Sergi Bruguera

Sergi Bruguera
Country (sports)  Spain
Residence Barcelona, Spain
Born (1971-01-16) 16 January 1971
Barcelona, Spain
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in)
Turned pro 1988
Retired 2002
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money $11,632,199
Singles
Career record 447–271
Career titles 14
Highest ranking No. 3 (1 August 1994)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open 4R (1993)
French Open W (1993, 1994)
Wimbledon 4R (1994)
US Open 4R (1994, 1997)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals SF (1994)
Grand Slam Cup QF (1993, 1994)
Olympic Games Silver Medal (1996)
Doubles
Career record 49–50
Career titles 3
Highest ranking No. 49 (6 May 1991)
Grand Slam Doubles results
French Open 3R (1990)
US Open QF (1990)
This is a Catalan name. The paternal family name is Bruguera and the maternal family name is Torner.

Sergi Bruguera i Torner (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈsɛrʒi βɾuˈɣeɾə i turˈne]; born 16 January 1971) is a former professional tennis player from Catalonia, Spain. He won consecutive men's singles titles at the French Open in 1993 and 1994. As of 2016, he has won the most Grand Slam titles for someone not inducted to the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Bruguera is the only player to have a winning record against both Federer and Sampras. He won three of their five matches against Sampras: Bruguera leads 1–0 on hard court, 2–1 on clay, and Sampras leads 1–0 on carpet.[1] He is also, along with Patrick Rafter, the only player to have always won against Roger Federer, having dispatched the 17-time Grand Slam winner at the 2000 Barcelona Open with 6–1, 6–1.

Career

Bruguera won a total of 14 top-level singles titles and 3 doubles titles. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 3. He is currently the director of the Bruguera Tennis Academy Top Team.

He is currently the coach of French tennis player Richard Gasquet.[2]

Early Career

Bruguera was Spain's national junior champion in 1987. He turned professional in 1988. In his first full year on the tour, 1989, he won the Cairo Challenger title as a qualifier, defeating Jordi Arrese in the final, and reached the semifinals in Rome. He reached 4th round in the French Open in 1989 and finished the year ranked world No. 26, and was named the ATP's newcomer of the year.

1990–1994: Clay Dominance

Bruguera earned a reputation as a top clay court player in the early 1990s, reaching singles finals at Gstaad and Geneva, and capturing doubles titles in Hamburg (his 1st ATP Masters 1000 title in doubles) partnering Jim Courier (whom, ironically, would play against Bruguera later in 1993 French Open the men's singles final) in Florence, partnering Horacio de la Peña in 1990; reaching singles finals at Barcelona and Gstaad along with titles in Estoril, Monte Carlo (his 1st ATP Masters 1000 title in singles), and Athens, and a doubles title at Geneva, partnering Marc Rosset in 1991; reaching singles finals at Estoril, Bordeaux, and Athens along with titles in Madrid, Gstaad and Palermo in 1992.

Bruguera rose to even further prominence in 1993. During the French Open, Bruguera reached quarterfinals without dropping a set, including a rare triple bagel (6–0, 6–0, 6–0) at the second round, where he defeated Pete Sampras in 4 sets and Andrei Medvedev in straight sets in the semifinals, Bruguera reached his first Grand Slam final at the French Open, where he faced two-time defending champion and then World No. 2 Jim Courier. Courier was overwhelmingly favoured to win his third title, but ultimately Bruguera won a gruelling five-set final that lasted 4 hours, becoming the first Spaniard to win French Open since Andrés Gimeno in 1972. It was also the last time a man won a Grand Slam singles title with wins over both of the top two seeds until Stanislas Wawrinka won the Australian Open in 2014. He continued his top clay court player reputation by reaching finals at Milan (his first final on Carpet), Barcelona, Madrid, and Palermo, while capturing an additional 4 titles at Monte Carlo (his 2nd ATP Masters 1000 title in singles), Gstaad, Prague, and Bordeaux (his 1st hard court title) besides Roland Garros. He finished the year ranked World No. 4.

