Alberto Berasategui
Country (sports) | ![]() |
---|---|
Residence | Bellaterra, Spain |
Born | Bilbao, Spain | 28 June 1973
Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in) |
Turned pro | 1991 |
Retired | May 2001 |
Plays | Right-handed (one and two-handed backhand) |
Prize money | $4,676,187 |
Singles | |
Career record | 278–199 |
Career titles | 14 |
Highest ranking | No. 7 (14 November 1994) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | QF (1998) |
French Open | F (1994) |
Wimbledon | 1R (2000) |
US Open | 2R (1993, 1996) |
Other tournaments | |
Tour Finals | RR (1994) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 47–59 |
Career titles | 1 |
Highest ranking | No. 55 (6 October 1997) |
Grand Slam Doubles results | |
Australian Open | 1R (1998, 2000) |
French Open | 1R (1999) |
US Open | 3R (1997) |
Alberto Berasategui Salazar (born 28 June 1973) is a former top-10 professional tennis player from Spain. He was Grand Slam finalist at the 1994 French Open, and won a total of 14 ATP singles titles, achieving a career-high singles ranking of world no. 7 in November 1994.
Tennis career[]
Berasategui won a total of 14 top-level singles titles and one tour doubles title. He won at least one singles title for six consecutive years (1993–1998). He began playing tennis at age seven and was the European junior champion in 1991. He turned professional later that year, and won his first top-level singles title in 1993, two years later.
In 1994, Berasategui reached nine finals, winning seven of them. He also reached his first Grand Slam final at the French Open, where he defeated Wayne Ferreira, Cédric Pioline, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Javier Frana, Goran Ivanišević and Magnus Larsson to face fellow Spaniard and defending champion Sergi Bruguera who defeated him in four sets.
Berasategui retired from the professional tour in May 2001, having had persistent wrist injuries since his match with Hernán Gumy at the Bologna tournament in June 1998. The injuries had an adverse effect on his results and form, and had caused his consistency and ranking to decline. He also suffered severe cramps of unknown origin in long matches.[citation needed]
Playing style[]
Berasategui was known for his extreme western grip, known as the "Hawaiian grip", where his unusual hold on the racket would allow him to hit both forehands and backhands with the same side of the racket.[1][2] This helped him on clay, but he did not have much of an impact on other surfaces except for a quarterfinals appearance at the 1998 Australian Open, after having beaten world No. 2, Patrick Rafter in four sets in the third round, and came back from two sets down to beat the 1995, 2000, and 2001 Australian Open champion, former and future world No. 1, Andre Agassi, in the fourth round. He lost in quarterfinals to Marcelo Ríos after winning a tight first-set tiebreak.[2]
Grand Slam finals[]
Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)[]
Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 1994 | French Open | Clay | ![]() |
3–6, 5–7, 6–2, 1–6 |
Career finals[]
Singles: 23 (14 titles, 9 runner-ups)[]
showLegend |
Result | W/L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 1. | Aug 1993 | Umag, Croatia | Clay | ![]() |
5–7, 6–3, 3–6 |
Loss | 2. | Oct 1993 | Athens, Greece | Clay | ![]() |
4–6, 6–3, 3–6 |
Win | 1. | Nov 1993 | São Paulo, Brazil | Clay | ![]() |
6–4, 6–3 |
Loss | 3. | Nov 1993 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Clay | ![]() |
6–3, 1–6, 4–6 |
Win | 2. | Apr 1994 | Nice, France | Clay | ![]() |
6–4, 6–2 |
Loss | 4. | May 1994 | Bologna, Italy | Clay | ![]() |
6–7(3–7), 6–4, 3–6 |
Loss | 5. | Jun 1994 | French Open, Paris | Clay | ![]() |
3–6, 5–7, 6–2, 1–6 |
Win | 3. | Jul 1994 | Stuttgart, Germany | Clay | ![]() |
7–5, 6–3, 7–6(7–5) |
