Nicolás Massú

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Nicolás Massú
Country  Chile
Residence Viña del Mar
Born (1979-10-10) October 10, 1979
Viña del Mar
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Turned pro 1997
Retired 27 September 2013[1]
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money $4,286,614
Singles
Career record 257–233 (ATP Tour and Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles 6
Highest ranking No. 9 (September 13, 2004)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open 2R (2005)
French Open 3R (2004, 2006)
Wimbledon 3R (2001)
US Open 4R (2005)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games Gold Medal (2004)
Doubles
Career record 81–98 (ATP Tour and Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles 1
Highest ranking No. 31 (July 25, 2005)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open 2R (2008)
French Open SF (2005)
Wimbledon 2R (2005)
US Open QF (2004)
Other Doubles tournaments
Olympic Games Gold Medal (2004)
This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Massú and the second or maternal family name is Fried.

Nicolás Alejandro Massú Fried (born October 10, 1979, in Viña del Mar, Chile), nicknamed Vampiro (Spanish: "vampire"), is a former Chilean tennis player, a former world no. 9 in singles, and a two-time Olympic gold medalist. He is the only male player to have won both the singles and doubles gold medals during the same games in modern (1988–) Olympic tennis.[2] Massú also reached the final of the 2003 Madrid Masters and won six singles titles.

Tennis career

Early years

Massú was introduced to tennis at age five by his Hungarian-Jewish grandfather, Ladislao Fried. From age 12, he was trained at the Valle Dorado tennis academy, near Villa Alemana, by Leonardo Zuleta, with whom he perfected his forehand and double-handed backhand. He later trained at the Nick Bollettieri academy, in Florida, United States, alongside Marcelo Ríos, and later at the High Performance Center in Barcelona, Spain.

Juniors

Massú became a professional tennis player in 1997. That year, he won the prestigious juniors year-end Orange Bowl tournament. He also claimed the boys doubles competitions at Wimbledon (with Peru's Luis Horna) and the US Open (with countryman Fernando González), and was junior doubles world champion in 1997 (and No. 5 in singles).

Junior Slam results – Singles:

Australian Open: –
French Open: 3R (1997)
Wimbledon: QF (1996)
US Open: QF (1997)

ATP Tour

In August 1998, Massú won his first Futures tournament, in Spain. The following month, he claimed his first Challenger event, in Ecuador. He won his second Challenger tournament in June 1999, in Italy. In September 1999, he successfully defended his title in Ecuador. In November 1999, he won the Santiago Challenger event, and cracked the top 100 in singles for the first time.

In May 2000, Massú reached his first ATP tournament final, at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Orlando, Florida, where he lost to Fernando González. Later in August, he lost again to another Chilean—Marcelo Ríos—in his US Open debut. In January 2001, Massú reached his second ATP event final, in Adelaide, Australia.

Massú's first ATP title came in February 2002 in Buenos Aires, where he defeated Argentine Agustín Calleri in a three-set final, after being down match point. At the 2003 event, Calleri took revenge and defeated him in the first round, a loss that pushed Massú out of the top 100 in singles and forced him to play Challengers once again. In April 2003, he reached the Bermuda Challenger final.

Massú claimed his second ATP title in July 2003 in Amersfoort, The Netherlands. The following week, he reached the final of the Kitzbühel, Austria tournament, cracking the top 50 in singles for the first time. In September he made three consecutive tournament finals, including a win at a Challenger event and his third ATP title at Palermo, Italy. In October, he reached the final at the Madrid Tennis Masters Series tournament, losing to Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final. He ended the year at World No. 12.

In mid-2004, Massú parted ways with Argentine coach Gabriel Markus, whom he replaced with Chilean Patricio Rodríguez. In July 2004, Massú won his fourth ATP title in Kitzbühel, and then went on to win two gold medals at the Athens Olympics in August (see below). Thanks to his outstanding performance at the Olympics, he reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 9. In November, he underwent groin surgery, and therefore entered the 2005 season off top form. He ended an unremarkable 2005 with a six-match losing streak, although ironically 2005 also saw his best performance at a Grand Slam tournament as he reached the fourth round of the US Open, losing to Guillermo Coria.

