Alberto Berasategui

Alberto Berasategui

Country (sports)	Spain
Residence	Bellaterra, Spain
Born	(1973-06-28) 28 June 1973 Bilbao, Spain
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 professional tennis player from Spain. He won 14 singles titles and achieved 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.

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. 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.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1994	French Open	Clay	Sergi Bruguera	3–6, 5–7, 6–2, 1–6

Career finals

Singles: 23 (14 titles, 9 runner-ups)

Legend

Grand Slam (0–1)

ATP Masters Series (0–0)

ATP Championship Series (1–1)

ATP Tour (13–7)

Result	W/L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	Aug 1993	Umag, Croatia	Clay	Thomas Muster	5–7, 6–3, 3–6
Loss	2.	Oct 1993	Athens, Greece	Clay	Jordi Arrese	4–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win	1.	Nov 1993	São Paulo, Brazil	Clay	Sláva Doseděl	6–4, 6–3
Loss	3.	Nov 1993	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	Carlos Costa	6–3, 1–6, 4–6
Win	2.	Apr 1994	Nice, France	Clay	Jim Courier	6–4, 6–2
Loss	4.	May 1994	Bologna, Italy	Clay	Javier Sánchez	6–7(3–7), 6–4, 3–6
Loss	5.	Jun 1994	French Open, Paris	Clay	Sergi Bruguera	3–6, 5–7, 6–2, 1–6
Win	3.	Jul 1994	Stuttgart, Germany	Clay	Andrea Gaudenzi	7–5, 6–3, 7–6(7–5)
Win	4.	Aug 1994	Umag, Croatia	Clay	Karol Kučera	6–2, 6–4
Win	5.	Oct 1994	Palermo, Italy	Clay	Àlex Corretja	2–6, 7–6(8–6), 6–4
Win	6.	Oct 1994	Athens, Greece	Clay	Óscar Martínez	4–6, 7–6(7–4), 6–3
Win	7.	Oct 1994	Santiago, Chile	Clay	Francisco Clavet	6–3, 6–4
Win	8.	Nov 1994	Montevideo, Uruguay	Clay	Francisco Clavet	6–4, 6–0
Win	9.	Jun 1995	Porto, Portugal	Clay	Carlos Costa	3–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss	6.	Nov 1995	Montevideo, Uruguay	Clay	Bohdan Ulihrach	2–6, 3–6
Win	10.	Jun 1996	Bologna, Italy	Clay	Carlos Costa	6–3, 6–4
Win	11.	Jul 1996	Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Àlex Corretja	6–2, 6–4, 6–4
Win	12.	Sep 1996	Bucharest, Romania	Clay	Carlos Moyà	6–1, 7–6(7–5)
Loss	7.	Sep 1997	Marbella, Spain	Clay	Albert Costa	3–6, 2–6
Win	13.	Oct 1997	Palermo, Italy	Clay	Dominik Hrbatý	6–4, 6–2
Win	14.	Apr 1998	Estoril, Portugal	Clay	Thomas Muster	3–6, 6–1, 6–3
Loss	8.	Apr 1998	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Todd Martin	2–6, 6–1, 3–6, 2–6
Loss	9.	Oct 1999	Palermo, Italy	Clay	Arnaud Di Pasquale	1–6, 3–6

Performance timelines

Singles

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

P#

DNQ

A

Z#

PO

G

S

B

NMS

NTI

P

NH

(W) winner; (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); (W–L) win–loss record.

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

External links

• Alberto Berasategui at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Alberto Berasategui at the International Tennis Federation
• Alberto Berasategui at the Davis Cup