 | |||||||||
| Country (sports) |  Spain | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1974-04-11)11 April 1974 (age 51) Barcelona,Spain | ||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||
| Turned pro | 1991 | ||||||||
| Retired | 2005 | ||||||||
| Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) | ||||||||
| Prize money | $10,411,354 | ||||||||
| Singles | |||||||||
| Career record | 438–281 (60.9%) | ||||||||
| Career titles | 17 | ||||||||
| Highest ranking | No. 2 (1 February 1999) | ||||||||
| Grand Slam singles results | |||||||||
| Australian Open | 3R (1998) | ||||||||
| French Open | F (1998,2001) | ||||||||
| Wimbledon | 2R (1994,1996) | ||||||||
| US Open | QF (1996) | ||||||||
| Other tournaments | |||||||||
| Tour Finals | W (1998) | ||||||||
| Grand Slam Cup | 1R (1996) | ||||||||
| Olympic Games | 3R (2000) | ||||||||
| Doubles | |||||||||
| Career record | 103–115 (47.2%) | ||||||||
| Career titles | 3 | ||||||||
| Highest ranking | No. 50 (9 June 1997) | ||||||||
| Grand Slam doubles results | |||||||||
| Australian Open | 3R (1998) | ||||||||
| Wimbledon | 3R (1996) | ||||||||
| US Open | 3R (1996) | ||||||||
| Team competitions | |||||||||
| Davis Cup | W (2000) | ||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||
Àlex Corretja Verdegay (Catalan pronunciation:[ˈaləkskuˈrɛdʒəβəɾðəˈɣaj]; born 11 April 1974) is a Spanish former professionaltennis player. He was ranked world No. 2 in men's singles by theAssociation of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in 1999. Corretja won 17ATP Tour singles titles, including the1998 ATP World Tour Championships, andMasters titles at the1997 Italian Open and2000 Indian Wells Masters. He was twice amajor runner-up at theFrench Open, in1998 and2001. Corretja played a key role in helpingSpain win its firstDavis Cup title in2000.[1]
Post-retirement, Corretja became a temporary coach ofAndy Murray in April 2008 for the duration of the clay-court season, resuming the role on a permanent basis between 2009 and 2011.[2] In 2012 and 2013, he coached the Spanish Davis Cup team.
Corretja was born in Barcelona, and first came to the tennis world's attention as a promising junior player who won theOrange Bowl under-16 title in 1990. He turned professional in 1991 and won his first top-level singles title in 1994 atBuenos Aires. His first doubles title came in 1995 atPalermo.
In 1996, Corretja facedPete Sampras in an epic five-set quarterfinal match at theUS Open. Pete Sampras threw up in the fifth-set tiebreak,[3] where Corretja held a match point later on, but he eventually lost to Sampras on a double fault in 4 hours and 9 minutes.
In 1997, Corretja captured three titles, including his firstTennis Masters Series title inRome, where he defeatedMarcelo Ríos. (He won a second Masters Series title in 2000 atIndian Wells.)
1998 saw Corretja reach his firstGrand Slam final at the French Open. In the third round, he defeated Argentina'sHernán Gumy in (at the time) the longest match in the tournament's history. Corretja won the 5-hour 31-minute marathon. In the final, Corretja lost to fellow-SpaniardCarlos Moyà in straight sets.
Corretja finished 1998 by winning the most significant title of his career, theATP Tour World Championships. In the group stage, he beat world no. 5Andre Agassi, and in the semifinals, Corretja saved three match points on the way to beating world no. 1 Sampras. In the final, Corretja faced world no. 4 Moyà in a five-set marathon and came back from two sets down to win in 4 hours and 1 minute. Corretja's win made him the first man to ever win the Tour Championships (in its 29-year history) without having ever won a Grand Slam tournament. (David Nalbandian,Nikolay Davydenko,Grigor Dimitrov,Alexander Zverev andStefanos Tsitsipas have since repeated the feat.)
In total, Corretja won a career-high five singles titles during the 1998 season, on three different surfaces (Clay, Hard and Carpet). He finished the year ranked world No. 3.
