Nicolás Massú
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| Nickname(s) | Vampiro | |
| Country |  Chile |
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| Residence | Viña del Mar | |
| Date of birth | October 10, 1979 | |
| Place of birth | Viña del Mar | |
| Height | 1.82 m (5 ft 111⁄2 in) | |
| Weight | 80 kg (180 lb/13 st) | |
| Turned pro | 1997 | |
| Plays | Right | |
| Career prize money | US$ 3,887,040 | |
| Singles | ||
| Career record: | 239 - 207 | |
| Career titles: | 6 | |
| Highest ranking: | No. 9 (September 13, 2004) | |
| Grand Slam results | ||
| Australian Open | 2nd (2005) | |
| French Open | 3rd (2004, 2006) | |
| Wimbledon | 3rd (2001) | |
| US Open | 4th (2005) | |
| Doubles | ||
| Career record: | 77 - 87 | |
| Career titles: | 1 | |
| Highest ranking: | No. 31 (July 25, 2005) | |
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Competitor for Chile |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Men's Tennis | |||
| Gold | 2004 Athens | Singles | |
| Gold | 2004 Athens | Doubles | |
Nicolás Alejandro Massú Fried (born October 10, 1979, in Viña del Mar, Chile), nicknamed Vampiro (Spanish: "vampire"), is a Chilean tennis player.
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[edit] Tennis career
[edit] Early years
Massú was introduced to tennis at age five by his Hungarian 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] ATP Tour
In August 1998, Massú won his first future 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— on 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 Kitzbuhel, 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 number 12.
In mid-2004, Massú parted ways with Argentinian coach Gabriel Markus, whom he replaced with Chilean Patricio Rodríguez. In July 2004 Massú won his fourth ATP title in Kitzbuhel, 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 best ATP Singles Ranking to date, at number 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.
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 Đoković 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 defended points from a final showing in 2007, the following week he fell to number 97 in the world.
[edit] Olympics
Massú has represented Chile in two Summer Olympics: Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004. At the 2000 event's opening ceremony, he was his country's standard bearer, after Marcelo Ríos failed to show up. On his first-round match he beat Slava Dosedel, but lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero in the next round.
At the 2004 event, 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 her first-ever Olympic gold medal. The next day, he captured his second gold medal by defeating American Mardy Fish in five sets in the men's singles final. Massú was overwhelmed that he had won two gold medals: "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."[1]
Massú was chosen as Athlete of the Day on August 23 by the 2004 Athens Olympics' organization, following his victory in singles.
[edit] Davis Cup
Massú began playing for Chile in Davis Cup matches in 1996. He currently is 26-14, including 14-3 on clay.[2]
[edit] Maccabiah Games
Massú is a veteran of the 2001 Maccabiah Games, the international Jewish Olympics.[3]
[edit] 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.
[edit] Personal life
Massú was born in Viña del Mar, Chile. He is Jewish,[1][4] as is his mother, Sonia Fried.[1][5] His father, Manuel Massú, is of Lebanese ancestry.[6] He has two brothers, Stefano and Jorge.
[edit] ATP Masters Series singles finals
[edit] Runners-up
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 2003 | Madrid |  Juan Carlos Ferrero |
3–6, 4–6, 3–6 |
[edit] All finals
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[edit] Singles titles
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1. | 24 February 2002 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Clay |  Agustín Calleri |
2–6, 7–6(5), 6–2 |
| 2. | 20 July 2003 | Amersfoort, Netherlands | Clay |  Raemon Sluiter |
6–4, 7–6(3), 6–2 |
| 3. | 28 September 2003 | Palermo, Italy | Clay |  Paul-Henri Mathieu |
1–6, 6–2, 7–6(0) |
| 4. | 25 July 2004 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Clay | Gastón Gaudio |
7–6(3), 6–4 |
| 5. | 22 August 2004 | Athens Olympic Games | Hard |  Mardy Fish |
6–3, 3–6, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
| 6. | 26 February 2006 | Costa do Sauípe, Brazil | Clay | Alberto Martín |
6–3, 6–4 |
[edit] Singles runners-up
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | May 7, 2000 | Orlando, U.S. | Clay | Fernando González |
2–6, 3–6 |
| 2. | January 7, 2001 | Adelaide, Australia | Hard |  Tommy Haas |
3–6, 1–6 |
| 3. | July 27, 2003 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Clay | Guillermo Coria |
1–6, 4–6, 2–6 |
| 4. | September 14, 2003 | Bucharest, Romania | Clay | David Sánchez |
2–6, 2–6 |
| 5. | October 19, 2003 | Madrid, Spain | Hard (i) | Juan Carlos Ferrero |
3–6, 4–6, 3–6 |
| 6. | February 5, 2006 | Viña del Mar, Chile | Clay | José Acasuso |
4–6, 3–6 |
| 7. | April 30, 2006 | Casablanca, Morocco | Clay |  Daniele Bracciali |
1–6, 4–6 |
| 8. | July 23, 2006 | Amersfoort, Netherlands | Clay |  Novak Đoković |
6–7(5), 4–6 |
| 9. | February 4, 2007 | Viña del Mar, Chile | Clay |  Luis Horna |
5–7, 3–6 |
[edit] Doubles titles
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partnering | Opponents in the final | Score |
| 1. | August 21, 2004 | Athens Olympics | Hard | Fernando González |
Nicolas Kiefer Rainer Schüttler |
6–2, 4–6, 3–6, 7–6(7), 6–4 |
[edit] Team competition wins
- 2003 - World Team Championship, Düsseldorf, Germany (Clay)
- 2004 - World Team Championship, Düsseldorf, Germany (Clay)
[edit] External links
- ATP Tour profile for Nicolás Massú
- Davis Cup record
[edit] References
- ^ a b c http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Massu.html Jewish Virtual Library
- ^ http://www.daviscup.com/teams/player.asp?player=10013682 Davis Cup official website
- ^ http://www.jewishsports.com/ JewishSports.com
- ^ Also [1], [2]
- ^ Also [3], [4]
- ^ http://www.thejc.com/home.aspx?ParentId=m16&SecId=16&AId=55613&ATypeId=1 The Jewish Chronicle
| Preceded by Yevgeny Kafelnikov |
Olympic Champion 2004 |
Succeeded by reigning champion |
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