Fernando Ariel Meligeni (born 12 April 1971), nicknamed Fininho (diminutive form in Portuguese for thin), is a Brazilian former professional tennis player. He won three singles (and 7 doubles) titles and reached the semifinals of both the 1999 French Open and the 1996 Summer Olympics. He was known for taking matches to the limit (tiebreaks and five sets). His favorite surface was clay.[1]
 Meligeni in 2003 | |||||||||
| Full name | Fernando Ariel Meligeni | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country (sports) |  Brazil | ||||||||
| Residence | São Paulo, Brazil | ||||||||
| Born | 12 April 1971 Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||
| Turned pro | 1990 | ||||||||
| Retired | 2003 | ||||||||
| Plays | Left-handed (one-handed backhand) | ||||||||
| Prize money | $2,555,367 | ||||||||
| Singles | |||||||||
| Career record | 202–217 | ||||||||
| Career titles | 3 | ||||||||
| Highest ranking | No. 25 (11 October 1999) | ||||||||
| Grand Slam singles results | |||||||||
| Australian Open | 2R (1997) | ||||||||
| French Open | SF (1999) | ||||||||
| Wimbledon | 2R (2001) | ||||||||
| US Open | 3R (1997) | ||||||||
| Other tournaments | |||||||||
| Grand Slam Cup | 1R (1999) | ||||||||
| Olympic Games | SF – 4th (1996) | ||||||||
| Doubles | |||||||||
| Career record | 63–64 | ||||||||
| Career titles | 7 | ||||||||
| Highest ranking | No. 34 (3 November 1997) | ||||||||
| Grand Slam doubles results | |||||||||
| Australian Open | 2R (2003) | ||||||||
| French Open | QF (1998) | ||||||||
| US Open | 1R (1997, 1998) | ||||||||
| Team competitions | |||||||||
| Davis Cup | SF (2000) | ||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||
Personal life
editMeligeni was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina but moved with his family to São Paulo, Brazil, when he was four years old. He is of Italian descent. He has a younger sister, Paula, the mother of two tennis players, Felipe and Carolina Meligeni Alves.[2] He applied to get Brazilian citizenship as a teenager, and took him five years to complete the process.[3] He is married to actress Carol Hubner, with whom he has two children.[4]
Tennis career
editThis section needs additional citations for verification. (February 2024) |
Juniors
editAs a junior, he won the traditional Orange Bowl in 1989, finishing No. 3 in the world junior rankings in the same year.
Pro tour
editMeligeni turned professional in 1990, opting for Brazilian nationality, although his parents and sister disagreed with this.[5]
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 Mats Wilander in the final.
In 1996, ranked 93rd of the ATP rankings, Meligeni was one of the 64 competitors that would directly enter the upcoming tennis tournament of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Withdrawals due to injuries and personal decisions gave him an alternate spot. With four wins over higher ranked players, Meligeni reached the semifinals, where he was defeated by Spain's Sergi Bruguera. In the bronze medal game, he lost to Leander Paes of India.[6][7][8]
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. This year Meligeni had an excellent performance at the 1998 French Open losing at 4th round but playing an incredible match of five tough sets against clay-court specialist Thomas Muster.
Meligeni reached his peak in the following year, with a strong performance at the 1999 French Open in Paris, France. He defeated Justin Gimelstob, Younes El Aynaoui as well as 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 semifinals to Ukrainian Andrei Medvedev. This was his best major singles result and led him to a career-high ranking of world No. 25. This year also had Meligeni's personal favorite match of his career, where he defeated Pete Sampras (ATP nº2 at the time) at the Rome Masters (6–3, 6–1). At the press conference after this match, Sampras declared "he had attended a masterclass on how to play on clay".[9] He was also a member of the Brazilian Davis Cup team, with an overall record of 13–16, and reaching the semifinals in 2000.
In addition to his three singles titles, Meligeni also won seven doubles titles on 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 win/loss record in ties.
Off the court, Meligeni has been a host for MTV Brasil, TV Cultura, and ESPN Brazil, in the last one and SporTV also serving as a tennis commentator.
Career statistics
editSingles performance timeline
edit| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| Tournament | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | SR | W–L | Win (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | 1R | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | A | 1R | 1R | 0 / 8 | 1–8 | 11% |
| French Open | A | A | 4R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 2R | 4R | SF | 2R | 3R | 2R | Q1 | 0 / 10 | 18–10 | 64% |
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | A | 0 / 4 | 1–4 | 20% |
| US Open | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 3R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 2R | 2R | A | 0 / 11 | 5–11 | 31% |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 4–3 | 3–3 | 6–3 | 1–4 | 4–3 | 2–4 | 0–1 | 0 / 33 | 25–33 | 43% |
Significant finals
editOlympic Games
edit| Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4th Place | 1996 | Atlanta Olympics | Hard | 6–3, 2–6, 4–6 |
Pan American Games
edit| Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 2003 | Santo Domingo Games | Hard | 5–7, 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–5) |
References
edit- ^ "Os dez maiores tenistas brasileiros da Era Aberta". Esporte Final (in Portuguese). 2 February 2010. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
- ^ Em boa fase, irmãos Felipe e Carol Meligeni seguem passos do tio e sonham no circuito
- ^ "Fernando Meligeni e a relação Argentina-Brasil em sua carreira". 30 November 2020.
- ^ "Apontada como nova Ana Paula Arósio, atriz quer voltar a investir na carreira após filhos com Fernando Meligeni". Extra. Globo.com. 21 September 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
- ^ "Conformismo não é uma opção: Meligeni brigou para ser brasileiro, quase ficou fora de Olimpíada e hoje critica a cultura do esporte na TV". Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ^ ""Fino" Meligeni Olympics results". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 2011-01-07.
- ^ "25 of the Most Surprising Tennis Runs in Olympic History". Bleacher Report.
- ^ "Meu Momento Olímpico: Ficou no Quase". Folha UOL (in Portuguese).
- ^ "Meligeni vê vitória contra Sampras como o auge da carreira: "Dei aula"". Torcedores.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). 22 September 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2024.