Alberto Berasategui


Alberto Berasategui Salazar is a former top-10 professional tennis player from Spain. He was Grand Slam finalist at the 1994 French Open, and won a total of ATP 14 singles titles, achieving a career-high singles ranking of world no. 7 in November 1994.

Tennis career

Berasategui won a total of 14 top-level singles titles and one tour doubles title. He won at least one singles title for six consecutive years. He began playing tennis at age seven and was the European junior champion in 1991. He turned professional later that year, and won his first top-level singles title in 1993, two years later.
In 1994, Berasategui reached nine finals, winning seven of them. He also reached his first Grand Slam final at the French Open, where he defeated Wayne Ferreira, Cédric Pioline, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Javier Frana, Goran Ivanišević and Magnus Larsson to face fellow Spaniard and defending champion Sergi Bruguera who defeated him in four sets.
Berasategui retired from the professional tour in May 2001, having had persistent wrist injuries since his match with Hernán Gumy at the Bologna tournament in June 1998. The injuries had an adverse effect on his results and form, and had caused his consistency and ranking to decline. He also suffered severe cramps of unknown origin in long matches.

Playing style

Berasategui was known for his extreme western grip, known as the "Hawaiian grip", where his unusual hold on the racket would allow him to hit both forehands and backhands with the same side of the racket. This helped him on clay, but he did not have much of an impact on other surfaces except for a quarterfinals appearance at the 1998 Australian Open, after having beaten world No. 2, Patrick Rafter in four sets in the third round, and came back from two sets down to beat the 1995, 2000, and 2001 Australian Open champion, former and future world No. 1, Andre Agassi, in the fourth round. He lost in quarterfinals to Marcelo Ríos after winning a tight first-set tiebreak.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Career finals

Singles: 23 (14 titles, 9 runner-ups)

ResultW/LDateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss1.Aug 1993Umag, CroatiaClay Thomas Muster5–7, 6–3, 3–6
Loss2.Oct 1993Athens, GreeceClay Jordi Arrese4–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win1.Nov 1993São Paulo, BrazilClay Sláva Doseděl6–4, 6–3
Loss3.Nov 1993Buenos Aires, ArgentinaClay Carlos Costa6–3, 1–6, 4–6
Win2.Apr 1994Nice, FranceClay Jim Courier6–4, 6–2
Loss4.May 1994Bologna, ItalyClay Javier Sánchez6–7, 6–4, 3–6
Loss5.Jun 1994French Open, ParisClay Sergi Bruguera3–6, 5–7, 6–2, 1–6
Win3.Jul 1994Stuttgart, GermanyClay Andrea Gaudenzi7–5, 6–3, 7–6
Win4.Aug 1994Umag, CroatiaClay Karol Kučera6–2, 6–4
Win5.Oct 1994Palermo, ItalyClay Àlex Corretja2–6, 7–6, 6–4
Win6.Oct 1994Athens, GreeceClay Óscar Martínez4–6, 7–6, 6–3
Win7.Oct 1994Santiago, ChileClay Francisco Clavet6–3, 6–4
Win8.Nov 1994Montevideo, UruguayClay Francisco Clavet6–4, 6–0
Win9.Jun 1995Porto, PortugalClay Carlos Costa3–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss6.Nov 1995Montevideo, UruguayClay Bohdan Ulihrach2–6, 3–6
Win10.Jun 1996Bologna, ItalyClay Carlos Costa6–3, 6–4
Win11.Jul 1996Kitzbühel, AustriaClay Àlex Corretja6–2, 6–4, 6–4
Win12.Sep 1996Bucharest, RomaniaClay Carlos Moyà6–1, 7–6
Loss7.Sep 1997Marbella, SpainClay Albert Costa3–6, 2–6
Win13.Oct 1997Palermo, ItalyClay Dominik Hrbatý6–4, 6–2
Win14.Apr 1998Estoril, PortugalClay Thomas Muster3–6, 6–1, 6–3
Loss8.Apr 1998Barcelona, SpainClay Todd Martin2–6, 6–1, 3–6, 2–6
Loss9.Oct 1999Palermo, ItalyClay Arnaud Di Pasquale1–6, 3–6

Performance timelines

Singles