Колумбиялық теннисші Каталина Кастаньо Альварес туралы

Colombian tennis player

Catalina Castaño Álvarez (; born 7 July 1979) is a retired Colombian tennis player. Her highest singles ranking is world No. 35 which she achieved in 2006. In her career, she won ten titles on the ITF Women's Circuit, six in singles and four in doubles, as well as one doubles title on both the WTA Tour and the WTA Challenger Tour. Castaño defeated top 20 players such as Nicole Vaidišová, Anna Lena Grönefeld, Patty Schnyder, Paola Suárez, Li Na and Lucie Šafářová. She was coached by Peruvian born British citizen Pablo Giacopelli since 2004.

In 1999 she won her first ITF title in Santiago. The following year she won two ITF titles in Midlothian and Cali. In 2001, she reached the quarterfinals in her home tournament of Bogotá, Colombia (Tier III). In 2002, Castaño advanced the semifinals in Bogotá. She reached four ITF finals, winning two of them in Gorizia and Campobasso. She won 39 matches in the year and lost 18. In 2004, she reached the quarterfinals in Bogotá for the third time. She was the last player to be defeated by Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon in the ladies singles, losing the match 0–6, 1–6. She won her sixth ITF title in Orbetello.

In April, she won five matches in Miami (Tier I) including back to back wins over world No. 19, Paola Suárez, and world No. 13, Patty Schnyder, before falling to world No. 9, Venus Williams, in three sets in the round of 16. In May, she won four matches in Rome (Tier I) before losing to world No. 10, Vera Zvonareva, in the round of 16. In August, she reached her first ever WTA Tour final in Budapest. She lost to the top seed Anna Smashnova in the final, in straight sets. In October, she reached the semifinals in Seoul (Tier IV) but lost to the eventual champion Nicole Vaidišová.

She commenced January with a semifinal showing in Canberra (Tier IV) and passed the first round of the Australian Open for the first time. In Charleston in mid April, Catalina reached her first Tier I quarterfinal, after defeating Ashley Harkleroad, Nicole Vaidišová and Marion Bartoli. Her two sets win over Vaidišová, who was ranked 14 at the time, was her best win of the year. The following week in Berlin, Catalina beat Anna Lena Grönefeld, who was ranked 14 at the time. It was her second win over a top 15 player in as many weeks. In May, she reached the quarterfinals in Istanbul (Tier III) for the first time. She reached her highest ranking of No. 35 on July 16.

Catalina commenced the new season with a solid start, recording two quarterfinal appearances at the Gold Coast and Hobart in January. At the Gold Coast, she defeated Li Na who was ranked 21 at the time.

Castaño retired from professional tennis after a diagnosis of breast cancer.

ResultNo. DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1. 14 September 1998 ITF La Paz, Bolivia Clay Carolina Mayorga Laura Bernal Daniela Olivera 5–7, 7–6(5), 1–6Win 1. 24 January 2011 ITF Bucaramanga, Colombia Clay Viky Núñez Fuentes Nathália Rossi Zuzana Zlochová 7–6(3), 6–1Loss 2. 25 July 2011 ITF Bad Saulgau, Germany Clay Mariana Duque Maria Abramović Nicole Clerico 3–6, 7–5, [7–10]Win 2. 17 January 2012 ITF Plantation, United States Clay Laura Thorpe Jessica Pegula Ahsha Rolle 6–4, 6–2 Win 3. 22 October 2012 ITF Poitiers, France Hard Mervana Jugić Salkić Stéphanie Foretz Gacon Tatjana Maria 6–4, 5–7, [10–4] Win 4. 29 October 2012 Open Nantes Atlantique, France Hard Mervana Jugić Salkić Petra Cetkovská Renata Voráčová 6–4, 6–4Loss 3. 12 May 2013 Open de Cagnes sur Mer, France Clay Teliana Pereira Vania King Arantxa Rus 6–4, 5–7, [8–10]