In 1994 Bruguera maintained his dominance on clay and successfully defended his title at the French Open while only dropping 2 sets in the entire tournament, defeating, once again, Medvedev in straight sets in the quarterfinals and Courier in 4 sets in the semifinals, along with fellow Spaniard Alberto Berasategui in 4 sets in the final. He reached finals at Dubai (his 2nd hard court final), Monte Carlo (his 3rd ATP Masters 1000 final in singles), and Madrid, and captured titles at Gstaad and Prague besides Roland Garros. In August he reached his career-high ranking of World No. 3 and finished the year ranked World No. 4. He was the first Spaniard to finish 2 consecutive years in Top 5. It is also his 4th consecutive year winning at least 3 clay titles in singles.

Between 1990–1994 he reached 25 top-level clay tournament finals in singles and 3 top-level clay tournament finals in doubles, out of which he captured 13 clay titles in singles and 3 clay titles in doubles.

1995

With Thomas Muster "officially" starting his reign as the new King of Clay, Bruguera was not able to keep up his dominance on clay like he did the previous years, but was still able to play at a decent level. Coming into 1995 French Open as the two-time defending champion, he only dropped one set en route to semifinals, where he was defeated by 1989 French Open champion Michael Chang in tight straight sets (4–6, 6–7, 6–7), ending his 19-match win streak at Roland Garros. He only reached 1 top-level final, which is his 4th Masters 1000 final, his first in Rome (on clay), where he was defeated in 4 sets by Muster. In December, he tore 2 ligaments on his right ankle while training, which put him in an even worse condition and prevented him to make any significant impact during 1996 season.

1996: Ankle Injury

He returned to competitive playing in February, having not yet fully recovered from the injury. In 1996 French Open Bruguera was taken out by Sampras in an epic 5-set match in the second round. The highlight of the year was when Bruguera won the men's singles silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. He was defeated in straight sets in the final by Andre Agassi. It was also the only top-level final he reached this year. His Year-End Ranking slipped from previous year's No. 13 to No. 81 much thanks to his injuries.

1997: Comeback

Opening 1997 Bruguera was the first ever opponent of Lleyton Hewitt in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, at the Australian Open. Bruguera defeated him in straight sets.[3]

This year Bruguera returned strongly from injury previous season and reached finals at Milan, Key Biscaine (his 5th Masters final and his 1st on hard), and Umag. Bruguera also played an excellent tournament at the French Open reaching the final for the third time, en route to the final he defeated former champion and 2nd Seed Michael Chang in the fourth round, then rising star and future World No. 1 Patrick Rafter in the semifinals. But an almost unknown Brazilian player ranked No. 66 named Gustavo Kuerten, who defeated two former champions and notable players en route to the final, defeated Bruguera in straight sets without much effort, although Bruguera was heavily favoured to win his 3rd title at Roland Garros.

Bruguera earned the ATP's Comeback Player of Year award in 1997 after returning from an ankle injury the previous year and improving his Year-End Ranking from World No. 81 to World No. 8.

Later Career

After 1997, due to injuries, Bruguera was far from his best game. He lost concentration and started to increase his errors during his matches, losing one of his great virtues, his solid style. From 1998 until his retirement only is remarkable the final (1999) and the winning (2000) in the Challenger Open Castilla y León (considered best challenger tournament of the world by this date) and the final in San Marino in 2000.

