Àlex Corretja

Àlex Corretja

Country (sports)	Spain
Residence	Barcelona, Spain
Born	(1974-04-11) 11 April 1974 (age 47) Barcelona
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Turned pro	1991
Retired	2005
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	$10,411,354
Singles
Career record	438–281 (60.9%)
Career titles	17
Highest ranking	No. 2 (1 February 1999)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	3R (1998)
French Open	F (1998, 2001)
Wimbledon	2R (1994, 1996)
US Open	QF (1996)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	W (1998)
Olympic Games	3R (2000)
Doubles
Career record	103–115 (47.2%)
Career titles	3
Highest ranking	No. 50 (9 June 1997)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	3R (1998)
Wimbledon	3R (1996)
US Open	3R (1996)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	W (2000)
hide Medal record Olympic Games – Tennis 2000 Sydney Doubles

Àlex Corretja i Verdegay (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈaləks kuˈrɛdʒə j βəɾðəˈɣaj]; born 11 April 1974) is a former professional tennis player from Spain. During his career, he was twice a Grand Slam runner-up at the French Open (in 1998 and 2001) and won the ATP Tour World Championships in 1998, reaching a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2 in 1999. He also played a key role in helping Spain win its first-ever Davis Cup title in 2000.

Post-retirement, Corretja became a temporary coach of Andy Murray in April 2008 for the duration of the clay-court season, resuming the role on a permanent basis between 2009-2011.^[1] In 2012-2013, Corretja coached the Spanish Davis Cup team.

Career[]

Corretja was born in Barcelona, and first came to the tennis world's attention as a promising junior player who won the Orange Bowl under-16 title in 1990. He turned professional in 1991 and won his first top-level singles title in 1994 at Buenos Aires. His first doubles title came in 1995 at Palermo.

1996[]

In 1996, Corretja faced Pete Sampras in an epic five-set quarterfinal match at the US Open. Pete Sampras threw up in the fifth set tiebreak, where Corretja held a match point later on, but he eventually lost to Sampras on a double fault in 4 hours and 9 minutes.

1997[]

In 1997, Corretja captured three titles, including his first Tennis Masters Series title in Rome, where he defeated Marcelo Ríos. (He won a second Masters Series title in 2000 at Indian Wells.)

1998[]

1998 saw Corretja reach his first Grand Slam final at the French Open. In the third round, he defeated Argentina's Hernán Gumy in (at the time) the longest match in the tournament's history. Corretja won the 5-hour 31-minute marathon. In the final, Corretja lost to fellow-Spaniard Carlos Moyà in straight sets.

Corretja finished 1998 by winning the most significant title of his career, the ATP Tour World Championships. In the group stage, he beat world no. 5 Andre Agassi, and in the semifinals, Corretja saved three match points on the way to beating world no. 1 Sampras. In the final, Corretja faced world no. 4 Moyà in a five-set marathon and came back from two sets down to win in 4 hours and 1 minute. Corretja's win made him the first man to ever win the Tour Championships (in its 29-year history) without having ever won a Grand Slam tournament (David Nalbandian, Nikolay Davydenko, Grigor Dimitrov, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas have since repeated the feat.)

In total, Corretja won a career-high five singles titles during the 1998 season, on three different surfaces (Clay, Hard and Carpet). He finished the year ranked world No. 3.

1999[]

Corretja reached three tournament finals, the quarterfinals of the French Open and reached his career high ranking of 2 in February.

2000[]

In 2000, Corretja won the Indian Wells Masters title, beating Thomas Enqvist in straight sets in the final. He also beat world no. 1 Agassi in the final of the Washington Open for the loss of just five games.

In the Davis Cup, Corretja helped Spain to their first ever title win. He went 3–0 in singles rubbers during the earlier rounds, and then teamed up with Joan Manuel Balcells to win the doubles match in the final as Spain beat Australia 3–1. Corretja also won a men's doubles bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Sydney, partnering Albert Costa.

2001[]

In 2001, Corretja reached the men's singles final at the French Open for the second time, losing in the final to defending champion Gustavo Kuerten in four sets. In July of that year, Corretja won a five-set marathon match in the final of the Dutch Open against Younes El Aynaoui. The 53-game match was the year's longest tour final.

