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Fernando Meligeni

Fernando Meligeni
Meligeni.jpg
Country (sports)  Brazil
Residence São Paulo, Brazil
Born (1971-04-12) 12 April 1971 (age 45)
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Turned pro 1990
Retired 2003
Plays Left-handed (1-handed backhand)
Prize money $2,558,867
Singles
Career record 202–217 (ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and Davis Cup)
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
Olympic Games SF – 4th (1996)
Doubles
Career record 63–64 (ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and Davis Cup)
Career titles 7
Highest ranking No. 34 (3 November 1997)
Team competitions
Davis Cup SF (2000)

Fernando Ariel Meligeni (born 12 April 1971), nicknamed Fininho (Portuguese for little thin), is an Argentine-born Brazilian former professional tennis player of Italian descent. He won 3 singles titles and reached the semi-finals of both the 1999 French Open and the 1996 Summer Olympics. He was well-known because of his capacity of fighting at the court, taking matches to the limit (tiebreaks and five sets). His favorite surface was clay.

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.

In 1996, ranked 93rd of the ATP Rankings, Meligeni was one off 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 semi finals, where he was defeated by Spain's Sergi Bruguera. In the Bronze medal game, he lost to Leander Paes of India.


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Wikipedia

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