Personal

Coached by her father, Stefano ... Both father and mother, Denise, play club-level tennis; younger brother, Steven, plays collegiate tennis at the University of Arizona ... Past times include going to movies, hanging out with friends, clubbing and helping with charities ... Favorite movies are Meet Joe Black, Good Will Hunting and Old School.

Career Highlights

SINGLES
Winner (14): 2003 - New Haven; 2002 - Australian Open; 2001 - Australian Open, Roland Garros, Charleston; 2000 - Luxembourg; 1999 - Strasbourg, QuTbec City; 1993 - Sydney; 1992 - San Diego, Olympics; 1991 - San Diego, Toronto [Canadian Open]; 1990 - Puerto Rico.

DOUBLES
Winner (1): 1991 - Rome (w/Seles).

ADDITIONAL
United States Fed Cup Team 1990-91, 1996, 2000. United States Olympic Team 1992. United States Wightman Cup Team 1989.

Career in Review

1990 - In Tour debut at Boca Raton, became youngest-ever player to reach a pro final at 13 years, 11months; d. four seeds (incl. No.10 Sukova), l. to Sabatini 64 75; in third Tour event, made Hilton Head final û d. No.5 Sßnchez-Vicario (l. to Navratilova); debuted on rankings at No.25 on April 9; youngest-ever semifinalist at Roland Garros aged 14 years, 2 months (l. to Seles); ranking leapt from No.24 to No.13; at Wimbledon, youngest-ever seed in Grand Slam history (No.12), bettering Rinaldi by two days; won first title at Puerto Rico, d. Garrison in final (fourth-youngest to win a title after Austin, Rinaldi and Jaeger) and rising to No.10, youngest-ever to be ranked in Top 10 at age 14 years, 235 days; youngest qualifier for season-ending Championships at 14 years, 8 months, stretching No.1 Graf to 3s in 1r; ended first season ranked No.8.
1991 - Won two titles and reached consecutive Grand Slam SF; aged 15 yrs, 95 days, youngest-ever semifinalist at Wimbledon (d. defending champion Navratilova in QF, forcing her earliest exit in 14 years); 16-match win streak, which included titles at San Diego û d. No.1 Seles 76 third set in youngest Tour final in Open Era (combined age of 33 years) bettering Austin-Jaeger at 1980 Tampa by fourmonths û and Canadian Open (Toronto; d. No.3 Sabatini en route); d. reigning champion Sabatini at US Open and came within two points of defeating Seles in titanic SF (served formatch twice) before falling 63 36 76(3); qualified for season-ending Championships, reaching QF; won first Tour doubles title at Rome (w/Seles); improved season-ending ranking to No.6, a career-high at the time.
1992 - Reached three Grand Slam QF and won two titles consecutively; won singles gold medal at Barcelona Olympics, d. No.2 seed Sßnchez-Vicario in SF and No.1 Graf in gold medal match; successfully defended San Diego title; at Miami, upset No.1 Seles in QF, ending SelesÆ 21 consecutive finals streak (two short of tying NavratilovaÆs record); at Wimbledon, became youngest player to surpass $1million in career prize money at 16 years, 3 months (now second youngest behind Hingis 16 years, 1 month, 10 days); in third consecutive season-ending Championships, reached second QF; finished season at No.7.
1993 - Won sixth career title at Sydney (d. No.3 Sabatini in SF); repeated 1992 effort of reaching QF at Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon (l. to Graf each time); runner-up at Canadian Open (Toronto; d. No.3 Sßnchez-Vicario), l. to Graf in 3s; after US Open 1r loss to Meskhi, did not play on Tour for 14 months; finished fourth consecutive season in Top 10.
1994 - Fell out of Top 10 on January 17 and off rankings on June 27; accepted WC into Philadelphia in November for her only match of the year, l. 1r to eventual champion A.Huber in 3s.
1995 - Did not play.
1996 - Fifteen months since last Tour match, returned at Essen unranked, reaching QF (l. to Novotna in 3s); scored five Top 20 wins throughout season and reached first final inmore than three years at Chicago (d. co-No.1 Seles in SF, l. to No.5 Novotna in 3s); also reached Znrich QF (in 1r, d. Sabatini in lastmatch of her career); reappeared on rankings on April 1 at No.103 and finished at No.24.
1997 - Reached Sydney final (d. No.9 Davenport, l. to No.4 Hingis in 3s); also reached Oklahoma City QF (l. to Davenport) and Hilton Head 3r (d. No.11MJ.Fernandez en route); slipped to No.66 by season-end.
1998 - Reached Hamburg QF as a WC ranked No.227 (l. to No.1 Hingis); Palermo QF and Amelia Island 3r; at Wimbledon, won first Grand Slam singles match in five years; fell to No.267 (April 6), finished No.101.
1999 - Best season in six years, winning two singles titles and finishing No.23; captured first title in six years at Strasbourg (d. No.9 Tauziat 61 60 in QF for first Top 10 win since Davenport at 1997 Sydney); won QuTbec City (d. Rubin in final); 4r at Roland Garros and US Open.
2000 - First Grand Slam SF in nine years at Australian Open (l. to eventual champion Davenport); improved to No.17, first time in Top 20 since April 10, 1994; ninth career title at Luxembourg (d. Mag.Maleeva in final); also runner-up at QuTbec City, SF at Znrich (d. Kournikova) and Æs-Hertogenbosch; at Miami, d. No.6 S.Williams to reach QF, first win over Top 6 player since November 1996; sidelined in April with right Achilles tendonitis and hindered by an elbow injury in June; qualified for season-ending Championships for first time since 1993; member of winning US Fed Cup team, winning a singles and doubles rubber in final vs. Spain; finished season inside Top 20 for first time in seven years.