In January 2006, Massú lost his hometown event at Viña del Mar to José Acasuso in the final. In February, he won his sixth ATP event at Costa do Sauipe, Brazil. In April, he reached the final of the Casablanca event in Morocco. In July, he lost to Novak Djokovic in the final of the Amersfoort tournament.

In January 2007, Massú repeated his Viña del Mar showing of 2006, losing to Luis Horna in straight sets. In July, he began an eight-match losing streak, ended in October in Saint Petersburg.

Massú had an early exit at the Viña del Mar tournament in January 2008, losing to Sergio Roitman in the first round. Because he was defending points from a final showing in 2007, the following week he fell to no. 97 in the world. In July, his singles ranking plummeted to no. 138, his worst since November 1999. Later in the year, he won the Florianópolis II Challenger event and was finalist in two other tournaments at that level.

Massú began 2009 by not winning a match during his first five tournaments and losing his opening Davis Cup singles match against Croatia in March. He broke his losing streak at the Indian Wells Masters, beating Argentine Eduardo Schwank in three sets in the first round.

Nicolás Massú in Kitzbühel 2005
At the 2006 Australian Open

Olympics

Massú has represented Chile in three Summer Olympics: Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, and Beijing 2008. At the 2000 event's opening ceremony, he was his country's standard bearer, after Marcelo Ríos failed to show up. In his first-round match, he beat Slava Doseděl, but lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero in the next round.

The story was different in Athens, where Massú captured both singles and doubles titles. On August 21, he and partner Fernando González, defeated Nicolas Kiefer and Rainer Schüttler of Germany to win the doubles competition, making history by giving Chile its first-ever Olympic gold medal. The following day, he captured his second gold medal by defeating American Mardy Fish in five sets in the men's singles final. Following his victory in singles he was declared as Athlete of the Day by the 2004 Athens Olympics' organization.

"I was so happy because this is my best memory in my sport career. If I look back in 10 more years, I look back on this, I'm gonna be so happy. Now I can die happy."[3]

Because of his low ranking, Massú was granted a wild card to compete in both singles and doubles events in Beijing.[4] He only managed to reach the second round in singles and was ousted on his first match in doubles, where he partnered with Fernando González.

Davis Cup

Massú began playing for Chile in Davis Cup matches in 1996. He currently is 29–17, including 17–4 on clay.[5]

Maccabiah Games

Massú is a veteran of the 2001 Maccabiah Games, the international Jewish Olympics.[6]

Playing style

Massú has a style characteristic of a clay-court specialist, with strong baseline play characterized by a solid forehand and backhand.

Massú is known for his fighting spirit, especially when playing for Chile, as he has demonstrated at the 2004 Olympics and at numerous Davis Cup matches. He has also turned around difficult matches.

Personal life

Massú is Jewish,[3][7] as is his mother, Sonia Fried.[3][8] His father, Manuel Massú, is of Palestinian[9][10] ancestry. He has four brothers, Stefano, Jorge, Geza, and Yuri.

Significant finals

Olympic finals

Singles: 1 (1–0)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Gold2004Athens OlympicsHardUnited States Mardy Fish6–3, 3–6, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4

Doubles: 1 (1–0)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Gold2004Athens OlympicsHardChile Fernando GonzálezGermany Nicolas Kiefer
Germany Rainer Schüttler		6–2, 4–6, 3–6, 7–6(9–7), 6–4

Masters Series finals

Singles: 1 (0–1)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up2003MadridHard (i)Spain Juan Carlos Ferrero3–6, 4–6, 3–6

ATP career finals

Singles: 15 (6–9)

