Corina Morariu

Corina Morariu
Country (sports)  United States
Residence Boca Raton, Florida
Born (1978-01-26) January 26, 1978
Detroit, Michigan
Turned pro 1994
Retired 2007
Plays Right-handed
Prize money $1,733,916
Singles
Career record 160–134
Career titles 1 WTA, 5 ITF
Highest ranking No. 29 (24 August 1998)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open 2R (1998)
French Open 2R (1998, 2000, 2003)
Wimbledon 3R (1998, 1999)
US Open 2R (1997)
Doubles
Career record 248–158
Career titles 13 WTA, 9 ITF
Highest ranking No. 1 (3 April 2000)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open F (2001, 2005)
French Open SF (2005)
Wimbledon W (1999)
US Open QF (1999, 2002, 2005, 2007)
Mixed doubles
Career record 21–22
Career titles 1
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open W (2001)
French Open QF (2003, 2005)
Wimbledon 3R (2006)
US Open SF (2002, 2005)

Corina Morariu (born January 26, 1978) is a retired Romanian American tennis player.

Morariu (pronounced: mo-RA-R'ju) was born in Detroit, Michigan, and turned professional in 1994. Mainly known as a doubles specialist, she won the women's doubles title at Wimbledon in 1999 with Lindsay Davenport. She also won the mixed-doubles title at the 2001 Australian Open with Ellis Ferreira. She reached the Australian Open women's doubles final with Davenport in 2005. She also reached the world No. 1 ranking in doubles in 2000.[1]

In 2001, Morariu was diagnosed with leukemia and began a program of chemotherapy.[2] During this time, Jennifer Capriati dedicated her 2001 French Open victory to Morariu. She also received an inspirational letter from Lance Armstrong, a cancer survivor.[3] After recovering from cancer, along with shoulder surgery, Morariu was largely restricted to doubles play.[1] The WTA then created the Corina Comeback Award, which was presented to Morariu by Capriati.[4]

Corina Morariu retired from the tour in 2007. She is an International Sports Ambassador for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and has released a memoir titled Living Through the Racket: How I Survived Leukemia...and Rediscovered My Self.[4] Following her retirement, she began working as a commentator for Tennis Channel.[5]

Major finals

Grand Slam

Doubles: 3 (1–2)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner1999WimbledonGrassUnited States Lindsay DavenportSouth Africa Mariaan de Swardt
Ukraine Elena Tatarkova
6–4, 6–4
Runner-up2001Australian OpenHardUnited States Lindsay DavenportUnited States Serena Williams
United States Venus Williams
2–6, 6–2, 4–6
Runner-up2005Australian OpenHardUnited States Lindsay DavenportRussia Svetlana Kuznetsova
Australia Alicia Molik
3–6, 4–6

Mixed Doubles: 1 (1–0)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner2001Australian OpenHardSouth Africa Ellis FerreiraAustria Barbara Schett
Australia Joshua Eagle
6–1, 6–3

WTA career finals

Corina Morariu hitting a forehand

Singles 4 (1–3)

Legend (Singles)
Tier I (0/0)
Tier II (0/0)
Tier III (0/1)
Tier IV (1/2)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1. May 4, 1997 Croatian Bol Ladies Open Clay Croatia Mirjana Lučić 5–7, 7–6(9–7), 6–7(5–7)
Runner-up 2. April 19, 1998 Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo Hard Japan Ai Sugiyama 3–6, 3–6
Runner-up 3. May 3, 1998 Croatian Bol Ladies Open Clay Croatia Mirjana Lučić 2–6, 4–6
Winner 1. May 2, 1999 Croatian Bol Ladies Open Clay France Julie Halard-Decugis 6–2, 6–0

Doubles 20 (13–7)

Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (1/2)
WTA Championship (0/0)
Tier I (1/2)
Tier II (3/2)
Tier III (7/1)
Tier IV (1/0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1. April 20, 1997 Tokyo Hard Australia Kerry-Anne Guse France Alexia Dechaume-Balleret
Japan Rika Hiraki
4–6, 2–6
Winner 1. November 22, 1997 PTT Pattaya Open, Pattaya City Hard Australia Kristine Kunce Argentina Florencia Labat
Belgium Dominique Monami
6–3, 6–4
Winner 2. January 8, 1999 Brisbane International, Gold Coast Hard Latvia Larisa Neiland Australia Kristine Kunce
Romania Irina Spîrlea
6–3, 6–4
Winner 3. April 17, 1999 Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo Hard United States Kimberly Po Australia Kerry-Anne Guse
Australia Catherine Barclay
6–3, 6–2
Winner 4. June 12, 1999 Aegon Classic, Birmingham Grass Latvia Larisa Neiland Argentina Inés Gorrochategui
France Alexandra Fusai
6–4, 6–4
Winner 5. July 3, 1999 Wimbledon Championships, London Grass United States Lindsay Davenport South Africa Mariaan de Swardt
Ukraine Elena Tatarkova
6–4, 6–4
Winner 6. July 31, 1999 Bank of the West Classic, Stanford Hard United States Lindsay Davenport Russia Anna Kournikova
Russia Elena Likhovtseva
6–4, 6–4
Winner 7. August 7, 1999 Southern California Open, San Diego Hard United States Lindsay Davenport United States Venus Williams
United States Serena Williams
6–4, 6–1
Winner 8. February 26, 2000 Cellular South Cup, Oklahoma City Hard (i) United States Kimberly Po Thailand Tamarine Tanasugarn
Ukraine Elena Tatarkova
6–4, 4–6, 6–2
Winner 9. March 17, 2000 Indian Wells Masters Hard United States Lindsay Davenport Russia Anna Kournikova
Belarus Natasha Zvereva
6–2, 6–3
Winner 10. May 6, 2000 Croatian Bol Ladies Open Clay France Julie Halard-Decugis Slovenia Katarina Srebotnik
Slovenia Tina Križan
6–2, 6–2
Runner-up 2. May 14, 2000 German Open, Berlin Clay South Africa Amanda Coetzer Spain Aranxta Sánchez Vicario
Spain Conchita Martínez
6–3, 2–6, 6–7(7–9)
Winner 11. October 14, 2000 Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo Hard France Julie Halard-Decugis Slovenia Tina Križan
Slovenia Katarina Srebotnik
6–1, 6–2
Runner-up 3. January 27, 2001 Australian Open, Melbourne Hard United States Lindsay Davenport United States Serena Williams
United States Venus Williams
2–6, 6–2, 4–6
Runner-up 4. November 7, 2004 Advanta Championships of Philadelphia Hard (i) South Africa Liezel Huber United States Lisa Raymond
Australia Alicia Molik
5–7, 4–6
Runner-up 5. January 29, 2005 Australian Open, Melbourne Hard United States Lindsay Davenport Russia Svetlana Kuznetsova
Australia Alicia Molik
3–6, 4–6
Runner-up 6. February 6, 2005 Toray Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo Carpet (i) United States Lindsay Davenport Slovakia Janette Husárová
Russia Elena Likhovtseva
4–6, 3–6
Winner 12. January 12, 2006 Medibank International, Sydney Hard Australia Rennae Stubbs Argentina Paola Suárez
Spain Virginia Ruano Pascual
6–3, 5–7, 6–2
Winner 13. September 16, 2006 Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic, Bali Hard United States Lindsay Davenport South Africa Natalie Grandin
Australia Trudi Musgrave
6–3, 6–4
Runner-up 7. October 29, 2006 Generali Ladies Linz Hard (i) Slovenia Katarina Srebotnik United States Lisa Raymond
Australia Samantha Stosur
3–6, 0–6

ITF Circuit finals

$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Singles: 5 (5–0)

Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. August 22, 1994 Nicolosi, Italy Hard Italy Giulia Casoni 7–5, 7–6(7–5)
Winner 2. May 22, 1995 Salzburg, Austria Clay Austria Patricia Wartusch 6–2, 6–2
Winner 3. May 29, 1995 Katowice, Poland Clay Poland Ewa Radzikowska 6–4, 6–2
Winner 4. August 21, 1995 Sochi, Russia Clay France Anne-Gaëlle Sidot 6–4, 4–6, 6–0
Winner 5. February 23, 1997 Bogotá, Colombia Clay Czech Republic Lenka Němečková 6–2, 6–3