Outside of Tennis Career

Bruguera is a long-time fan of the Los Angeles Lakers and would often attend their games while playing at tournaments in the United States. During Miami Masters on 28 March 1997, right after the semifinals where he defeated World No. 1 Sampras, Bruguera sank three shots (layup, free throw, top of key) during a time-out of a game between the Lakers and the Miami Heat to earn US$500. This money was given to ATP Charities in his name. Bruguera has also played semi-professional Football in his native Spain.[4]

In a 2006 interview featuring questions from fans by the BBC Sport website, a question was asked about the frequent comparisons between Roger Federer and Sampras. In his reply, Bruguera claimed that Federer is ten times better than Sampras.[5]

Significant finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 3 (2–1)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Winner 1993 French Open Clay United States Jim Courier 6–4, 2–6, 6–2, 3–6, 6–3
Winner 1994 French Open (2) Clay Spain Alberto Berasategui 6–3, 7–5, 2–6, 6–1
Runner-up 1997 French Open (3) Clay Brazil Gustavo Kuerten 3–6, 4–6, 2–6

Olympic Games finals

Singles: 1 (1 silver medal)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Silver 1996 Olympic Games Hard United States Andre Agassi 2–6, 3–6, 1–6

Masters Series finals

Singles: 5 (2–3)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Winner 1991 Monte Carlo Clay Germany Boris Becker 5–7, 6–4, 7–6(6), 7–6(4)
Winner 1993 Monte Carlo (2) Clay France Cédric Pioline 7–6(2), 6–0
Runner-up 1994 Monte Carlo (3) Clay Ukraine Andrei Medvedev 5–7, 1–6, 3–6
Runner-up 1995 Rome Clay Austria Thomas Muster 6–3, 6–7(5), 2–6, 3–6
Runner-up 1997 Miami Hard Austria Thomas Muster 6–7(6), 3–6, 1–6

Doubles: 1 (1–0)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents in the final Score in the final
Winner 1990 Hamburg, Germany Clay United States Jim Courier Germany Udo Riglewski

Germany Michael Stich

 7–6, 6–2

Titles (17)

Singles: 35 (14–21)

