Marcelo Ríos

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Marcelo Ríos
Nickname(s) El Chino, El zurdo de Vitacura
Country Flag of Chile Chile
Residence Santiago, Chile
Date of birth December 26, 1975 (1975-12-26) (age 32)
Place of birth Santiago, Chile
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 73 kg (160 lb/11.5 st)
Turned pro 1994
Retired 2004
Plays Left-handed; two-handed backhand
Career prize money $9,713,771
Singles
Career record: 391 - 192
Career titles: 18
Highest ranking: 1 (March 30, 1998)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open F (1998)
French Open QF (1997, 1998)
Wimbledon 4th (1997)
US Open QF (1997)
Doubles
Career record: 36 - 57
Career titles: 1
Highest ranking: 141 (May 7, 2001)

Infobox last updated on: April 17, 2007.
Medal record
Pan American Games
Silver 2003 Santo Domingo Men's Singles
Silver 2003 Santo Domingo Men's Doubles

Marcelo Andrés Ríos Mayorga (born December 26, 1975) is a former world number one tennis player from Chile. Nicknamed El Chino ("The Chinaman") and El zurdo de Vitacura ("The lefty from Vitacura"), he became the first Latin American player to reach the number one position on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles rankings in 1998. He held the number one ranking for six weeks. He also held the number one ranking in juniors and seniors. He was also the first player in tennis history to win the three clay-court Masters Series tournaments (Monte Carlo, Rome and Hamburg). He is the only player in the Open Era to hold the world number one ranking despite never winning a Grand Slam tournament.

Contents

[edit] Tennis career

[edit] Early years

Ríos began playing tennis at the age of 11 at the Sport Française country club in Vitacura (Greater Santiago), adjacent to his house. He was soon recognized for his talented left-hand and reserved personality.

[edit] Juniors

In 1993 Ríos became the first male player from Latin America to be ranked world number one in juniors. That year he won the boys' singles title at the US Open, and also captured his first Satellite tournament in Chile.

[edit] ATP Tour

Ríos turned professional in 1994. He won his first Challenger Series tournament at Dresden later that year. In 1995, he won his first top-level tour title at Bologna. He became the first Chilean to be ranked in the world's top 10 in 1996.

In January 1998, Ríos reached his first (and only) Grand Slam final at the Australian Open. Having been in strong form leading up to the final, he entered as a slight favourite against Petr Korda of the Czech Republic. But Korda brushed a nervous Ríos aside in straight sets 6–2, 6–2, 6–2.

In March 1998, Ríos became the first Latin American male to reach the World No. 1 singles ranking after defeating Andre Agassi in the final of the Miami Masters (then called the Miami Super 9). Ríos held the No. 1 ranking for six weeks, and ended the year ranked at No. 2 behind Pete Sampras. Ríos is currently the only player to have held the No. 1 ranking despite never winning a Grand Slam singles title; his accession to the top spot was one of the events that led to the restructuring of the points and rankings system on the men's tour.[citation needed]

A number of injuries and operations sidelined Ríos from competition during much of 2000 and 2001, with his ranking dropping below the 300s.

In 2004, six years after claiming the No. 1 ranking, and after a long absence from the tour, Ríos returned to competition with a 6–0, 6–0 victory at a Challenger Series tournament in Ecuador.

On July 16, 2004, Ríos announced his retirement from the sport. He organized a farewell tour across his home country, travelling through several cities, meeting with fans, offering tennis clinics, and playing friendly matches with international and local tennis players. The tour ended on December 22, 2004, at a soccer stadium in Santiago, where he played his final tennis match against Guillermo Coria of Argentina.

Ríos was to return to ATP competition in February 2007 at the Viña del Mar tournament (Movistar Open), however he retired with a back injury.

On March 30, 2007 Ríos played an exhibition match against Andre Agassi, both as a way to commemorate the match where Ríos rose to number one slot and as way of having the American play in Chile.

[edit] Seniors

On March 29, 2006 Ríos —aged 30— debuted on the Merryl Lynch's Tour of Champions, an exclusive senior's competition. Playing on his first senior tournament in Doha, Qatar, he defeated former tennis stars such as Thomas Muster, Henri Leconte, Pat Cash and Cédric Pioline to claim the title. His inclusion on the senior circuit caused mild controversy, as he was significantly younger than many of his fellow competitors.[1] He ended the year as number one, winning a total of six tournaments and holding a winning streak of 25 matches.

[edit] Personal life

Ríos was born in Santiago, Chile to Jorge Ríos Jarvis —a businessman— and Alicia Mayorga —a teacher. He has an older sister, Paula.

Ríos married Costa Rican Giuliana Sotela in December 2000 in Santiago. He met her while training at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida. Their only child, Constanza, was born in June 2001. Soon after returning to competition in 2004, Ríos and his wife separated, and their marriage was annulled. During this period, Ríos worked as a sports commentator for a radio station in Chile.

Ríos was remarried in April 2005 to model María Eugenia "Kenita" Larraín, a former fiancée of soccer star Iván Zamorano. The couple subsequently experienced a very public break-up in September of the same year after an incident in Costa Rica in which Larraín was allegedly injured in an accident. Ríos claimed that marrying her was "the biggest mistake of my life."

