Mara Santangelo

Italian tennis player

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

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

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. 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.

OutcomeNo. DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWinner 1. 14 August 2000 ITF Aosta, Italy Clay Andreea Ehritt Vanc 1–6, 6–0, 6–1Winner 2. 27 August 2000 ITF Cuneo, Italy Clay Edith Nunes 6–2, 3–6, 6–3Runner up 3. 24 June 2002 ITF Fontanafredda, Italy Clay Alona Bondarenko 3–6, 0–6Winner 4. 25 August 2002 Maribor Open, Slovenia Clay Edina Gallovits Hall 6–2, 6–3Runner up 5. 8 September 2002 ITF Fano, Italy Clay Flavia Pennetta 6–3, 4–6, 0–6Runner up 6. 20 October 2002 Open de Touraine, France Hard (i) Camille Pin 6–2, 3–6, 0–6Winner 7. 2 February 2003 ITF Ortisei, Italy Carpet (i) Sofia Arvidsson 2–6, 6–2, 6–2Winner 8. 29 March 2005 ITF Poza Rica, Mexico Hard Ryōko Fuda 3–6, 6–2, 6–0Winner 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, 5–7Winner 11. 20 July 2008 ITF Biella, Italy Clay Jelena Kostanić Tošić 6–3, 6–1Winner 12. 19 October 2008 ITF Ortisei, Italy Carpet (i) Kristina Barrois 6–3, ret.

OutcomeNo. DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreRunner up 1. 16 August 1998 Alghero, Italy Hard Laura Dell'Angelo Alessia Lombardi Elena Pioppo 6–3, 2–6, 4–6Winner 2. 14 September 1998 Reggio di Calabria, Italy Clay Katia Altilia Andreea Ehritt Vanc Elena Pioppo 7–6(3), 4–6, 6–4Winner 3. 26 September 1999 Horb, Germany Clay Rewa Hudson Eva Fislová Andrea Šebová 6–2, 6–2Runner up 4. 30 August 1999 Zadar, Croatia Clay Natasha Galouza Jana Macurová Olga Vymetálková 1–6, 3–6Winner 5. 13 September 1999 Biograd na Moru, Croatia Clay Natasha Galouza Silvia Uríčková Eva Fislová 6–2, 6–2Winner 6. 4 October 1999 Girona, Spain Clay Maria Wolfbrandt Marina Escobar Rocio Gonzalez 6–7(3), 6–1, 6–3Winner 7. 10 April 2000 Hvar, Croatia Clay Marijana Kovačević Zuzana Hejdová Petra Kučová 6–3, 4–6, 6–3Runner up 8. 30 April 2000 Cerignola, Italy Clay Maria Elena Camerin Maria Boboedova Liudmila Nikoyan w/oWinner 9. 20 August 2000 Aosta, Italy Clay Maria Elena Camerin Oana Elena Golimbioschi Andreea Ehritt Vanc 7–5, 4–6, 6–1Winner 10. 27 August 2000 Cuneo, Italy Clay Maria Elena Camerin Silvia Disderi Anna Floris 7–5, 6–2Winner 11. 3 September 2000 Spoleto, Italy Clay Maria Elena Camerin Oana Elena Golimbioschi Andreea Ehritt Vanc w/oWinner 12. 30 September 2000 Tbilisi, Georgia Clay Mariana Díaz Oliva Jolanda Mens Alena Paulenková 4–6, 6–3, 6–2Runner up 13. 21 July 2003 Innsbruck, Austria Clay Melinda Czink Kira Nagy Maria Wolfbrandt 4–6, 6–4, 4–6Runner up 14. format=dmy Bronx Open, United States Hard Selima Sfar Yuliya Beygelzimer Tatiana Poutchek 4–6, 5–7Winner 15. format=dmy Open Denain, France Clay Antonella Serra Zanetti Yuliya Beygelzimer Tatiana Poutchek 7–5, 6–3Winner 16. 12 October 2003 Latina, Italy Clay Roberta Vinci Maret Ani Libuše Průšová 3–6, 6–2, 6–4Winner 17. 2 April 2005 Poza Rica, Mexico Hard Seda Noorlander Daniela Klemenschits Sandra Klemenschits 6–2, 4–6, 6–3Winner 18. format=dmy Prostějov, Czech Republic Clay Yuliya Beygelzimer Dája Bedáňová Barbora Záhlavová Strýcová 6–1, 4–6, 6–2Winner 19. 3 August 2008 Rimini, Italy Clay Roberta Vinci Stefanie Vögele Kathrin Wörle 6–1, 6–4