Doubles: 13 (9–4)

Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1. July 17, 1994 Olsztyn, Poland Clay Slovakia Henrieta Nagyová Netherlands Marielle Bruens
Netherlands Amanda Hopmans
4-6, 7-5, 5-7
Winner 2. August 22, 1994 Nicolosi, Italy Hard Australia Loretta Sheales Australia Natalie Frawley
Australia Jenny Anne Fetch
6-1, 7-5
Winner 3. January 30, 1995 İstanbul, Turkey Hard Greece Christina Zachariadou Bulgaria Dora Djilianova
Bulgaria Desislava Topalova
6-3, 7-5
Runner–up 4. April 3, 1995 Athens, Greece Clay Greece Christina Zachariadou Czech Republic Denisa Chládková
Slovakia Patricia Marková
2-6, 5-7
Winner 5. May 22, 1995 Salzburg, Austria Clay Australia Aarthi Venkatesan Slovenia Tjaša Jezernik
Republic of Macedonia Marina Lazarovska
w/o
Winner 6. August 14, 1995 Carthage, Tunisia Clay Greece Christina Zachariadou Czech Republic Denisa Chládková
Belgium Daphne van de Zande
6-4, 7-6(9–7)
Winner 7. August 27, 1995 Sochi, Russia Hard Ukraine Elena Tatarkova Russia Natalia Egorova
Finland Petra Thorén
6-3, 7-5
Runner–up 8. August 28, 1995 Athens, Greece Clay Greece Christina Zachariadou Poland Magdalena Grzybowska
Slovakia Henrieta Nagyová
w/o
Winner 9. December 4, 1995 Cergy, France Hard (i) United States Angela Lettiere Madagascar Dally Randriantefy
Madagascar Natacha Randriantefy
6-3, 7-5
Winner 10. January 27, 1996 Mission, United States Hard United States Angela Lettiere United States Shannan McCarthy
United States Julie Steven
7-6(9-7), 6-2
Winner 11. February 17, 1996 Midland, United States Hard (i) United States Angela Lettiere United States Katrina Adams
United States Debbie Graham
7-6(7-4), 7-6(8-6)
Runner–up 12. May 19, 1996 Athens, Greece Clay United States Angela Lettiere United States Liezel Huber
Greece Christína Papadáki
5-7, 2-6
Winner 13. October 12, 1997 Sedona, United States Hard Romania Cătălina Cristea United States Liezel Huber
Argentina Paola Suárez
7-5, 6-2

Women's doubles performance timeline

Tournament1995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007SRW–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A 2R 2R 2R SF F A A 3R F 1R 1R 0 / 9 19–9
French Open A 1R 1R 3R 2R A A A 1R A SF A 1R 0 / 7 7–7
Wimbledon A 1R 2R 2R W A A A 1R A 2R A 1R 1 / 7 9–6
US Open A 3R 1R 1R QF A A QF 1R 2R QF 2R QF 0 / 10 16–10
Win–Loss 0–0 2–3 2–4 4–4 11–3 4–1 5–1 3–1 0–3 3–2 13–4 1–2 3–4 1 / 33 51–32
Year-end championships
Tour Championships A A A A SF A A A A A A A A 0 / 1 1–1
Year-end ranking
Ranking 187 81 66 49 6 14 57 78 156 24 15 34 76

Awards

  • The Corina Comeback Award (established by the WTA and named after her; she was the first recipient)[4]
  • The 2002 WTA Tour Comeback Player of the Year Award[4]

References

  1. 1 2 DeSimone, Bonnie (26 March 2007). "Corina Morariu happy to be on tour". ESPN. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  2. Banerjee, Sudeshna (28 July 2009). "Corina Morariu: The Braveheart Who Defied Death". Bleacherreport.com. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  3. DeSimone, Bonnie (26 May 2002). "She won't stay down for long". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "WTA Profile". wtatennis.com. Archived from the original on 13 April 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  5. Thurmond, Sarah (12 February 2010). "Q&A With Corina Morariu, Cancer Survivor and Former Pro". tennis.com. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
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