 6–2, 6–2
Winner	8.	29 March 2005	ITF Poza Rica, Mexico	Hard	Ryōko Fuda	3–6, 6–2, 6–0
Winner	9.	26 April 2005	ITF Taranto, Italy	Clay	Kira Nagy	6–1, 6–0
Runner-up	10.	23 October 2005	Open Saint Raphael, France	Hard (i)	Maret Ani	3–6, 5–7
Winner	11.	20 July 2008	ITF Biella, Italy	Clay	Jelena Kostanić Tošić	6–3, 6–1
Winner	12.	19 October 2008	ITF Ortisei, Italy	Carpet (i)	Kristina Barrois	6–3, ret.

Doubles (14–5)[edit]

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	16 August 1998	Alghero, Italy	Hard	Laura Dell'Angelo	Alessia Lombardi Elena Pioppo	6–3, 2–6, 4–6
Winner	2.	14 September 1998	Reggio di Calabria, Italy	Clay	Katia Altilia	Andreea Ehritt-Vanc Elena Pioppo	7–6(3), 4–6, 6–4
Winner	3.	26 September 1999	Horb, Germany	Clay	Rewa Hudson	Eva Fislová Andrea Šebová	6–2, 6–2
Runner-up	4.	30 August 1999	Zadar, Croatia	Clay	Natasha Galouza	Jana Macurová Olga Vymetálková	1–6, 3–6
Winner	5.	13 September 1999	Biograd na Moru, Croatia	Clay	Natasha Galouza	Silvia Uríčková Eva Fislová	6–2, 6–2
Winner	6.	4 October 1999	Girona, Spain	Clay	Maria Wolfbrandt	Marina Escobar Rocio Gonzalez	6–7(3), 6–1, 6–3
Winner	7.	10 April 2000	Hvar, Croatia	Clay	Marijana Kovačević	Zuzana Hejdová Petra Kučová	6–3, 4–6, 6–3
Runner-up	8.	30 April 2000	Cerignola, Italy	Clay	Maria Elena Camerin	Maria Boboedova Liudmila Nikoyan	w/o
Winner	9.	20 August 2000	Aosta, Italy	Clay	Maria Elena Camerin	Oana-Elena Golimbioschi Andreea Ehritt-Vanc	7–5, 4–6, 6–1
Winner	10.	27 August 2000	Cuneo, Italy	Clay	Maria Elena Camerin	Silvia Disderi Anna Floris	7–5, 6–2
Winner	11.	3 September 2000	Spoleto, Italy	Clay	Maria Elena Camerin	Oana-Elena Golimbioschi Andreea Ehritt-Vanc	w/o
Winner	12.	30 September 2000	Tbilisi, Georgia	Clay	Mariana Díaz Oliva	Jolanda Mens Alena Paulenková	4–6, 6–3, 6–2
Runner-up	13.	21 July 2003	Innsbruck, Austria	Clay	Melinda Czink	Kira Nagy Maria Wolfbrandt	4–6, 6–4, 4–6
Runner-up	14.	18 August 2003	Bronx Open, United States	Hard	Selima Sfar	Yuliya Beygelzimer Tatiana Poutchek	4–6, 5–7
Winner	15.	14 September 2003	Open Denain, France	Clay	Antonella Serra Zanetti	Yuliya Beygelzimer Tatiana Poutchek	7–5, 6–3
Winner	16.	12 October 2003	Latina, Italy	Clay	Roberta Vinci	Maret Ani Libuše Průšová	3–6, 6–2, 6–4
Winner	17.	2 April 2005	Poza Rica, Mexico	Hard	Seda Noorlander	Daniela Klemenschits Sandra Klemenschits	6–2, 4–6, 6–3
Winner	18.	5 June 2005	Prostějov, Czech Republic	Clay	Yuliya Beygelzimer	Dája Bedáňová Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová	6–1, 4–6, 6–2
Winner	19.	3 August 2008	Rimini, Italy	Clay	Roberta Vinci	Stefanie Vögele Kathrin Wörle	6–1, 6–4

Grand Slam performance timelines[edit]

Singles[edit]

Doubles[edit]

Head-to-head record against top players[edit]

Players who have been ranked world No. 1 are in boldface.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Mara Santangelo at the Women's Tennis Association
• Mara Santangelo at the International Tennis Federation
• Mara Santangelo at the Billie Jean King Cup
• Mara Santangelo Official website