2001 - Career-best season included first Grand Slam titles, reaching world No.1 ranking for first time; won Australian Open, d. No.1 Hingis, No.2 Davenport and No.4 Seles, the last three winners of tournament; became then-lowest seed (No.12) to win a Grand Slam title in Open Era (there was one unseeded winner); first player since Austin (1979 US Open) to d. worldÆs Top 2 players in straight sets at a major; reentered Top 10 for first time in seven years at No.7, the longest absence from the Top 10 in Tour history; won Family Circle Cup (first American-born winner since 1985) and second Grand Slam title at Roland Garros; d. S.Williams, No.1 Hingis and Clijsters 16 64 12-10 in longest-ever third set in a Roland Garros womenÆs final; fifth woman in history to win Australian Open and Roland Garros the same year (after Connolly, Court, Graf and Seles); two points from defeat on four occasions vs. Clijsters; also runner-up four other times (incl. Miami after holding 8mp vs. V.Williams); only player in 2001 to reach SF or better at all four Grand Slams (first SF at Wimbledon and US Open in 10 years); ending HingisÆ 73 consecutive-weeks run, became ninth No.1 in the world on October 15 since 1975; finished with 56-14 record, first time to win 50+ matches in a season, and as world No.2, her highest season-ending rank and first in Top 10 since 1993.
2002 - Won third Grand Slamsingles title in 13 months by defending Australian Open as No.1; d. No.7 Mauresmo, No.5 Clijsters and No.4 Hingis, coming back from 64 40 and saving 4mp in second set to win in temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius; reached three other finals (Scottsdale, Miami and Canadian Open) and SF on clay at Charleston, Berlin, Rome (led S.Williams 4-0 final set) and as top seed at Roland Garros (led S.Williams 63 65); sixth consecutive Grand Slam tournament to reach at least SF; streak broken at Wimbledon, falling in QF to Mauresmo; also fell to Mauresmo in Canadian Open final and US Open QF, having served for match in second set; won only one match in three European indoor tournaments before finishing strongly at season-ending Championships, falling in SF to No.1 S.Williams (career-best performance there) after twice being a point of serving for the match in second set.
2003 - Sixth Top 10 finish; started with consecutive opening round losses in Sydney and Australian Open (l. to WeingSrtner after leading 62 41), first defending champion there to lose 1r; withdrew from Tokyo [Pan Pacific] to recover from eye surgery in November 2002 to remove sunspots (pterygiums); reached at least SF of next five events; l. in 3s to Henin-Hardenne, Davenport and Clijsters, incl. third consecutive final in Miami (fell to No.1 S.Williams in 3s); 4r at Roland Garros (l. to Petrova in 3s) and SF at Eastbourne, l. to defending and eventual champion Rubin after holding 2mp at 62 53 15-40 (Rubin serving); in doubles (as WC w/Serna), reached third doubles final (l. to Davenport/Raymond); reached sixth Wimbledon QF (l. to No.1 S.Williams); reached second Tour singles final of 2003 at Stanford (l. to Clijsters in 3s); at San Diego, ret. 2r (after 1r bye) vs. Likhovtseva trailing 4-1 first set w/right pectoral strain, also forcing withdrawal from Canadian Open; ended 28-tournament losing streak in New Haven, claiming 14th career title, benefiting from retirements of Mauresmo in SF and Davenport in final; career-third US Open SF and was two points from winning 10 times before losing three-hour-plus match to eventual champion Henin-Hardenne 46 75 76(4); withdrew from Shanghai w/right shoulder strain; reached SF of season-ending Championships, falling to No.1 Clijsters after leading 64 32 (with a break) while suffering from a right hip strain.
2004 - Withdrew from Australian Open and Tokyo [Pan Pacific] w/back injury suffered at 2003 season-ending Championships; lost first match of season for third year in a row to Daniilidou at Dubai, reaching QF just once in first four events (at Doha û l. to Myskina in SF) and withdrawing from Indian Wells w/back injury; began strong European claycourt season at Berlin, d. Sharapova in 3r and No.5 Myskina in QF (first Top 5 win of season), l. to Mauresmo in SF; at Rome, d. top seed S.Williams in SF (first win since 2001 Wimbledon QF, having lost previous eight meetings), l. to seed Mauresmo in two-hour, 30-minute final 36 63 76(6) after holding mp at 5-4 in 3rd set and savingmp at 6-5 in tiebreak, her 10th career Tier I final and first there in 14 tries; at Roland Garros, overcame 3-0 third-set deficit in 1r to d. Beygelzimer and a thigh strain in 4r vs. Schiavone, then d. S.Williams again in QF, losing to eventual champion Myskina in SF; at Wimbledon, l. in QF to two-time defending champion Serena Williams 61 61 in 45 minutes, most lopsided result in 17-match rivalry (CapriatiÆs fourth straight QF there); after withdrawing from Los Angeles and San Diego w/hamstring injury, made QF at MontrTal [Canadian Open] and New Haven; reached fourth career US Open SF, d. S.Williams in QF, l. to Dementieva 60 26 76(5) (third time losing SF there in third-set tie-break); withdrew from Filderstadt w/influenza, then QF at Philadelphia, l. to No.11 Zvonareva 60 61, thus not qualifying for season-ending Championships for first time since 1999, and worst loss since 60 61 loss to Graf at 1999 Miami; served as second alternate for season-ending Championships behind V.Williams; surpassed career $10-million mark.
2005 - Ongoing problems with right shoulder forced withdrawal from Sydney and Australian Open, then underwent shoulder surgery on January 27 in Wilmington, Delaware; withdrew from Dubai, Indian Wells and Miami, and missed the rest of 2005 season due to ongoing rehabilitation; was granted special injury ranking of No.10, which will expire on November 6, 2006.