Sergi Bruguera i Torner 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 2014, he has won the most Grand Slam titles for someone
not elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
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 semi-finals in Rome. He finished 1989
ranked world No. 26, and was named the ATP's newcomer of the year.
Bruguera earned a reputation as a top clay court player in the early 1990s,
winning titles in Estoril, Monte Carlo, and Athens in 1991, and in Madrid,
Gstaad, and Palermo in 1992. In 1993, following wins over Pete
Sampras and Andrei Medvedev, 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. The victory was one of
five titles Bruguera captured that year and 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. The following year
Bruguera defended his title at the French Open, defeating, once again,
Courier and Medvedev and fellow Spaniard Alberto Berasategui in the final.
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.
Bruguera was the first ever opponent of Lleyton Hewitt in the main draw of a
Grand Slam tournament, at the Australian Open in 1997. Bruguera defeated him in
straight sets. Bruguera reached the French Open final
for the third time in 1997, but Gustavo Kuerten defeated Bruguera in straight
sets. 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 and the
winning in the Challenger Open Castilla y León and the final in San Marino in
2000. Outside tennis, 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. In Miami on 28 March 1997, during the same
tournament where he defeated World No. 1 Sampras in the semifinals, Bruguera sank
three shots 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.
Bruguera earned the ATP's Comeback Player of Year award in 1997 after
returning from an ankle injury the previous year and improving his ranking
from World No. 81 to World No. 8. 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.
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. Bruguera is one of the few players to
have a winning record against Sampras, winning three of their five matches: 1–0
on hard court, 2–1 on clay, and 0–1 on carpet. He is also, along with Patrick
Rafter, the only player to have always won against Roger Federer, having
defeated the 17 times Grand Slam winner at the 2000 Barcelona Open.
He is currently the coach of French number one Richard Gasquet.
Major finals = Grand Slam finals=
Singles: 3 = Masters Series finals=
Singles: 5 Titles
= Singles= = Doubles=
Singles performance timeline References
External links Sergi Bruguera at the Association of
Tennis Professionals Sergi Bruguera at the International
Tennis Federation Sergi Bruguera at the Davis Cup
Sergi Bruguera Biography Bruguera Tennis Academy