Personal

Mother introduced her to tennis at age 10 ... Coached by husband Francesco Elia ... All-court style; best shot is forehand ... Married on September 22, 1999 ... Parents, Carlo and Aida, are insurance agents and both play recreational tennis; sister, Olga, is also an insurance agent; brother, Enrico, restores furniture ... Between tournaments likes to go to the beach ... Hobbies include listening to music (especially Italian) and watching movies (especially dramas) ... Favorite actors are Tom Cruise and Kevin Costner ... Enjoys soccer, in-line skating and skiing ... Favorite food is properly-cooked Italian pasta and pizza.

Career Highlights

SINGLES
Winner (3): 2003 - Strasbourg; 2002 - Strasbourg; 2001 - Strasbourg; 1993 - ITF/Limoges-FRA; 1991 - ITF/Caltagirone-ITA.
Finalist (10): 2005 - Amelia Island; 2004 - Canberra, Antwerp; 2001 - Gold Coast; 1999 - Prostejov; 1998 - Auckland, Budapest, Warsaw, Luxembourg; 1991 - San Marino.

DOUBLES
Winner (9): 2004 - Warsaw (w/Schiavone); 2001 - Strasbourg (w/Tulyaganova); 2000 - Palermo (w/Grande); 1999 - Auckland (w/Schett), Æs-Hertogenbosch (w/Grande), Portschach (w/Habsudova); 1998 - Prague (w/Habsudova); 1997 - Palermo (w/Schett); 1995 - Maria Lankowitz (w/Temesvari).
Finalist (8): 2005 - Gold Coast (w/Camerin); 2004 - Paris [Indoors] (w/Schiavone); 2003 - Linz (w/Bartoli); 2000 - Hannover (w/Habsudova); 1997 - Gold Coast (w/Dragomir); 1996 - Moscow (w/Schett); 1993 - Palermo (w/B.Schultz); 1990 - Taranto (w/Grande).

ADDITIONAL
Italian Fed Cup Team 1993-95, 1997-2000, 2002, 2004. Italian Olympic Team 1996, 2000, 2004.

