Country (sports) | Brazil | ||||||
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Residence | São Paulo, Brazil | ||||||
Born |
Buenos Aires, Argentina |
12 April 1971 ||||||
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) | ||||||
Medal record
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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.