Win | 4. | Aug 1994 | Umag, Croatia | Clay | ![]() |
6–2, 6–4 |
Win | 5. | Oct 1994 | Palermo, Italy | Clay | ![]() |
2–6, 7–6(8–6), 6–4 |
Win | 6. | Oct 1994 | Athens, Greece | Clay | ![]() |
4–6, 7–6(7–4), 6–3 |
Win | 7. | Oct 1994 | Santiago, Chile | Clay | ![]() |
6–3, 6–4 |
Win | 8. | Nov 1994 | Montevideo, Uruguay | Clay | ![]() |
6–4, 6–0 |
Win | 9. | Jun 1995 | Porto, Portugal | Clay | ![]() |
3–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
Loss | 6. | Nov 1995 | Montevideo, Uruguay | Clay | ![]() |
2–6, 3–6 |
Win | 10. | Jun 1996 | Bologna, Italy | Clay | ![]() |
6–3, 6–4 |
Win | 11. | Jul 1996 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Clay | ![]() |
6–2, 6–4, 6–4 |
Win | 12. | Sep 1996 | Bucharest, Romania | Clay | ![]() |
6–1, 7–6(7–5) |
Loss | 7. | Sep 1997 | Marbella, Spain | Clay | ![]() |
3–6, 2–6 |
Win | 13. | Oct 1997 | Palermo, Italy | Clay | ![]() |
6–4, 6–2 |
Win | 14. | Apr 1998 | Estoril, Portugal | Clay | ![]() |
3–6, 6–1, 6–3 |
Loss | 8. | Apr 1998 | Barcelona, Spain | Clay | ![]() |
2–6, 6–1, 3–6, 2–6 |
Loss | 9. | Oct 1999 | Palermo, Italy | Clay | ![]() |
1–6, 3–6 |
Performance timelines[]
Singles[]
W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | F-S | SF-B | NMS | P | NH |
Tournament | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | SR | W–L |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slam tournaments | |||||||||||||
Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | 3R | QF | 1R | 1R | A | 0 / 4 | 6–4 |
French Open | A | 1R | 2R | F | 3R | 3R | 1R | 4R | 4R | 1R | A | 0 / 9 | 17–9 |
Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 |
US Open | A | A | 2R | 1R | A | 2R | 1R | 1R | A | A | A | 0 / 5 | 2–5 |
Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 6–2 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 7–3 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0 / 19 | 25–19 |
Year-end championships | |||||||||||||
Tennis Masters Cup | Did Not Qualify | RR | Did Not Qualify | 0 / 1 | 0–3 | ||||||||
ATP Masters Series | |||||||||||||
Indian Wells | A | A | A | 1R | 3R | 1R | QF | 1R | 1R | A | A | 0 / 6 | 4–6 |
Miami | A | A | A | 3R | 3R | A | 2R | 2R | 2R | 1R | A | 0 / 6 | 2–6 |
Monte Carlo | A | A | A | 3R | 3R | 1R | 2R | SF | 1R | 1R | A | 0 / 7 | 8–7 |
Rome | A | A | A | 2R | 1R | 2R | SF | SF | 2R | A | A | 0 / 6 | 11–6 |
Hamburg | A | 2R | A | 1R | 2R | 2R | QF | 3R | 3R | A | A | 0 / 7 | 8–7 |
Canada | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 1–1 |
Cincinnati | A | A | A | A | 3R | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 2–2 |
Stuttgart (Stockholm) | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 3 | 1–3 |
Paris | A | A | A | A | A | 3R | 1R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 2–2 |
Win–Loss | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–5 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 11–7 | 9–6 | 3–5 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0 / 40 | 39–40 |
Year-end ranking | 298 | 115 | 36 | 8 | 32 | 19 | 23 | 21 | 60 | 153 | 737 |
References[]
- ^ Roetert, P. & J.L. Groppel: World-Class Tennis Technique, p. 156. Human Kinetics, 2001.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "In praise of weirdness: Where have you gone, Alberto Berasategui?". OregonLive.com. 21 April 2010.
External links[]
- Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Andorra
- Spanish male tennis players
- 1973 births
- Living people
- People from Arrigorriaga
- Mediterranean Games medalists in tennis
- Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Spain
- Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Spain
- Competitors at the 1991 Mediterranean Games
- Competitors at the 1993 Mediterranean Games
- Sportspeople from Biscay
- Tennis players from the Basque Country (autonomous community)