Legend
Grand Slam (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
Olympic Gold (1–0)
ATP Masters Series (0–1)
ATP International Series Gold (1–1)
ATP Tour (4–7)
Titles by Surface
Hard (1–2)
Clay (5–7)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Outcome No. Date Championship Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1. May 7, 2000 Orlando, US Clay Chile Fernando González 2–6, 3–6
Runner-up 2. January 7, 2001 Adelaide, Australia Hard Germany Tommy Haas 3–6, 1–6
Winner 1. February 24, 2002 Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay Argentina Agustín Calleri 2–6, 7–6(7–5), 6–2
Winner 2. July 20, 2003 Amersfoort, Netherlands Clay Netherlands Raemon Sluiter 6–4, 7–6(7–3), 6–2
Runner-up 3. July 27, 2003 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Argentina Guillermo Coria 1–6, 4–6, 2–6
Runner-up 4. September 14, 2003 Bucharest, Romania Clay Spain David Sánchez 2–6, 2–6
Winner 3. September 28, 2003 Palermo, Italy Clay France Paul-Henri Mathieu 1–6, 6–2, 7–6(7–0)
Runner-up 5. October 19, 2003 Madrid, Spain Hard (i) Spain Juan Carlos Ferrero 3–6, 4–6, 3–6
Winner 4. July 25, 2004 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Argentina Gastón Gaudio 7–6(7–3), 6–4
Winner 5. August 22, 2004 Athens 2004 Summer Olympics Hard United States Mardy Fish 6–3, 3–6, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up 6. February 5, 2006 Viña del Mar, Chile Clay Argentina José Acasuso 4–6, 3–6
Winner 6. February 26, 2006 Costa do Sauípe, Brazil Clay Spain Alberto Martín 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up 7. April 30, 2006 Casablanca, Morocco Clay Italy Daniele Bracciali 1–6, 4–6
Runner-up 8. July 23, 2006 Amersfoort, Netherlands Clay Serbia Novak Djokovic 6–7(5–7), 4–6
Runner-up 9. February 4, 2007 Viña del Mar, Chile Clay Peru Luis Horna 5–7, 3–6

Doubles: 3 (1–2)

Legend
Grand Slam (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
Olympic Gold (1–0)
ATP Masters Series (0–0)
ATP International Series Gold (0–1)
ATP Tour (0–1)
Titles by Surface
Hard (1–0)
Clay (0–2)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Outcome No. Date Championship Surface Partner Opponent Score
Runner-up 1. March 7, 2004 Acapulco, Mexico Clay Argentina Juan Ignacio Chela United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan		 2–6, 3–6
Winner 1. August 21, 2004 Athens 2004 Summer Olympics Hard Chile Fernando González Germany Nicolas Kiefer
Germany Rainer Schüttler		 6–2, 4–6, 3–6, 7–6(9–7), 6–4
Runner-up 2. July 24, 2005 Amersfoort, Netherlands Clay Chile Fernando González Martín García
Peru Luis Horna		 4–6, 4–6

ATP Challengers & ITF Futures Finals: 18 (10–8)

Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (8–5)
ITF Futures (2–3)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1. May 24, 1998 Vero Beach, Florida, US Clay Haiti Ronald Agénor 3–6, 6–3, 3–6
Runner-up 2. May 31, 1998 Boca Raton, Florida, US Clay Haiti Ronald Agénor 1–6, 2–6
Runner-up 3. June 21, 1998 Lafayette, California, US Hard United States Cecil Mamiit 6–0, 3–6, 0–6
Winner 1. August 23, 1998 Vigo, Spain Clay Spain Tommy Robredo 6–4, 6–2
Winner 2. August 30, 1998 Irun, Spain Clay France Maxime Boye 6–4, 3–6, 6–3
Winner 3. September 7, 1998 Quito, Ecuador Clay Mexico Mariano Sánchez 3–6, 6–3, 6–0
Winner 4. June 21, 1999 Biella, Italy Clay Uzbekistan Oleg Ogorodov 7–6(7–5), 5–7, 6–3
Winner 5. September 6, 1999 Quito, Ecuador Clay Ecuador Luis Adrián Morejón 6–2, 3–6, 6–3
Winner 6. November 1, 1999 Santiago, Chile Clay Morocco Karim Alami 6–7(4–7), 6–2, 6–4
Runner-up 4. November 28, 1999 Guadalajara, Mexico Clay Brazil Francisco Costa 6–4, 5–7, 3–6
Winner 7. September 15, 2003 Szczecin, Poland Clay Spain Albert Portas 6–4, 6–3
Runner-up 5. April 14, 2003 Paget, Bermuda Clay Brazil Flávio Saretta 1–6, 4–6
Winner 8. May 5, 2008 Rijeka, Croatia Clay Belgium Christophe Rochus 6–2, 6–2
Runner-up 6. August 3, 2008 Belo Horizonte, Brazil Hard Mexico Santiago González 4–6, 3–6
Winner 9. October 6, 2008 Florianópolis, Brazil Clay France Olivier Patience 6–7(4–7), 6–2, 6–1
Runner-up 8. October 13, 2008 Montevideo, Uruguay Clay Australia Peter Luczak W/O
Runner-up 8. October 23, 2009 Santiago, Chile Clay Argentina Eduardo Schwank 2–6, 2–6
Winner 10. November 22, 2009 Cancún, Mexico Clay Slovenia Grega Zemlja 6–3, 7–5

Team titles

Performance timeline

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR LQ (Q#) A P Z# PO SF-B F S G NMS NH

Won tournament; or reached Final; Semifinal; Quarter-final; Round 4, 3, 2, 1; competed at a Round Robin stage; lost in Qualification Round; absent from tournament event; played in a Davis Cup Zonal Group (with its number indication) or Play-off; won a bronze, silver (F or S) or gold medal at the Olympics; a downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament (Not a Masters Series); or a tournament that was Not Held in a given year.

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated either at the conclusion of a tournament, or when the player's participation in the tournament has ended.

Singles performance timeline

Tournament199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A A A 1R 1R A 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R A Q3 A A 1–8
French Open A A A A 2R 1R A 2R 3R 1R 3R 2R Q2 2R 1R A A A 8–9
Wimbledon A A A A 1R 3R 1R 2R 1R 2R 1R 1R A A 1R A A A 4–9
US Open A A A A 1R 2R 3R 3R 2R 4R 2R 1R Q2 1R A A A A 9–9
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–3 3–4 2–3 4–3 3–4 4–4 3–4 1–4 0–1 1–3 0–2 0–0 0–0 0–0 22–35
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics A Not Held 2R Not Held G Not Held 2R Not Held A NH 8–2
Davis Cup
Davis Cup Z1 Z1 PO PO PO Z1 PO 1R QF 1R PO 1R QF 1R 22–12
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells A A A A A 2R A A 2R A 2R 1R 2R 2R A A A A 4–6
Miami A A A A 2R 1R A 3R 2R A 3R 1R Q1 3R 1R Q2 A A 7–8
Monte Carlo A A A A A A 2R A 3R A 1R 2R A Q1 A A A A 4–4
Rome A A A A A A A 1R QF 2R 1R 3R A Q2 A A A A 6–5
Hamburg1 A A A A A A A A 1R 2R 1R 1R A Q1 A A A A 1–4
Canada A A A A A A A 1R 1R 1R 1R A A A A A A A 0–4
Cincinnati A A A A A A A A 1R 1R 1R A A A A A A A 0–3
Madrid2 A A A A A 1R A F 2R 1R 2R Q2 A A A A A A 6–5
Paris A A A A A A A 3R 3R 1R 1R Q2 A A A A A A 2–4
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 1–3 1–1 8–5 6–9 2–6 4–9 3–5 1–1 3–2 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 30–43
Career Statistics
Overall Win–Loss 0–1 0–1 2–2 4–2 26–25 23–28 29–19 36–20 42–28 18–22 38–27 17–26 9–12 9–12 4–8 0–3 0–1 0–1 257–238
Year End Ranking 882 583 188 97 87 80 56 12 19 66 44 79 76 112 186 450 618 876 $4,343,298