[edit] Controversies

Ríos' career has been marked by a number of controversies.

  • He was fined US$10,000 for speeding during the 1998 Stuttgart tournament.[2]
  • At the 2000 Summer Olympics, he had been selected as Chile's standard-bearer for the opening ceremony, but refused to parade at the last minute, arguing that the Chilean Olympic Committee (Coch) had left his parents without promised tickets for the ceremony. Nicolás Massú took his place.[citation needed]
  • In a confusing incident, he ran over his physical trainer, Manuel Astorga, with his jeep, leaving him gravely injured at the foot. Astorga was later fired as trainer.[2]
  • After a magazine published some photos of him dancing seductively with a woman at a Paris disco, his girlfriend Giuliana Sotela broke up with him. Later, during a Davis Cup press conference, he read a letter, asking Sotela for forgiveness. He ended the press conference in tears.[3]
  • He was accused by his second wife, María Eugenia Larraín, of throwing her off of his car while visiting his daughter in Costa Rica. Larraín arrived to Santiago's airport in dramatic fashion, on a wheelchair and showing multiple bruises on her legs. He claimed those bruises were caused by falling while skiing.[2]
  • He was arrested in Rome in 2001 after he punched a taxi driver in the nose and then had a fight with the policemen arresting him.[3]
  • In 2003, while training for a Davis Cup tie with Ecuador, he allegedly urinated on some men in a La Serena bar's bathroom and was later expelled from his hotel after being accused of swimming in the nude. As a consequence, the Chilean team lost a flight to Ecuador the following day. He later apologized for the incidents.[4][2]
  • In 2003 he and a friend were expelled from a Santiago bar after insulting other clients and being involved in a brawl with some waiters. Both were arrested and later released.[2]
  • His second wife, Eugenia Larraín, has said that he has undergone treatment for alcoholism.[citation needed]
  • He reportedly told Monica Seles to move her "fat ass" while on a lunch queue, but he has denied this.[3]
  • During the 1997 Wimbledon tournament he commented that grass was for "cows and soccer" and not suitable for tennis play.[3]
  • He was disqualified from the 2000 Mercedes-Benz Cup tennis tournament in Los Angeles, California during a first round match with Gouichi Motomura of Japan and fined US$5,000 for saying "fuck you" to the chair umpire.[3]
  • During a post-match interview at the Basel tournament he insulted a journalist under his breath after she asked him whether he had Native American ancestry.[5]
  • During the time he was ranked number 1, a reporter asked him about the Argentine player Guillermo Vilas, whose best ranking position was number 2, and Ríos replied "Vilas was only number 2, I am number 1."[citation needed]
  • He tried to moon some reporters who were recording him while partying outside his apartment in Reñaca.[3]
  • Has won several times the "Lemon Prize" given by reporters to the most miserable player playing at the French Open.[3]

[edit] All finals (33)

[edit] Singles wins (18)

Legend
Grand Slam (0)
Tennis Masters Cup (1)
ATP Masters Series (5)
ATP Tour (12)
Titles by Surface
Hard (7)
Clay (9)
Grass (0)
Carpet (2)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. May 28, 1995 Bologna, Italy Clay Flag of Uruguay Marcelo Filippini 6–2, 6–4
2. July 30, 1995 Amsterdam, Netherlands Clay Flag of the Netherlands Jan Siemerink 6–4, 7–5, 6–4
3. October 8, 1995 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Carpet (i) Flag of Australia Mark Philippoussis 7–6(6), 6–2
4. May 26, 1996 Sankt Pölten, Austria Clay Flag of Spain Félix Mantilla 6–2, 6–4
5. April 27, 1997 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Flag of Spain Àlex Corretja 6–4, 6–3, 6–3
6. January 18, 1998 Auckland, New Zealand Hard Flag of Australia Richard Fromberg 4–6, 6–4, 7–6(3)
7. March 15, 1998 Indian Wells, United States Hard Flag of the United Kingdom Greg Rusedski 6–3, 6–7(15), 7–6(4), 6–4
8. March 29, 1998 Miami, United States Hard Flag of the United States Andre Agassi 7–5, 6–3, 6–4
9. May 17, 1998 Rome, Italy Clay Flag of Spain Álbert Costa walkover
10. May 24, 1998 Sankt Pölten, Austria Clay Flag of the United States Vincent Spadea 6–2, 6–0
11. October 5, 1998 Grand Slam Cup, Germany Hard (i) Flag of the United States Andre Agassi 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(1), 5–7, 6–3
12. October 18, 1998 Singapore Carpet (i) Flag of Australia Mark Woodforde 6–4, 6–2
13. May 9, 1999 Hamburg, Germany Clay Flag of Argentina Mariano Zabaleta 6–7(5), 7–5, 5–7, 7–6(5), 6–2
14. May 23, 1999 Sankt Pölten, Austria Clay Flag of Argentina Mariano Zabaleta 4–4, retired
15. October 17, 1999 Singapore Hard (i) Flag of Sweden Mikael Tillström 6–2, 7–6(5)
16. July 23, 2000 Umag, Croatia Clay Flag of Argentina Mariano Puerta 7–6(1), 4–6, 6–3
17. January 7, 2001 Doha, Qatar Hard Flag of the Czech Republic Bohdan Ulihrach 6–3, 2–6, 6–3
18. September 30, 2001 Hong Kong Hard Flag of Germany Rainer Schüttler 7–6(3), 6–2

