Àlex Corretja

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Àlex Corretja
Alex Corretja ATC2010.jpg
Country (sports) Spain
ResidenceBarcelona, Spain
Born (1974-04-11) 11 April 1974 (age 47)
Barcelona
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Turned pro1991
Retired2005
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money$10,411,354
Singles
Career record438–281 (60.9%)
Career titles17
Highest rankingNo. 2 (1 February 1999)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open3R (1998)
French OpenF (1998, 2001)
Wimbledon2R (1994, 1996)
US OpenQF (1996)
Other tournaments
Tour FinalsW (1998)
Olympic Games3R (2000)
Doubles
Career record103–115 (47.2%)
Career titles3
Highest rankingNo. 50 (9 June 1997)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open3R (1998)
Wimbledon3R (1996)
US Open3R (1996)
Team competitions
Davis CupW (2000)
hide
Medal record
Olympic Games – Tennis
Bronze medal – third place 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 Spain Carlos Moyá 3–6, 5–7, 3–6
Runner-up 2001 French Open Clay Brazil Gustavo Kuerten 7–6(7–3), 5–7, 2–6, 0–6

Career finals[]

Singles (17–13)[]

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

Singles performance timeline[]

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)
Tournament 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 SR W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A A 2R 2R 4R 2R 2R A 1R 1R 2R A 0 / 8 8–8
French Open 1R 1R 3R 4R 2R 4R F QF QF F SF 1R 3R A 0 / 13 36–13
Wimbledon A A 2R A 2R A 1R A A A A A 1R A 0 / 4 2–4
US Open 1R 1R 1R 2R QF 3R 4R 1R 3R 3R 3R 1R 1R A 0 / 13 16–13
Win–Loss 0–2 0–2 3–3 4–2 7–4 6–2 11–4 5–3 7–3 8–2 7–3 0–3 3–4 0–0 0 / 38 61–38
Year-end championships
Tennis Masters Cup Did Not Qualify W DNQ RR Did Not Qualify 1 / 2 5–3
Grand Slam Cup Was Not Invited 1R WNI Not Held 0 / 1 0–1
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells Masters A A A 1R 2R 2R 1R 2R W 3R 2R 2R 3R A 1 / 10 14–8
Miami Masters A A A 1R 2R 3R SF 4R 2R 4R 4R 2R A A 0 / 9 13–9
Monte Carlo Masters A QF 3R 3R 1R F QF A QF 1R 3R 1R 2R A 0 / 11 20–11
Rome Masters 2R 2R 2R 3R 1R W 2R SF SF QF 1R 2R 1R A 1 / 13 24–12
Hamburg Masters 2R A 3R 1R F 3R F A 3R 2R 2R 1R 1R A 0 / 11 18–11
Canada Masters A A A A 2R A A A A A A A A A 0 / 1 1–1
Cincinnati Masters A A A 1R 1R 3R 2R 2R 1R A A 1R A A 0 / 7 2–7
Madrid Masters A A A A 1R 1R 1R 3R 2R 2R 3R 2R 2R A 0 / 9 5–9
Paris Masters A A A A 1R 2R 1R 2R QF 2R A A A A 0 / 6 3–6
Win–Loss 2–2 4–2 5–3 4–6 8–8 18–7 12–8 7–6 17–7 8–7 8–6 3–7 4–5 0–0 2 / 77 100–74
Year-end ranking 86 76 22 48 23 12 3 27 8 16 19 100 114 525

Top 10 wins[]

Season 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Total
Wins 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 3 8 1 5 4 3 1 1 0 31
# Player Rank Event Surface Rd Score
1994
1. United States Jim Courier 5 Barcelona, Spain Clay 2R 6–2, 3–6, 6–3
2. United States Jim Courier 10 Indianapolis, United States Hard 2R 1–6, 6–4, 6–3
3. Sweden Stefan Edberg 4 Indianapolis, United States Hard QF 1–6, 6–2, 6–4
1995
4. South Africa Wayne Ferreira 8 French Open, Paris Clay 3R 6–4, 7–5, 6–2
5. Austria Thomas Muster 4 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay 1R 7–5, 6–1
1997
6. Spain Carlos Moyá 8 Italian Open Clay 3R 6–4, 6–4
7. Croatia Goran Ivanišević 6 Italian Open Clay SF 7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–4)
8. Chile Marcelo Ríos 9 Italian Open Clay F 7–5, 7–5, 6–3
1998
9. Sweden Jonas Björkman 4 Dubai, United Arab Emirates Hard SF 6–3, 6–3
10. Brazil Gustavo Kuerten 10 Davis Cup, Porto Alegre Clay RR 6–3, 7–5, 4–6, 6–4
11. Brazil Gustavo Kuerten 8 Hamburg, Germany Clay QF 4–6, 7–6(10–8), 6–4
12. United Kingdom Greg Rusedski 7 Indianapolis, United States Hard QF 6–4, 6–3
13. United States Andre Agassi 8 Indianapolis, United States Hard F 2–6, 6–2, 6–3
14. United States Andre Agassi 4 ATP Tour World Championships, Hanover Hard (i) RR 5–7, 6–3, 2–1 ret.
15. United States Pete Sampras 1 ATP Tour World Championships, Hanover Hard (i) SF 4–6, 6–3, 7–6(7–3)
16. Spain Carlos Moyá 5 ATP Tour World Championships, Hanover Hard (i) F 3–6, 3–6, 7–5, 6–3, 7–5
1999
17. Slovakia Karol Kučera 8 Sydney, Australia Hard SF 7–5, 6–4
2000
18. Sweden Magnus Norman 5 Indian Wells, United States Hard QF 4–6, 6–2, 6–2
19. Ecuador Nicolás Lapentti 8 Indian Wells, United States Hard SF 6–3, 6–4
20. Sweden Thomas Enqvist 10 Indian Wells, United States Hard F 6–4, 6–4, 6–3
21. United States Andre Agassi 1 Washington D.C., United States Hard F 6–2, 6–3
22. Australia Lleyton Hewitt 6 Tennis Masters Cup, Lisbon Hard (i) RR 3–6, 7–6(7–3), 6–3
2001
23. Australia Lleyton Hewitt 7 Italian Open Clay 3R 7–6(7–2), 6–4
24. Australia Lleyton Hewitt 6 World Team Cup, Düsseldorf Clay RR 3–6, 6–2, 6–3
25. Sweden Magnus Norman 9 World Team Cup, Düsseldorf Clay RR 6–0, 6–4
26. France Sébastien Grosjean 10 French Open, Paris Clay SF 7–6(7–2), 6–4, 6–4
2002
27. Russia Yevgeny Kafelnikov 4 Hamburg, Germany Clay 1R 6–1, 6–2
28. Spain Albert Costa 6 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay QF 6–1, 6–2
29. Spain Juan Carlos Ferrero 8 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay F 6–4, 6–1, 6–3
2003
30. France Sébastien Grosjean 10 St. Petersburg, Russia Hard (i) QF 4–6, 6–2, 7–6(7–5)
2004
31. Spain Juan Carlos Ferrero 3 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay 1R 6–2, 6–3

References[]

External links[]

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