Doubles performance timeline

Tournament199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open 1R 2R 1–2
French Open SF 1R 4–2
Wimbledon 1R 2R 1–2
US Open 1R QF 3R 2R 2R 7–5
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 3–3 7–3 1–1 1–2 1–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 13–11
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics Not Held 1R Not Held G Not Held 1R Not Held NH 5–2
Davis Cup
Davis Cup PO Z1 PO PO PO Z1 PO 1R QF 1R PO 1R QF 1R 10–12
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells 1R 0–1
Miami 1R 1R 0–2
Monte Carlo QF 1R 2–2
Rome 1R 1R SF 3–3
Hamburg1 1R 2R 1R 2–2
Canada 2R 1R 1–2
Cincinnati QF 1R 2–2
Madrid2 1R 0–1
Paris 1R QF 1–1
Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 7–6 1–4 3–5 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 11–16
Career Statistics
Overall Win–Loss 0–0 1–2 3–2 2–0 5–8 0–3 1–5 5–6 30–21 13–15 8–12 6–11 5–6 0–3 2–4 1–2 0–1 0–1 82–102
Year End Ranking – 470 319 356 243 1263T 389 291 36 58 139 257 221 490 342 376 – 935 $362,632

1Held as Hamburg Masters till 2008. Held as Madrid Masters 2009–2013.
2Held as Stuttgart Masters till 2001, Madrid Masters from 2002–2008, and Shanghai Masters 2009–2013.

See also

  • List of select Jewish tennis players

References

  1. ↑ http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/tennis/2013/08/27/nicolas-massu-retires-from-tennis/2707633/
  2. ↑ "United States Tennis Association – USTA Yearbook – Olympic Games". Retrieved February 23, 2010. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Nicolás Massú (1979– )". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved February 14, 2009. 
  4. ↑ Wine, Steven (June 30, 2008). "Massu granted special place in Olympic tennis". Seattle Times. Retrieved February 14, 2009. 
  5. ↑ "Davis Cup – Players; Nicolas MASSU". Official website of the Davis Cup. Retrieved February 14, 2009. 
  6. ↑ "Massu Records Double Gold!". JewishSports.com. August 22, 2004. Retrieved February 14, 2009. 
  7. ↑ Also ,
  8. ↑ Also ,
  9. ↑ Miranda Valderrama, Luis (April 12, 2008). "nicolás Massú en la intimidad; Volveré a estar arriba". El Mercurio. Retrieved February 14, 2009. 
  10. ↑ "Crónica: Palestino vs Colo Colo – Primera División de Chile". ESPNdeportes.com. December 14, 2008. Retrieved February 14, 2009. 

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Russia Yevgeny Kafelnikov		 Olympic Champion
2004 		Succeeded by
Spain Rafael Nadal
Olympic Games
Preceded by
Sebastián Keitel		 Flagbearer for  Chile
Sydney 2000 		Succeeded by
Kristel Köbrich
1896–1924
1988–
Association of Tennis Professionals: Chile Top ten Chilean male singles tennis players as of February 10, 2014.
1. Paul Capdeville (173 Increase4) · 2. Gonzalo Lama (290 Decrease1) · 3. Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (301 Decrease2) · 4. Jorge Aguilar (359 Increase2) · 5. Cristóbal Saavedra-Corvalán (385 Increase1)
6. Ricardo Urzua-Rivera (415 Steady)  · 7. Christian Garín (439 Decrease60)  · 8. Juan Carlos Sáez (464 Decrease1)  · 9. Guillermo Nuñez (686 Increase3)  · 10. Nicolás Jarry (718 Increase110)
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