Legend
Grand Slam (2–1)
Olympic (0–1)
Tennis Masters Cup (0–0)
ATP Masters Series (2–3)
ATP Championship Series (0–4)
ATP Tour (10–12)
Titles by surface
Hard (1–3)
Grass (0–0)
Clay (13–16)
Carpet (0–2)
Outcome No. Date Championship Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Runner-up 1. 15 July 1990 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Argentina Martín Jaite 3–6, 7–6(7–5), 2–6, 2–6
Runner-up 2. 16 September 1990 Geneva, Switzerland Clay Austria Horst Skoff 6–7(8–10), 6–7(4–7)
Winner 1. 7 April 1991 Estoril, Portugal Clay Czech Republic Karel Nováček 7–6(9–7), 6–1
Runner-up 3. 14 April 1991 Barcelona, Spain Clay Spain Emilio Sánchez 4–6, 6–7(7–9), 2–6
Winner 2. 28 April 1991 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Germany Boris Becker 5–7, 6–4, 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–4)
Runner-up 4. 14 July 1991 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Spain Emilio Sánchez 1–6, 4–6, 4–6
Winner 3. 6 October 1991 Athens, Greece Clay Spain Jordi Arrese 7–5, 6–3
Runner-up 5. 5 April 1992 Estoril, Portugal Clay Spain Carlos Costa 6–4, 2–6, 2–6
Winner 4. 3 May 1992 Madrid, Spain Clay Spain Carlos Costa 7–6(8–6), 6–2, 6–2
Winner 5. 12 July 1992 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Spain Francisco Clavet 6–1, 6–4
Runner-up 6. 20 September 1992 Bordeaux, France Clay Ukraine Andrei Medvedev 3–6, 6–1, 2–6
Winner 6. 4 October 1992 Palermo, Italy Clay Spain Emilio Sánchez 6–1, 6–3
Runner-up 7. 11 October 1992 Athens, Greece Clay Spain Jordi Arrese 5–7, 0–3 retired
Runner-up 8. 14 February 1993 Milan, Italy Carpet (I) Germany Boris Becker 3–6, 3–6
Runner-up 9. 11 April 1993 Barcelona, Spain Clay Ukraine Andrei Medvedev 7–6(9–7), 3–6, 5–7, 4–6
Winner 7. 25 April 1993 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay France Cédric Pioline 7–6(7–2), 6–0
Runner-up 10. 2 May 1993 Madrid, Spain Clay Sweden Stefan Edberg 3–6, 3–6, 2–6
Winner 8. 6 June 1993 Roland Garros, Paris, France Clay United States Jim Courier 6–4, 2–6, 6–2, 3–6, 6–3
Winner 9. 11 July 1993 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Czech Republic Karel Nováček 6–3, 6–4
Winner 10. 8 August 1993 Prague, Czech Republic Clay Russia Andrei Chesnokov 7–5, 6–4
Winner 11. 19 September 1993 Bordeaux, France Hard Italy Diego Nargiso 7–5, 6–2
Runner-up 11. 3 October 1993 Palermo, Italy Clay Austria Thomas Muster 6–7(2–7), 5–7
Runner-up 12. 6 February 1994 Dubai, United Arab Emirates Hard Sweden Magnus Gustafsson 4–6, 2–6
Runner-up 13. 24 April 1994 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Ukraine Andrei Medvedev 5–7, 1–6, 3–6
Runner-up 14. 1 May 1994 Madrid, Spain Clay Austria Thomas Muster 2–6, 6–3, 4–6, 5–7
Winner 12. 5 June 1994 Roland Garros, Paris, France Clay Spain Alberto Berasategui 6–3, 7–5, 2–6, 6–1
Winner 13. 10 July 1994 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay France Guy Forget 3–6, 7–5, 6–2, 6–1
Winner 14. 7 August 1994 Prague, Czech Republic Clay Ukraine Andrei Medvedev 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up 15. 21 May 1995 Rome, Italy Clay Austria Thomas Muster 6–3, 6–7(5–7), 2–6, 3–6
Runner-up 16. 28 July 1996 Atlanta Olympics, U.S. Hard United States Andre Agassi 2–6, 3–6, 1–6
Runner-up 17. 2 March 1997 Milan, Italy Carpet (I) Croatia Goran Ivanišević 2–6, 2–6
Runner-up 18. 23 March 1997 Miami, U.S. Hard Austria Thomas Muster 6–7(6–8), 3–6, 1–6
Runner-up 19. 8 June 1997 French Open, Paris Clay Brazil Gustavo Kuerten 3–6, 4–6, 2–6
Runner-up 20. 27 July 1997 Umag, Croatia Clay Spain Félix Mantilla 6–3, 7–5
Runner-up 21. 30 July 2000 San Marino Clay Spain Álex Calatrava 7–6(9–7), 1–6, 6–4

Doubles: 3 (3–0)

Wins (3)

No. Date Championship Surface Partner Opponent in the final Score in the final
1. 13 May 1990 Hamburg, Germany Clay United States Jim Courier Germany Udo Riglewski

Germany Michael Stich

 7–6, 6–2
2. 17 June 1990 Florence, Italy Clay Argentina Horacio de la Peña Brazil Luiz Mattar
Uruguay Diego Pérez		 3–6, 6–3, 6–4
3. 15 September 1991 Geneva, Switzerland Clay Switzerland Marc Rosset Sweden Per Henricsson

