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Corina Morariu

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Corina Morariu
Morariu at the 2009 US Open
Full nameCorina Maria Morariu
Country (sports) United States
ResidenceBoca Raton, Florida, U.S.
Born (1978-01-26) January 26, 1978 (age 46)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Turned pro1994
Retired2007
PlaysRight (one-handed backhand)
Prize money$1,733,916
Singles
Career record160–134
Career titles1 WTA, 5 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 29 (August 24, 1998)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (1998)
French Open2R (1998, 2000, 2003)
Wimbledon3R (1998, 1999)
US Open2R (1997)
Doubles
Career record248–158
Career titles13 WTA, 9 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 1 (April 3, 2000)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenF (2001, 2005)
French OpenSF (2005)
WimbledonW (1999)
US OpenQF (1999, 2002, 2005, 2007)
Mixed doubles
Career record21–22
Career titles1
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian OpenW (2001)
French OpenQF (2003, 2005)
Wimbledon3R (2006)
US OpenSF (2002, 2005)

Corina Maria Morariu (born January 26, 1978) is an American former professional tennis player.

Morariu (pronounced: mo-RA-R'ju) was born in Detroit, Michigan and is of Romanian descent.[1] She turned professional in 1994. Mainly known as a doubles specialist, she won the women's doubles title at Wimbledon in 1999 with Lindsay Davenport. She also won the mixed-doubles title at the 2001 Australian Open with Ellis Ferreira. She reached the Australian Open women's doubles final with Davenport in 2005. She also reached the world No. 1 ranking in doubles in 2000.[2]

In 2001, Morariu was diagnosed with leukemia and began a program of chemotherapy.[3] During this time, Jennifer Capriati dedicated her 2001 French Open victory to Morariu.[4] After recovering from cancer, along with shoulder surgery, Morariu was largely restricted to doubles play.[2] The WTA then created the Corina Comeback Award, which was presented to Morariu by Capriati.[5]

Morariu retired from the tour in 2007. She is an International Sports Ambassador for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and has released a memoir titled Living Through the Racket: How I Survived Leukemia...and Rediscovered My Self.[5] Following her retirement, she began working as a commentator for Tennis Channel.[6]

Grand Slam finals

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Doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)

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Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1999 Wimbledon Grass United States Lindsay Davenport South Africa Mariaan de Swardt
Ukraine Elena Tatarkova
6–4, 6–4
Loss 2001 Australian Open Hard United States Lindsay Davenport United States Serena Williams
United States Venus Williams
2–6, 6–2, 4–6
Loss 2005 Australian Open Hard United States Lindsay Davenport Russia Svetlana Kuznetsova
Australia Alicia Molik
3–6, 4–6

Mixed doubles: 1 (title)

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Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 2001 Australian Open Hard South Africa Ellis Ferreira Austria Barbara Schett
Australia Joshua Eagle
6–1, 6–3

WTA Tour finals

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Corina Morariu hitting a forehand

Singles: 4 (1–3)

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Legend
Tier I (0–0)
Tier II (0–0)
Tier III (0–1)
Tier IV (1–2)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1. May 1997 Bol Ladies Open, Croatia Clay Croatia Mirjana Lučić 5–7, 7–6(9–7), 6–7(5–7)
Loss 2. Apr 1998 Japan Open, Tokyo Hard Japan Ai Sugiyama 3–6, 3–6
Loss 3. May 1998 Bol Ladies Open, Croatia Clay Croatia Mirjana Lučić 2–6, 4–6
Win 1. May 1999 Bol Ladies Open, Croatia Clay France Julie Halard-Decugis 6–2, 6–0

Doubles: 20 (13–7)