Career in Review

1988 - Played first ITF Circuit events and WTA Tour qualifying
1989 - Played first Tour events in Taranto (reaching QF) and Rome (reaching 2r)
1990 - Reached first pro singles final at ITF/Putignano-ITA and won first three ITF Circuit doubles titles
1991 - Won first ITF Circuit singles title at ITF/Caltagirone-ITA and reached first Tour final (San Marino; d. No. 1 seed Reggi en route); broke into Top 100 at No. 88 on July 22; played first Grand Slams at Roland Garros and US Open; first Top 100 finish
1992 - Reached third career Tour SF at Palermo
1993 - Ranked No. 174, qualified for Miami, reaching 3r; won second pro title at ITF/Limoges-FRA; reached QF at Taranto; upset world No. 20 McNeil in Rome 1r
1994 - Captured first Top 10 victory at Roland Garros, d. world No. 8 Sabatini in 1r; two weeks later, topped world No. 6 Date en route to Eastbourne QF; also reached Kitzbuhel SF
1995 - Broke into Top 50 on February 13 at No. 49; reached SF at Auckland and Hilton Head (d. world No. 17 McNeil); collected first Tour doubles title at Maria Lankowitz (w/Temesvari)
1996 - Ranked No. 55, d. world No. 16 Hingis in 2r of Paris [Indoors], reaching SF; also reached SF at Palermo; d. Kournikova in Zurich en route to QF; reached 4r at Miami; represented Italy at Atlanta Olympics, reaching singles 2r; first Top 50 finish at No. 40
1997 - Reached back-to-back 3r at Grand Slams (Australian, Roland Garros) for first time in career; quarterfinalist at Palermo
1998 - Breakthrough season, reaching four finals - Auckland (d. No. 1 seed Testud in SF), Budapest, Warsaw and Luxembourg (d. No. 1 seed Tauziat and No. 3 seed Spirlea, but had to retire vs. Pierce in final with groin strain); after Luxembourg (November 2), broke into Top 20 for first time at No. 19, becoming first Italian woman in Top 20 since Reggi in June 1990; scored two Top 10 wins (d. world No. 5 Coetzer en route to Miami QF; d. No. 9 Tauziat in Luxembourg SF); ranked No. 24 in Moscow 1r, ended KournikovaÆs nearly two-year long streak of not losing to anyone ranked outside Top 15 (first time in KournikovaÆs pro career she lost to someone ranked lower than her); first Top 20 finish
1999 - Reached sixth Tour singles final at Prostejov (l. to Nagyova) and one SF (Auckland); won three doubles titles; at Roland Garros, d. Sugiyama 64 67 11-9 in three hours, 29 minutes in 2r, the third-longest Roland Garros womenÆs match on record; won both singles rubbers against defending champions Spain to lead Italy to its first Fed Cup SF, then captured career-best win over world No. 5 Seles in ItalyÆs loss to USA; d. Novotna in Filderstadt 1r, the former Wimbledon championÆs last pro match; injured left knee during 1r match at Linz in October; retired the match and did not play remainder of season
2000 - Fell outside Top 50 for first time since October 1997; missed Australian Open due to left knee injury, returning in February at Paris [Indoor]; reached SF at Estoril and Palermo (also won doubles title w/Grande); reached Roland Garros 3r (l. to eventual runner-up C. Martinez); reached 3r at Sydney Olympics
2001 - Playing her eighth Tour final, won first career singles title at Strasbourg; d. world No. 11 Tauziat in SF after trailing 63 42; d. world No. 18 A. Huber in final in 3s; also won eighth Tour doubles title (w/Tulyaganova); at Roland Garros, d. No. 13 seed Mag. Maleeva in 1r and went on to become one of three Italian women (alongside Grande and Schiavone) to reach 4r, a Grand Slam Open Era first; afterwards, re-entered Top 20 at No. 18, up from No. 86 eight months previously; runner-up at Gold Coast unseeded, (l. to Henin); semifinalist in Porto, Sopot and Moscow (first Tier I SF); in Nice, d. world No. 5 C. Martinez, first win over C. Martinez in seven matches and equaling her career-best win; reached eight other QF; capped best season by becoming first Italian since Reggi in 1987 to qualify in singles for season-ending Championships (l. 1r to eventual champion S. Williams); second Top 20 finish
2002 - Reached career-high No. 11 on May 20, the same week she successfully defended her Strasbourg title (d. Dokic in final in 3s); reached SF at Tokyo [Pan Pacific] and Quebec City and six QF, five of them Tier II; also reached 4r at Indian Wells, Miami, Roland Garros and US Open and 3r at Australian Open, Berlin, Rome and Wimbledon; qualified for season-ending Championships for second time (l. 1r to Capriati); third Top 20 finish
2003 - Season highlighted by third consecutive Strasbourg title (d. qualifier Sprem in final) and reaching career-first Grand Slam QF at Wimbledon, her 40th major and 12th Wimbledon (d. world No. 8 Rubin in 3r for 10th career Top 10 win; l. to No. 2 Clijsters in 3s); also reached Eastbourne SF, d. world No. 5 Davenport in 2r 64 36 76(3) (fourth Top 5 win), having led 5-1 third set and holding 5 mp before Davenport held 3 mp at 6-5; doubles runner-up at Linz (w/Bartoli); withdrew from Charleston and Amelia Island due to back and right leg injury
2004 - Fourth Top 20 finish; reached Canberra final as No.3 seed, l. to No.2 seed Suarez (led 5-2 in third set and held 5 mp, l. 36 64 76(5) after saving 2 mp); as No.8 seed at Antwerp, l. to No.2 Clijsters in final, surpassing $3 million mark in career earnings; reached SF at Strasbourg (as three-time defending champion, l. to top seed Davenport), Stockholm (l. to No.3 seed Molik) and Luxembourg (l. again to No.2 seed Molik); also made QF at Paris [Indoors] (led eventual champion Clijsters 63 52 before losing in 3s), Doha (l. to Capriati), Amelia Island (l. to Mauresmo), Warsaw (l. to Kuznetsova) and Rome (d. No.19 Sharapova in 3r to reach first QF there in 15th appearance, l. 61 26 75 to eventual champion Mauresmo after leading 5-3 in third set); made 4r at Australian Open (l. to eventual finalist Clijsters) and Wimbledon (l. to Mauresmo); went 1-0 in 3-1 1r Fed Cup win vs. Czech Republic (d. Koukalova û replaced from second singles match due to fever), and 1-1 in 3-2 QF Fed Cup loss to France (d. Loit, l. to Mauresmo); represented Italy at Olympics in singles (l. 2r) and doubles (w/Schiavone, l. 2r); w/Schiavone, won doubles title at Warsaw for first doubles title in three years; also Roland Garros QF; withdrew from Dubai for rest and recovery.
2005 - Solid first half of season, highlighted by second Tier II final of career at Amelia Island, but struggled after suffering right shoulder injury at Palermo; runner-up finish at Amelia Island (as No.12 seed, d. No.8 seed Schnyder in 3r, then saved 3mp in second set vs. No.2 seed S.Williams to push match to 3s where Williams retired from match w/left ankle sprain; d. unseeded Razzano in SF before falling 75 75 to world No.1 Davenport); SF in first event of season at Gold Coast (l. to Stosur) and QF three other times, at Canberra, Paris [Indoors] (ret. vs. Golovin after losing first set w/right shoulder injury) and Warsaw; in 18 other events contested, won consecutive matches four times, at Australian Open (l. to Sharapova in 4r), Roland Garros (l. to Likhovtseva in 3r) and Wimbledon (l. to Likhovtseva in 3r), and at Rome (l. to Mauresmo in 3r); only player to have wins over both Williams sisters in 2005, d. Venus 75 76(6) in Dubai 1r (was first victory in 10 tries against the American) before aforementioned victory over Serena at Amelia Island; in doubles, reached one final at Gold Coast (w/Camerin), falling to No.2 seeds Likhovtseva/Maleeva in 3s; after 1r loss at Hasselt, announced retirement from professional tennis.