Sweden Ola Jonsson

 3–6, 6–3, 6–2

Singles performance timeline

Key
W  F  SF QF R# RR Q# A P Z# PO G F-S SF-B NMS NH
(W) Won tournament; reached (F) final, (SF) semifinal, (QF) quarterfinal; (R#) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; competed at a (RR) round-robin stage; reached a (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; played in a (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; won a (G) gold, (F-S) silver or (SF-B) bronze Olympic medal; a (NMS) downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament; or (NH) tournament not held.
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.
Tournament 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 SR W–L
Grand Slams
Australian Open A A 2R 1R A 4R A A A 3R 1R A A 1R A 0 / 6 6–6
French Open A 4R 2R 2R 1R W W SF 2R F 1R A 1R 2R A 2 / 12 32–10
Wimbledon A 1R 2R A A A 4R A A A A A A 1R A 0 / 4 4–4
US Open A 1R 2R 2R 2R 1R 4R 2R 3R 4R 2R A A 1R A 0 / 11 13–11
Win-Loss 0–0 3–3 4–4 2–3 1–2 10–2 13–2 6–2 3–2 11–3 1–3 0–0 0–1 1–4 0–0 2 / 33 55–31
Year-End Championship
ATP Tour World Championships Did Not Qualify RR SF Did Not Qualify RR1 Did Not Qualify 0 / 3 2–6
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells NME 3R 2R QF 1R 2R A A 1R 2R A A A A 0 / 7 7–7
Miami NME 2R 4R 3R A 3R A 3R F 2R A A 1R A 0 / 8 10–8
Monte Carlo NME 2R W 2R W F QF 2R 3R 2R A A 1R A 2 / 10 25–8
Rome NME 2R SF 3R QF A F 1R 3R 1R A A 2R A 0 / 9 18–9
Hamburg NME 1R 3R 1R A A SF QF QF 3R A A 1R A 0 / 8 11–8
Canada NME A A A A QF 3R A A A A A A A 0 / 2 4–2
Cincinnati NME A A A A 3R 2R 1R QF A A A A A 0 / 4 4–4
Stuttgart (Stockholm) NME 1R 2R A 3R QF QF 1R 2R A A A A A 0 / 7 5–6
Paris NME SF 3R 2R 2R SF 3R 1R 3R A A A A A 0 / 8 10–8
Win-Loss 0–0 0–0 8–7 15–6 7–6 10–4 14–7 16–7 4–7 15–8 4–5 0–0 0–0 1–4 0–0 2 / 63 94–60
Career statistics
Titles 0 0 0 3 3 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14
Finals 0 0 2 5 6 9 6 1 1 4 0 0 1 0 0 35
Hardcourt Win–Loss 0–0 0–1 11–8 8–9 5–5 15–9 16–9 11–7 14–9 23–14 4–10 0–0 3–2 0–4 0–0 110–87
Grass Win–Loss 0–0 0–1 1–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 4–2 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 5–5
Clay Win–Loss 0–1 23–11 23–17 38–9 39–10 44–9 35–6 26–8 12–9 20–8 7–15 0–1 14–13 14–15 1–3 296–135
Carpet Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 1–2 5–4 2–7 6–7 11–8 3–4 0–3 6–6 1–2 0–0 0–0 1–1 0–0 36–44
Overall Win–Loss 0–1 23–13 36–28 51–22 46–22 65–25 66–25 40–19 26–21 49–28 12–27 0–1 17–15 15–21 1–3 447–271
Win % 0% 64% 56% 70% 68% 72% 73% 68% 55% 64% 31% 0% 53% 42% 25% 62.26%
Year-End Ranking 333 26 28 11 16 4 4 13 82 8 132 378 85 108 290 $11,632,199

1. Bruguera withdrew due to a lower back injury at Round Robin Stage after playing the first 2 matches, and was replaced by then World No. 10 Tim Henman.

References

  1. ↑ Head-to-head: Sampras versus Bruguera
  2. ↑ Monfils triumphs in Montpelier for a second time, Yahoo!7 Sport, 10 February 2014
  3. ↑ Hewitt ready to rumble – Articles – News and Photos – Australian Open Tennis Championships 2013 – Official Site by IBM
  4. ↑ Sergi Bruguera Biography
  5. ↑ Quiz Sergi Bruguera

External links

Preceded by
Chile Marcelo Ríos		 ATP Champions Tour
Year-End No.1
2007 		Succeeded by
Croatia Goran Ivanišević
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