2002[]

Corretja's biggest win of 2002 came in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup, where he rallied from two sets down to beat Sampras on grass. (Spain eventually lost the tie 3–1.) At the French Open, Corretja saved four match points in the third round against Arnaud Clément, before going on to win. Corretja then progressed to the semifinals, where he lost in four sets to Albert Costa (who went on to win the title). One week later, Corretja was the best man at Costa's wedding.^{[citation needed]}

2003-05[]

In 2003, Corretja was again part of a Spanish team which reached the Davis Cup final. He won two doubles and one singles rubber in the earlier rounds. However, in the final, Corretja and Feliciano López lost the doubles rubber, as Spain were beaten 3–1 by Australia.

Corretja announced his retirement on 24 September 2005. He won a total of 17 top-level singles titles and three doubles titles during his career.

After retirement[]

Corretja coached Britain's Andy Murray from 2008 to 2011.

As of 2015, he works for Eurosport as a field interviewer at the Grand Slam tournaments.

Grand Slam finals[]

Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups)[]

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1998	French Open	Clay	Carlos Moyá	3–6, 5–7, 3–6
Runner-up	2001	French Open	Clay	Gustavo Kuerten	7–6(7–3), 5–7, 2–6, 0–6

Career finals[]

Singles (17–13)[]

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	2 November 1992	Guarujá, Brazil	Hard	Carsten Arriens	6–7, 3–6
Loss	2.	3 October 1994	Palermo, Italy	Clay	Alberto Berasategui	6–2, 6–7(6–8), 4–6
Win	1.	14 November 1994	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	Javier Frana	6–3, 5–7, 7–6(7–5)
Loss	3.	13 May 1996	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Roberto Carretero	6–2, 4–6, 4–6, 4–6
Loss	4.	29 July 1996	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Alberto Berasategui	2–6, 4–6, 4–6
Loss	5.	7 October 1996	Marbella, Spain	Clay	Marc-Kevin Goellner	6–7(4–7), 6–7(2–7)
Win	2.	14 April 1997	Estoril, Portugal	Clay	Francisco Clavet	6–3, 7–5
Loss	6.	28 April 1997	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Marcelo Ríos	4–6, 4–6, 3–6
Loss	7.	5 May 1997	Munich, Germany	Clay	Mark Philippoussis	6–7, 6–1, 4–6
Win	3.	19 May 1997	Rome, Italy	Clay	Marcelo Ríos	7–5, 7–5, 6–3
Win	4.	21 July 1997	Stuttgart Outdoor, Germany	Clay	Karol Kučera	6–2, 7–5
Win	5.	16 February 1998	Dubai, UAE	Hard	Félix Mantilla	7–6(7–0), 6–0
Loss	8.	11 May 1998	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Albert Costa	2–6, 0–6, 0–1 ret.
Loss	9.	8 June 1998	French Open, Paris	Clay	Carlos Moyà	3–6, 5–7, 3–6
Win	6.	13 July 1998	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Boris Becker	7–6(7–5), 7–5, 6–3
Win	7.	24 August 1998	Indianapolis, U.S.	Hard	Andre Agassi	2–6, 6–2, 6–3
Win	8.	26 October 1998	Lyon, France	Carpet (i)	Tommy Haas	2–6, 7–6(8–6), 6–1
Win	9.	30 November 1998	Tennis Masters Cup, Hannover	Carpet (i)	Carlos Moyà	3–6, 3–6, 7–5, 6–3, 7–5
Loss	10.	18 January 1999	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Todd Martin	3–6, 6–7
Loss	11.	30 August 1999	Long Island, U.S.	Hard	Magnus Norman	6–7(4–7), 6–4, 3–6
Loss	12.	20 September 1999	Mallorca, Spain	Clay	Juan Carlos Ferrero	6–2, 5–7, 3–6
Win	10.	20 March 2000	Indian Wells, U.S.	Hard	Thomas Enqvist	6–4, 6–4, 6–3
Win	11.	17 July 2000	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Mariano Puerta	6–1, 6–3
Win	12.	30 July 2000	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Emilio Benfele Álvarez	6–3, 6–1, 3–0 ret.
Win	13.	21 August 2000	Washington, U.S.	Hard	Andre Agassi	6–2, 6–3
Win	14.	23 October 2000	Toulouse, France	Hard (i)	Carlos Moyà	6–3, 6–2
Loss	13.	11 June 2001	French Open, Paris	Clay	Gustavo Kuerten	7–6(7–3), 5–7, 2–6, 0–6
Win	15.	23 July 2001	Amsterdam, Netherlands	Clay	Younes El Aynaoui	6–3, 5–7, 7–6(7–0), 3–6, 6–4
Win	16.	15 July 2002	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Gastón Gaudio	6–3, 7–6(7–3), 7–6(7–3)
Win	17.	29 July 2002	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Juan Carlos Ferrero	6–4, 6–1, 6–3

