Potito Starace
Potito Starace is an Italian retired professional tennis player on the ATP Tour. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world no. 27 on October 15, 2007. He was a clay court specialist, and was coached by Umberto Rianna.
Starace was banned from tennis for life by the Italian Tennis Federation and by the Tennis Integrity Unit for betting offences.
Career
One of the most memorable runs of Starace's career was when he made the men's doubles semifinals of the 2012 French Open, partnering Daniele Bracciali, before succumbing to top seeds Daniel Nestor and Max Mirnyi.In singles, he made four ATP finals but lost in all of them. On the Challenger tour, he won the San Marino CEPU Open three times, a record for the tournament, and the Tennis Napoli Cup four times, also a record. In doubles, he won six ATP titles.
He represented Italy at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he lost to eventual gold medallist Rafael Nadal in the first round.
Betting scandal
Following Alessio di Mauro's 9-month ban in November 2007, Starace and Daniele Bracciali were each fined and given short suspensions from playing. Starace received a fine of £21,400 and a 6-week ban from January 1, 2008.Starace's case revolved around his final in Casablanca against the Spaniard Pablo Andújar, which the Italian lost. Starace had led their head-to-head 5-0 going into the match. Bookmaker Massimo Erodiani asked via Skype if Starace had received a certified cheque to lose match and received an affirmative answer, explaining that all bets were safe on a Starace loss.
In 2015, the Italian Tennis Federation banned Bracciali and Starace for life. In 2019, he was banned by the Tennis Integrity Unit for life, subject to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
ATP career finals
Singles: 4 (0–4)
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Runner-up | 1. | 15 April 2007 | Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana, Valencia, Spain | Clay |  Nicolás Almagro | 6–4, 2–6, 1–6 |
| Runner-up | 2. | 29 July 2007 | Austrian Open, Kitzbühel, Austria | Clay |  Juan Mónaco | 7–5, 3–6, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 1 August 2010 | ATP Studena Croatia Open Umag, Umag, Croatia | Clay | Juan Carlos Ferrero | 4–6, 4–6 |
| Runner-up | 4. | 10 April 2011 | Grand Prix Hassan II, Casablanca, Morocco | Clay | Pablo Andújar | 1–6, 2–6 |
Doubles: 9 (6–3)
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Runner-up | 1. | 15 March 2006 | Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Acapulco, Mexico | Clay |  Filippo Volandri |  František Čermák Leoš Friedl | 5–7, 2–6 |
| Winner | 1. | 4 March 2007 | Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Acapulco, Mexico | Clay | Martín Vassallo Argüello | Lukáš Dlouhý Pavel Vízner | 6–0, 6–2 |
| Winner | 2. | 29 July 2007 | Austrian Open, Kitzbühel, Austria | Clay |  Luis Horna |  Tomas Behrend Christopher Kas | 7–6, 7–6 |
| Winner | 3. | 6 October 2008 | Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Russia | Hard |  Sergiy Stakhovsky |  Stephen Huss  Ross Hutchins | 7–6, 2–6, |
| Runner-up | 2. | 7 February 2010 | Movistar Open, Santiago, Chile | Clay | Horacio Zeballos |  Łukasz Kubot  Oliver Marach | 4–6, 0–6 |
| Runner-up | 3. | 27 February 2010 | Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Acapulco, Mexico | Clay | Fabio Fognini | Łukasz Kubot Oliver Marach | 0–6, 0–6 |
| Winner | 4. | 31 October 2010 | St. Petersburg Open, St. Petersburg, Russia | Hard | Daniele Bracciali |  Rohan Bopanna  Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi | 7–6, 7–6 |
| Winner | 5. | 24 September 2011 | BRD Năstase Țiriac Trophy, Bucarest, Romania | Clay | Daniele Bracciali | Julian Knowle David Marrero | 3–6, 6–4, |
| Winner | 6. | 10 February 2013 | VTR Open, Viña del Mar, Chile | Clay | Paolo Lorenzi | Juan Mónaco Rafael Nadal | 6–2, 6–4 |
Performance timelines
Singles
''Current through 2015 French Open.Doubles
''Current through 2013 Wimbledon Championships.Top 10 wins
- Starace has a 2–23 record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.