[edit] Singles runners-up (13)

No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. October 29, 1995 Santiago, Chile Clay Flag of the Czech Republic Sláva Doseděl 6–7(3), 3–6
2. March 10, 1996 Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S. Hard Flag of South Africa Wayne Ferreira 6–2, 3–6, 3–6
3. April 21, 1996 Barcelona, Spain Clay Flag of Austria Thomas Muster 3–6, 6–4, 4–6, 1–6
4. November 10, 1996 Santiago, Chile Clay Flag of Argentina Hernán Gumy 4–6, 5–7
5. February 16, 1997 Marseille, France Hard (i) Flag of Sweden Thomas Enqvist 4–6, 0–1, retired
6. May 18, 1997 Rome, Italy Clay Flag of Spain Àlex Corretja 5–7, 5–7, 3–6
7. August 24, 1997 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. Hard Flag of the Netherlands Sjeng Schalken 5–7, 3–6
8. November 9, 1997 Santiago, Chile Clay Flag of Spain Julián Alonso 2–6, 1–6
9. February 1, 1998 Australian Open Hard Flag of the Czech Republic Petr Korda 2–6, 2–6, 2–6
10. April 25, 1999 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Flag of Brazil Gustavo Kuerten 4–6, 1–2, retired
11. October 10, 1999 Shanghai, China Hard Flag of Sweden Magnus Norman 6–2, 3–6, 5–7
12. October 27, 2002 Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i) Flag of Thailand Paradorn Srichaphan 7–6(2), 0–6, 3–6, 2–6
13. February 16, 2003 Viña del Mar, Chile Clay Flag of Spain David Sánchez 6–1, 3–6, 3–6

[edit] Doubles wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Surface Partnering Opponents in the final Score
1. July 30, 1995 Amsterdam, Netherlands Clay Flag of the Netherlands Sjeng Schalken Flag of Australia Wayne Arthurs
Flag of the United Kingdom Neil Broad		 7–6(?), 6–2

[edit] Doubles runners-up(1)

No. Date Tournament Surface Partnering Opponents in the final Score
1. March 11, 2001 Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S. Hard Flag of the Netherlands Sjeng Schalken Flag of the United States Donald Johnson
Flag of the United States Jared Palmer		 6–7(3), 2–6

[edit] Team competition wins

[edit] Other wins

[edit] Performance timeline

Tournament 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Career
Australian Open - - 1r QF F - - 1r QF - 0
French Open 2r 2r 4r 4r QF QF 1r 2r - 1r 0
Wimbledon - 1r - 4r 1r - - - - - 0
US Open 2r 1r 2r QF 3r 4r 3r 3r 3r - 0
Grand Slam Win-Loss 2–2 1–3 4–3 14-4 12-4 7–2 2–2 3–3 6–2 0–1 51-26
ATP Tour Championships - - - - RR - - - - - 0
Indian Wells Masters - 3r SF 2r W 3r 2r 1r 3r 2r 1
Miami Masters - 3r 3r 3r W 4r 4r 2r SF 4r 1
Monte Carlo Masters - - SF W - F 1r 2r 3r - 1
Rome Masters - 2r QF F W 1r 1r 2r - - 1
Hamburg Masters - - - 3r 2r W SF 2r - - 1
Canada Masters - - SF - - - 3r - 3r 0
Cincinnati Masters - 1r - 3r 2r - 2r - 2r - 0
Madrid Masters - - QF QF QF QF - 3r 2r - 0
Paris Masters - - 2r 2r QF 2r - - 1r - 0

Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-8 (quarter finals up to finalist).

[edit] ATP Tour career earnings

Year Majors ATP wins Total wins Earnings ($) Money list rank
1997 0 1 1 1,397,445 12
1998 0 7 7 3,420,054 2
1999 0 3 3 1,794,244 5
2000 0 1 1 493,816 40
2001 0 2 2 466,025 43
2002 0 0 0 506,160 39
2003 0 0 0 308,140 73
Career 0 18 18 9,713,771 30

[edit] References

  1. ^ "McEnroe angry over young seniors." BBC News
  2. ^ a b c d e El escándalo tras regreso de Kenita
  3. ^ a b c d e f g ¿Cuánto sabe del lado B del Chino?
  4. ^ Marcelo Ríos pidió disculpas al equipo y a su familia
  5. ^ D.N.I. / MARCELO RIOS

[edit] Sources

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras		 World No. 1
March 30, 1998 - April 26, 1998
August 10, 1998 - August 23, 1998		 Succeeded by
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras
v • d • e
World No. 1s in Men's tennis