Mariano Puerta
 |
|
| Country (sports) |
 Argentina
|
|---|---|
| Residence | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Born |
19 September 1978 San Francisco, Córdoba, Argentina |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Turned pro | 1998 |
| Retired | 2009 |
| Plays | Left-handed (one-handed backhand) |
| Prize money | US$ 1,695,028 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 128–118 |
| Career titles | 3 |
| Highest ranking | No. 9 (15 August 2005) |
| Grand Slam Singles results | |
| Australian Open | 2R (1999) |
| French Open | F (2005) |
| Wimbledon | 1R (1998, 2001, 2003, |
| US Open | 2R (1999, |
| Other tournaments | |
| Tour Finals | RR ( |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 42–54 |
| Career titles | 3 |
| Highest ranking | No. 68 (2 August 1999) |
Mariano Rubén Puerta (born 19 September 1978) is a former Argentine professional male tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 9 singles ranking on August 15, 2005. His career highlights include reaching the final of the French Open in 2005, where he lost to Rafael Nadal in four sets.
Puerta made his debut on the ATP Tour in 1997, and turned professional in 1998. He won his first ATP title in 1998 in Palermo, Italy. In 2000, Puerta achieved his highest year-end ranking of World No. 21, reaching five finals, and winning one of them (Bogotá). That same year, however, he underwent wrist surgery, which kept him off the tour for several months.
Besides from not recovering his previous playing level, he was suspended from tennis for 9 months from October 2003 onwards for a doping offense (see section on doping controversies). Owing to the suspension he missed most of the 2004 season, and by August 2004 his world ranking had dropped to No. 440. He was reduced to playing Challenger-level tournaments for a while until he had earned enough points to return to the ATP Tour.
In 2005, Puerta made an eye-opening comeback on the Tour by winning the title in Casablanca and then making it to the final of the world's most prestigious clay court tournament, the French Open, where he eventually succumbed to Rafael Nadal in a close match (7–6(8–6), 3–6, 1–6, 5–7). By August 2005 he had climbed to a career-best World No. 9 in the ATP singles rankings, an advancement of 431 places in one year.
In December 2005, he was, again, suspended for a doping offense, this time for 8 years, effectively ending his professional career. This suspension was later reduced on appeal.
On June 6, 2007 Puerta returned to the professional circuit with a 6–4 6–3 victory over Australian Joseph Sirianni at the Sassuolo Challenger, a tournament to which he was invited as a wild card since he had no ranking. In the second round, Puerta lost 6–3 6–0 to Spaniard Marc López. Since returning to the tour, Puerta has only played on the ATP Challenger Tour, including winning the Bogota challenger in 2008 and reaching the final of the San Luis Potosi Challenger in 2008 without dropping a set, where he was forced to default the final, and the Cordenons challenger in 2007.
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