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Legend
Grand Slam (1–2)
Tier I (1–2)
Tier II (3–2)
Tier III (7–1)
Tier IV (1–0)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1. Apr 1997 Japan Open, Tokyo Hard Australia Kerry-Anne Guse France Alexia Dechaume-Balleret
Japan Rika Hiraki
4–6, 2–6
Win 1. Nov 1997 Pattaya Open, Thailand Hard Australia Kristine Kunce Argentina Florencia Labat
Belgium Dominique Monami
6–3, 6–4
Win 2. Jan 1999 Brisbane International, Australia Hard Latvia Larisa Neiland Australia Kristine Kunce
Romania Irina Spîrlea
6–3, 6–4
Win 3. Apr 1999 Japan Open, Tokyo Hard United States Kimberly Po Australia Kerry-Anne Guse
Australia Catherine Barclay
6–3, 6–2
Win 4. Jun 1999 Birmingham Classic, UK Grass Latvia Larisa Neiland Argentina Inés Gorrochategui
France Alexandra Fusai
6–4, 6–4
Win 5. Jul 1999 Wimbledon Championships, UK Grass United States Lindsay Davenport South Africa Mariaan de Swardt
Ukraine Elena Tatarkova
6–4, 6–4
Win 6. Jul 1999 Stanford Classic, U.S. Hard United States Lindsay Davenport Russia Anna Kournikova
Russia Elena Likhovtseva
6–4, 6–4
Win 7. Aug 1999 San Diego Open, U.S. Hard United States Lindsay Davenport United States Venus Williams
United States Serena Williams
6–4, 6–1
Win 8. Feb 2000 Cellular South Cup, U.S. Hard (i) United States Kimberly Po Thailand Tamarine Tanasugarn
Ukraine Elena Tatarkova
6–4, 4–6, 6–2
Win 9. Mar 2000 Indian Wells Open, U.S. Hard United States Lindsay Davenport Russia Anna Kournikova
Belarus Natasha Zvereva
6–2, 6–3
Win 10. May 2000 Bol Ladies Open, Croatia Clay France Julie Halard-Decugis Slovenia Katarina Srebotnik
Slovenia Tina Križan
6–2, 6–2
Loss 2. May 2000 German Open, Berlin Clay South Africa Amanda Coetzer Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
Spain Conchita Martínez
6–3, 2–6, 6–7(7–9)
Win 11. Oct 2000 Japan Open, Tokyo Hard France Julie Halard-Decugis Slovenia Tina Križan
Slovenia Katarina Srebotnik
6–1, 6–2
Loss 3. Jan 2001 Australian Open, Melbourne Hard United States Lindsay Davenport United States Serena Williams
United States Venus Williams
2–6, 6–2, 4–6
Loss 4. Nov 2004 Philadelphia Championships, U.S. Hard (i) South Africa Liezel Huber United States Lisa Raymond
Australia Alicia Molik
5–7, 4–6
Loss 5. Jan 2005 Australian Open, Melbourne Hard United States Lindsay Davenport Russia Svetlana Kuznetsova
Australia Alicia Molik
3–6, 4–6
Loss 6. Feb 2005 Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo Carpet (i) United States Lindsay Davenport Slovakia Janette Husárová
Russia Elena Likhovtseva
4–6, 3–6
Win 12. Jan 2006 Sydney International, Australia Hard Australia Rennae Stubbs Argentina Paola Suárez
Spain Virginia Ruano Pascual
6–3, 5–7, 6–2
Win 13. Sep 2006 Bali Classic, Indonesia Hard United States Lindsay Davenport South Africa Natalie Grandin
Australia Trudi Musgrave
6–3, 6–4
Loss 7. Oct 2006 Ladies Linz, Austria Hard (i) Slovenia Katarina Srebotnik United States Lisa Raymond
Australia Samantha Stosur
3–6, 0–6

ITF Circuit finals

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$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Singles (5–0)

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Outcome No. Date Location Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. 22 August 1994 Nicolosi, Italy Hard Italy Giulia Casoni 7–5, 7–6(5)
Winner 2. 22 May 1995 Salzburg, Austria Clay Austria Patricia Wartusch 6–2, 6–2
Winner 3. 29 May 1995 Katowice, Poland Clay Poland Ewa Radzikowska 6–4, 6–2
Winner 4. 21 August 1995 Sochi, Russia Clay France Anne-Gaëlle Sidot 6–4, 4–6, 6–0
Winner 5. 23 February 1997 Bogotá, Colombia Clay Czech Republic Lenka Němečková 6–2, 6–3

Doubles (9–4)

