Iva Majoli


Iva Majoli-Marić is a former professional tennis player from Croatia. She upset Martina Hingis to win the women's singles title at the French Open in 1997. Majoli also won seven other singles titles and one doubles title during her career. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 in February 1996.

Career

Majoli was born in Zagreb in SR Croatia, Yugoslavia and turned professional in 1991 at the age of 14. Aged 19, she won the 1997 French Open singles title, defeating Sandra Kleinová, Alexandra Fusai, Ann Grossman, Lindsay Davenport, Ruxandra Dragomir and Amanda Coetzer before beating the 16-year-old Martina Hingis in straight sets 6–4, 6–2. Majoli played aggressively from the baseline to ended Hingis's 37-match winning streak and hand her opponent her first defeat in a final of a Grand Slam.
Majoli played her best tennis as a teenager, reaching her career high ranking of World No. 4 in 1996. After a quarter-final appearance at the 1998 French Open, she failed to reach the fourth round of any subsequent Grand Slam singles tournament. In 2002, ranked World No. 58, Majoli defeated Patty Schnyder, in the final of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina. The victory increased Majoli's ranking to World No. 33, but her game steadily declined thereafter, with her ranking plummeting to World No. 131 in 2003. In the final years of her tennis career, Majoli suffered from a series of injuries – most notably a shoulder injury – and struggled to play consistently. Her jet-setting lifestyle, well documented by the press, may have contributed and on June 12, 2004, she announced her retirement from the game.
In 2006, she announced that she was engaged and pregnant with her first child. She married a local businessman, Stipe Marić, on 9 September 2006, with Jennifer Capriati and Mary Pierce attending the wedding. She gave birth to her daughter Mia on 31 October 2006.
In 2007, Majoli participated in the second season of the Croatian version of Dancing with the Stars. Her partner was Marko Herceg. She was eliminated in the fourth episode.
In 2012, she was selected to be the non-playing captain of the Croatian Fed Cup team.
Majoli made a comeback in professional tennis at the 2015 Kremlin Cup, where she received a wildcard with Anastasia Bukhanko in the doubles.

Significant finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

Tier I finals

Singles: 3 (3 titles)

WTA Tour finals

Singles: 17 (8–9)

OutcomeNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Runner-up1.7 February 1994OsakaCarpet Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere1–6, 6–4, 5–7
Runner-up2.18 April 1994BarcelonaClay Arantxa Sánchez Vicario0–6, 2–6
Runner-up3.24 October 1994EssenCarpet Jana Novotná2–6, 4–6
Runner-up4.24 April 1995BarcelonaClay Arantxa Sánchez Vicario7–5, 0–6, 2–6
Winner1.2 October 1995ZürichCarpet Mary Pierce6–4, 6–4
Winner2.9 October 1995FilderstadtHard Gabriela Sabatini6–4, 7–6
Winner3.29 January 1996TokyoCarpet Arantxa Sánchez Vicario6–4, 6–1
Runner-up5.12 February 1996ParisCarpet Julie Halard-Decugis5–7, 6–7
Winner4.19 February 1996EssenCarpet Jana Novotná7–5, 1–6, 7–6
Runner-up6.30 September 1996LeipzigCarpet Anke Huber7–5, 3–6, 1–6
Winner5.17 February 1997HanoverCarpet Jana Novotná4–6, 7–6, 6–4
Winner6.28 April 1997HamburgClay Ruxandra Dragomir6–3, 6–2
Winner7.26 May 1997French OpenClay Martina Hingis6–4, 6–2
Runner-up7.6 November 2000Kuala LumpurHard Henrieta Nagyová4–6, 2–6
Runner-up8.17 September 2001Quebec CityCarpet Meghann Shaughnessy1–6, 3–6
Winner8.15 April 2002CharlestonClay Patty Schnyder7–6, 6–4
Runner-up9.29 April 2002BolClay Åsa Svensson3–6, 6–4, 1–6

Doubles: 5 (1–4)

ITF finals

Singles (2-4)

Doubles (0–1)

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Tournament1992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004Career SRW–L
Australian OpenAAAAQF1R3RAA3R2R1RA0 / 69–6
French OpenA4R4RQFQFWQFA2R1R2R2RA1 / 1028–9
WimbledonAA1R1RAQF2RAA1R3R1RA0 / 77–7
US Open2R2R4R1R1R2R2R1RA3R3R1RA0 / 1111–11
Win–Loss1–14–26–34–38–312–38–40–11–14–46–41–40–01 / 3455–33
Year End Ranking50461398625163734232131315--