Fernando Meligeni

Fernando Meligeni

Country	Brazil
Residence	São Paulo, Brazil
Born	April 12, 1971 (1971-04-12) Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	142 lb (64 kg; 10.1 st)
Turned pro	1990
Retired	2003
Plays	Left-handed
Career prize money	US$2,558,867
Singles
Career record	202–217 (ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and Davis Cup)
Career titles	3
Highest ranking	No. 25 (October 11, 1999)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	2R (1997)
French Open	SF (1999)
Wimbledon	2R (2001)
US Open	3R (1997)
Doubles
Career record	63–64 (ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and Davis Cup)
Career titles	7
Highest ranking	No. 34 (November 3, 1997)

Medal record
Men's Tennis
Competitor for Brazil
Pan American Games
Gold	2003 Santo Domingo	Men's Singles

Fernando Ariel Meligeni (born April 12, 1971), nicknamed Fininho (Portuguese for little thin) is a former professional tennis player from Brazil.

Meligeni was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but moved with his family to São Paulo, Brazil, when he was four years old. As a junior, he won the traditional Orange Bowl in 1989, finishing no. 3 in the world junior rankings in the same year. Meligeni turned professional in 1990, opting for the Brazilian nationality.

He won his first ATP Tour singles title in 1995, at the Swedish Open in Båstad, Sweden. In 1996, Meligeni won his second ATP Tour singles title in Pinehurst, North Carolina, defeating veteran Swede Mats Wilander in the final.

At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia he reached the semi finals, where he was defeated by Spain's Sergi Bruguera. In the Bronze medal play-off's, he lost to Leander Paes of India.

In 1998, Meligeni won his third and last ATP Tour singles title in Prague, Czech Republic, beating then world no. 6 Yevgeny Kafelnikov from Russia on the way.

Meligeni reached his peak in the following year, with a strong performance at the 1999 French Open in Paris, France. He defeated seeds no. 3 Patrick Rafter, from Australia, no. 14 Félix Mantilla, from Spain, and no. 6 Àlex Corretja, also from Spain, only to fall in the semi-finals to Ukrainian Andrei Medvedev. This was his best Grand Slam singles results and led him to a career-high ranking at 25.

He was also a member of the Brazilian Davis Cup team, with an overall record of 13–16.

In addition to his three singles titles, Meligeni also won 7 doubles titles in the ATP Tour, most of them partnering countryman Gustavo Kuerten.

Meligeni retired from professional tennis in 2003, playing his last match against Marcelo Ríos from Chile in the final of the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, which he won in three sets.

Two years later, he was nominated captain of the Brazilian Davis Cup team, but resigned in January 2007 due to political differences with the Brazilian Tennis Confederation. During his period as a captain, he collected a 5–1 W/L record in ties. Despite the positive record, his popularity as a captain among the local press and fans wasn't always high, due to the easy opposition faced by the Brazilian team in the Americas Group; the controversial decisions he took when selecting the players to represent the squad, insisting in players that were out-of-form, like Flávio Saretta and Gustavo Kuerten, and sidelining the then best-ranked Brazilians in the ATP, Marcos Daniel and Thiago Alves; the lack of receptiveness to criticism; and reported difficulty to control the harmony between the players.

Off the court, Meligeni has also been a host for TV show MTV Sports aired by MTV Brazil in the late 1990s and early 2000s (decade), as well as having guest appearances in radio shows and as a commentator for tennis matches.

Titles (10)

Singles (3)

Legend Grand Slam (0) Tennis Masters Cup (0) ATP Masters Series (0) ATP Championship Series (0) ATP Tour (3)

Titles by Surface Hard (0) Grass (0) Clay (3) Carpet (0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	1.	February 27, 1995	Mexico City, Mexico	Clay	Thomas Muster	6–7, 5–7
Winner	1.	July 10, 1995	Båstad, Sweden	Clay	Christian Ruud	6–4, 6–4
Winner	2.	May 6, 1996	Pinehurst, North Carolina, U.S.	Clay	Mats Wilander	6–4, 6–2
Winner	3.	April 27, 1998	Prague, Czech Republic	Clay	Sláva Doseděl	6–1, 6–4
Runner-up	2.	September 10, 2001	Costa do Sauípe, Brazil	Hard	Jan Vacek	6–2, 6–7(2–7), 3–6
Runner-up	3.	February 25, 2002	Acapulco, Mexico	Clay	Carlos Moyà	6–7(4–7), 6–7(4–7)

Doubles (7)

Legend Grand Slam (0) Tennis Masters Cup (0) ATP Masters Series (0) ATP Championship Series (1) ATP Tour (6)

Titles by Surface Hard (0) Grass (0) Clay (7) Carpet (0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1.	November 10, 1996	Santiago, Chile	Clay	Gustavo Kuerten	Dinu Pescariu Albert Portas	6–4, 6–2
Winner	2.	April 7, 1997	Estoril, Portugal	Clay	Gustavo Kuerten	Andrea Gaudenzi Filippo Messori	6–2, 6–2
Winner	3.	June 9, 1997	Bologna, Italy	Clay	Gustavo Kuerten	Dave Randall Jack Waite	6–2, 7–5
Winner	4.	July 14, 1997	Stuttgart, Germany	Clay	Gustavo Kuerten	Donald Johnson Francisco Montana	6–4, 6–4
Winner	5.	October 27, 1997	Bogotá, Colombia	Clay	Luis Lobo	Karim Alami Maurice Ruah	6–1, 6–3
Winner	6.	July 6, 1998	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Gustavo Kuerten	Daniel Orsanic Cyril Suk	6–4, 7–5
Winner	7.	March 22, 1999	Casablanca, Morocco	Clay	Jaime Oncins	Massimo Ardinghi Vincenzo Santopadre	6–2, 6–3

External links

• Fernando Meligeni at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Fernando Meligeni at the International Tennis Federation