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Outcome No. Date Location Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1. July 17, 1994 Olsztyn, Poland Clay Slovakia Henrieta Nagyová Netherlands Marielle Bruens
Netherlands Amanda Hopmans
4–6, 7–5, 5–7
Winner 2. August 22, 1994 Nicolosi, Italy Hard Australia Loretta Sheales Australia Natalie Frawley
Australia Jenny Anne Fetch
6–1, 7–5
Winner 3. January 30, 1995 İstanbul, Turkey Hard Greece Christina Zachariadou Bulgaria Dora Djilianova
Bulgaria Desislava Topalova
6–3, 7–5
Runner-up 4. April 3, 1995 Athens, Greece Clay Greece Christina Zachariadou Czech Republic Denisa Chládková
Slovakia Patrícia Marková
2–6, 5–7
Winner 5. May 22, 1995 Salzburg, Austria Clay Australia Aarthi Venkatesan Slovenia Tjaša Jezernik
North Macedonia Marina Lazarovska
w/o
Winner 6. August 14, 1995 Carthage, Tunisia Clay Greece Christina Zachariadou Czech Republic Denisa Chládková
Belgium Daphne van de Zande
6–4, 7–6(7)
Winner 7. August 27, 1995 Sochi, Russia Hard Ukraine Elena Tatarkova Russia Natalia Egorova
Finland Petra Thorén
6–3, 7–5
Runner-up 8. August 28, 1995 Athens, Greece Clay Greece Christina Zachariadou Poland Magdalena Grzybowska
Slovakia Henrieta Nagyová
w/o
Winner 9. December 4, 1995 Cergy, France Hard (i) United States Angela Lettiere Madagascar Dally Randriantefy
Madagascar Natacha Randriantefy
6–3, 7–5
Winner 10. January 27, 1996 Mission, United States Hard United States Angela Lettiere United States Shannan McCarthy
United States Julie Steven
7–6(7), 6–2
Winner 11. February 17, 1996 Midland, United States Hard (i) United States Angela Lettiere United States Katrina Adams
United States Debbie Graham
7–6(4), 7–6(6)
Runner-up 12. May 19, 1996 Athens, Greece Clay United States Angela Lettiere South Africa Liezel Horn
Greece Christína Papadáki
5–7, 2–6
Winner 13. October 12, 1997 Sedona, United States Hard Romania Cătălina Cristea South Africa Liezel Horn
Argentina Paola Suárez
7–5, 6–2

Doubles performance timeline

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A 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 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 SR W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A 2R 2R 2R SF F A A 3R F 1R 1R 0 / 9 19–9
French Open A 1R 1R 3R 2R A A A 1R A SF A 1R 0 / 7 7–7
Wimbledon A 1R 2R 2R W A A A 1R A 2R A 1R 1 / 7 9–6
US Open A 3R 1R 1R QF A A QF 1R 2R QF 2R QF 0 / 10 16–10
Win–loss 0–0 2–3 2–4 4–4 11–3 4–1 5–1 3–1 0–3 3–2 13–4 1–2 3–4 1 / 33 51–32
Year-end championships
Tour Championships A A A A SF A A A A A A A A 0 / 1 1–1
Year-end ranking
Ranking 187 81 66 49 6 14 57 78 156 24 15 34 76

Awards

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  • The Corina Comeback Award (established by the WTA and named after her; she was the first recipient)[5]
  • The 2002 WTA Tour Comeback Player of the Year Award[5]

References

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  1. ^ Roberts, John (December 19, 2003). "Morariu returns after leukaemia battle". The Independent. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  2. ^ a b DeSimone, Bonnie (March 26, 2007). "Corina Morariu happy to be on tour". ESPN. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  3. ^ Banerjee, Sudeshna (July 28, 2009). "Corina Morariu: The Braveheart Who Defied Death". Bleacherreport.com. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  4. ^ DeSimone, Bonnie (May 26, 2002). "She won't stay down for long". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  5. ^ a b c d "WTA Profile". wtatennis.com. Archived from the original on April 13, 2012. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  6. ^ Thurmond, Sarah (February 12, 2010). "Q&A With Corina Morariu, Cancer Survivor and Former Pro". tennis.com. Retrieved March 19, 2012.

Publications

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  • Morariu, Corina (2010). Living through the Racket: How I Survived Leukemia…and Rediscovered My Self. Hay House Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4019-2649-6.
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