Corretja reached three tournament finals, the quarterfinals of theFrench Open and reached his career high ranking of 2 in February.[4]
In 2000, Corretja won theIndian Wells Masters title, beatingThomas Enqvist in straight sets in the final. He also beat world no. 1 Agassi in the final of theWashington Open for the loss of just five games.
In the Davis Cup, Corretja helped Spain to their first ever title win. He went 3–0 in singles rubbers during the earlier rounds, and then teamed up withJoan Manuel Balcells to win the doubles match in the final as Spain beat Australia 3–1. Corretja also won a men's doubles bronze medal at theOlympic Games in Sydney, partneringAlbert Costa.
In 2001, Corretja reached the men's singles final at theFrench Open for the second time, losing in the final to defending championGustavo Kuerten in four sets. In July of that year, Corretja won a five-set marathon match in the final of theDutch Open againstYounes El Aynaoui.[5] The 53-game match was the year's longest tour final.
Corretja's biggest win of 2002 came in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup, where he rallied from two sets down to beat Sampras on grass. (Spain eventually lost the tie 3–1.) At the French Open, Corretja saved four match points in the third round againstArnaud Clément, before going on to win. Corretja then progressed to the semifinals, where he lost in four sets toAlbert Costa (who went on to win the title). One week later, Corretja was the best man at Costa's wedding.[6]
In 2003, Corretja was again part of a Spanish team which reached the Davis Cup final. He won two doubles and one singles rubber in the earlier rounds. However, in the final, Corretja andFeliciano López lost the doubles rubber, as Spain were beaten 3–1 by Australia.
Corretja announced his retirement on 24 September 2005. He won a total of 17 top-level singles titles and three doubles titles during his career.
Corretja coached Britain'sAndy Murray from 2008 to 2011.
As of 2015, he works forEurosport as a field interviewer at the Grand Slam tournaments.[7][8]
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| Tournament | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | SR | W–L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | |||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | 2R | 2R | 3R | 2R | 2R | A | 1R | 1R | 2R | A | 0 / 8 | 8–8 | |
| French Open | 1R | 1R | 3R | 4R | 2R | 4R | F | QF | QF | F | SF | 1R | 3R | A | 0 / 13 | 36–13 | |
| Wimbledon | A | A | 2R | A | 2R | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | 0 / 4 | 2–4 | |
| US Open | 1R | 1R | 1R | 2R | QF | 3R | 4R | 1R | 3R | 3R | 3R | 1R | 1R | A | 0 / 13 | 16–13 | |
| Win–loss | 0–2 | 0–2 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 7–4 | 6–2 | 11–4 | 5–3 | 7–3 | 8–2 | 7–3 | 0–3 | 3–4 | 0–0 | 0 / 38 | 61–38 | |
| Year-end championships | |||||||||||||||||
| Tennis Masters Cup | Did not qualify | W | DNQ | RR | Did not qualify | 1 / 2 | 5–3 | ||||||||||
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1998 | French Open | Clay | Carlos Moyá | 3–6, 5–7, 3–6 |
| Loss | 2001 | French Open | Clay |  Gustavo Kuerten | 7–6(7–3), 5–7, 2–6, 0–6 |
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1998 | ATP Tour World Championships, Hanover | Hard (i) | Carlos Moyà | 3–6, 3–6, 7–5, 6–3, 7–5 |
| Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | 2000 | Summer Olympics | Hard | Albert Costa |  David AdamsJohn-Laffnie de Jager | 2–6, 6–4, 6–3 |
| Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1996 | Hamburg Masters | Clay | Roberto Carretero | 6–2, 4–6, 4–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 1997 | Monte-Carlo Masters | Clay |  Marcelo Ríos | 4–6, 3–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 1997 | Rome Masters | Clay | Marcelo Ríos | 7–5, 7–5, 6–3 |
| Loss | 1998 | Hamburg Masters | Clay | Albert Costa | 2–6, 0–6, 0–1 ret. |
| Win | 2000 | Indian Wells Masters | Hard |  Thomas Enqvist | 6–4, 6–4, 6–3 |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