Singles performance timeline[]

Top 10 wins[]

#	Player	Rank	Event	Surface	Rd	Score
1994
1.	Jim Courier	5	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	2R	6–2, 3–6, 6–3
2.	Jim Courier	10	Indianapolis, United States	Hard	2R	1–6, 6–4, 6–3
3.	Stefan Edberg	4	Indianapolis, United States	Hard	QF	1–6, 6–2, 6–4
1995
4.	Wayne Ferreira	8	French Open, Paris	Clay	3R	6–4, 7–5, 6–2
5.	Thomas Muster	4	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	1R	7–5, 6–1
1997
6.	Carlos Moyá	8	Italian Open	Clay	3R	6–4, 6–4
7.	Goran Ivanišević	6	Italian Open	Clay	SF	7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–4)
8.	Marcelo Ríos	9	Italian Open	Clay	F	7–5, 7–5, 6–3
1998
9.	Jonas Björkman	4	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Hard	SF	6–3, 6–3
10.	Gustavo Kuerten	10	Davis Cup, Porto Alegre	Clay	RR	6–3, 7–5, 4–6, 6–4
11.	Gustavo Kuerten	8	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	QF	4–6, 7–6(10–8), 6–4
12.	Greg Rusedski	7	Indianapolis, United States	Hard	QF	6–4, 6–3
13.	Andre Agassi	8	Indianapolis, United States	Hard	F	2–6, 6–2, 6–3
14.	Andre Agassi	4	ATP Tour World Championships, Hanover	Hard (i)	RR	5–7, 6–3, 2–1 ret.
15.	Pete Sampras	1	ATP Tour World Championships, Hanover	Hard (i)	SF	4–6, 6–3, 7–6(7–3)
16.	Carlos Moyá	5	ATP Tour World Championships, Hanover	Hard (i)	F	3–6, 3–6, 7–5, 6–3, 7–5
1999
17.	Karol Kučera	8	Sydney, Australia	Hard	SF	7–5, 6–4
2000
18.	Magnus Norman	5	Indian Wells, United States	Hard	QF	4–6, 6–2, 6–2
19.	Nicolás Lapentti	8	Indian Wells, United States	Hard	SF	6–3, 6–4
20.	Thomas Enqvist	10	Indian Wells, United States	Hard	F	6–4, 6–4, 6–3
21.	Andre Agassi	1	Washington D.C., United States	Hard	F	6–2, 6–3
22.	Lleyton Hewitt	6	Tennis Masters Cup, Lisbon	Hard (i)	RR	3–6, 7–6(7–3), 6–3
2001
23.	Lleyton Hewitt	7	Italian Open	Clay	3R	7–6(7–2), 6–4
24.	Lleyton Hewitt	6	World Team Cup, Düsseldorf	Clay	RR	3–6, 6–2, 6–3
25.	Magnus Norman	9	World Team Cup, Düsseldorf	Clay	RR	6–0, 6–4
26.	Sébastien Grosjean	10	French Open, Paris	Clay	SF	7–6(7–2), 6–4, 6–4
2002
27.	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	4	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	1R	6–1, 6–2
28.	Albert Costa	6	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	QF	6–1, 6–2
29.	Juan Carlos Ferrero	8	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	F	6–4, 6–1, 6–3
2003
30.	Sébastien Grosjean	10	St. Petersburg, Russia	Hard (i)	QF	4–6, 6–2, 7–6(7–5)
2004
31.	Juan Carlos Ferrero	3	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	1R	6–2, 6–3

References[]

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (November 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Àlex Corretja.

• Àlex Corretja at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Àlex Corretja at the International Tennis Federation
• Àlex Corretja at the Davis Cup