Marcelo Ríos

Early years

Ríos began playing tennis at the age of 11 at the Sport Francés golf club in Vitacura (Greater Santiago), adjacent to his house.

Junior career

As a junior, Ríos reached as high as No. 1 in singles and No. 141 in doubles.

Ríos reached the semifinals of the junior French Open in 1993 without dropping a set, where he was defeated by Roberto Carretero-Diaz in straight sets, and won the junior US Open in 1993 while only dropping one set during the entire tournament. He also won his first satellite tournament in Chile.

1994

This was Ríos' first year being a professional player and he quickly began to acquire international fame after his participation at Roland Garros, where in the second round, at just 18 years of age, he faced Pete Sampras, fighting a hard battle eventually to lose 6–7^(5–7), 6–7^(4–7), 4–6. His left-handed ability, plus his novel long hair and backwards visor, drew the attention of the media. The same year he won his first Challenger in Dresden, Germany.

1995: Breakthrough

In May 1995, aged 19, Ríos won his first tournament title in Bologna defeating Marcelo Filippini of Uruguay 6–2, 6–4, and breaking into the world's top 50 for the first time. Then in June he won at Amsterdam in both singles (against Jan Siemerink, 6–4, 7–5, 6–4) and doubles (with Sjeng Schalken) and won the tournament in Kuala Lumpur against Mark Philippoussis 7–6, 6–2. He also reached the final of his home country's ATP tournament in Santiago. Ríos ended the year ranked No. 25 in the world.

1996: Top 10 debut

Ríos' achievements this year included excellent performances in the Masters Series (then called Super 9) tournaments. He reached the quarterfinals in Masters Series of Stuttgart and Rome, and the semifinals in Indian Wells, Monte Carlo, and Canada. In Sankt Pölten, Austria, he won his fourth career title by defeating the Spaniard Félix Mantilla 6–1, 6–4. Ríos again reached the final in Santiago, and also reached the finals in Barcelona and Scottsdale. For much of the year Ríos would be ranked in the top 10, becoming the first Chilean in history to do so. He finished the year ranked number 11.

1997: Impending dominance

In 1997 for the first time in Ríos' career he reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament at the Australia Open and again at the US Open. He also won his first Masters title at Monte Carlo; after a first round bye, he beat Andrea Gaudenzi, Albert Costa, Carlos Moyá, Magnus Larsson, and, in the final, Àlex Corretja, 6–4, 6–3, 6–3. Two weeks later he lost in the final of the Rome Masters against the same Spaniard. Other successes for the year included the quarterfinals (again) in the Stuttgart Masters and the finals in Marseille, Boston, and (for the third time) in Santiago. Ríos had a very consistent 1997 season, being the only player to reach the fourth round or better on all Grand Slams. Ríos went as high as No. 6 during the year, and ended the year in the top 10 for the first time, being No. 10.

1998: World No. 1 in singles, first Grand Slam final

The year 1998 brought the peak of the career of Ríos, who reached the No. 1 spot in the world. He won the tournament (the first of the year) in Auckland, New Zealand, against Richard Fromberg, then reached the final of the Australian Open, beating Grant Stafford, Thomas Enqvist, Andrew Ilie, Lionel Roux, Alberto Berasategui and Nicolas Escudé before losing to Petr Korda in a lopsided 2–6, 2–6, 2–6 that lasted 1 hour and 25 minutes. The following months brought successes such as the title of the Super 9 (the current Masters Series) at Indian Wells, where he defeated British Greg Rusedski in the final.

The consummation came in the final at Key Biscayne Masters, Florida, under the guidance of his coach Larry Stefanki. After victories over Hendrik Dreekmann, Tommy Haas, and Goran Ivanišević, Ríos beat Thomas Enqvist in the quarterfinals and Tim Henman in the semis. In the final on March 29, Ríos defeated Andre Agassi 7–5, 6–3, 6–4. In Chile, thousands of people took to the streets to celebrate the triumph of the first Chilean, Latin and indeed Spanish speaking player to reach the sport's No. 1 ranking, grabbing the position from Pete Sampras (who had maintained 102 consecutive weeks at No. 1, and five years ending the season as the leader). In the days ahead, there was a crowded reception leading Ríos to then president Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle on La Moneda Palace, with around 10,000 people cheering at the palace's surroundings. Ríos' No. 1 ranking lasted four weeks; he lost it after being unable to defend the title at Monte Carlo because of an injury suffered in the Davis Cup while defeating Hernán Gumy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In May he reached the quarterfinals of the French Open losing to eventual champion Carlos Moyá.

In June, at Wimbledon, Ríos was upset at first round by Spaniard Francisco Clavet. On August 10, however, Ríos recovered the No. 1 spot for another two weeks. In September he lost at third round of the U.S Open to Magnus Larsson. During this season Marcelo also won the Rome Masters against Albert Costa by walkover in the final, Sankt Pölten beating Vincent Spadea, the Grand Slam Cup against Andre Agassi, and Singapore against Mark Woodforde. Furthermore, he reached the quarterfinals in the Stuttgart Masters and Paris Masters. Ríos in 1998 won seven titles, including three Masters Series titles, and reached the final of the Australian Open. On July 27 of that year, he reached the maximum number of points achieved throughout his career: 3719 (by the scoring system used prior to the year 2000). He ended the year ranked No. 2 behind Pete Sampras, who topped the world rankings for a sixth consecutive year.

1999: Continued success and beginning of injuries

Ríos maintained a high level throughout 1999, although his game was interrupted by repeated injuries and surgeries. This prevented him from defending the points achieved by reaching the final of the Australian Open the previous year, so he fell several places in the rankings. He reached the final of the Monte Carlo Masters, but after trailing 4–6, 1–2, he had to retire due to a new injury, handing the tournament to Gustavo Kuerten. Ríos subsequently won the Hamburg Masters in a match that lasted more than four hours against Argentine Mariano Zabaleta; two weeks later he became champion in Sankt Pölten for the second consecutive time against the same Argentine, who, this time, had to retire during the first set at 4–4. In October, he won at Singapore and reached the final in Beijing, losing to the Swede Magnus Norman. He also reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and the Stuttgart Masters. Despite many injuries he suffered and surgeries he underwent, Ríos would complete his third consecutive year as a top 10 player, at world No. 9.

2000: Persistent injuries

Since 2000 until the end of Ríos' career on the main tour he was not able to keep up his level of play to the standards he set in the 1990s, as it was marked by repeated and disabling injuries. He still won the tournament of Umag, Croatia beating the Argentine Mariano Puerta in the final. Ríos also reached the semifinals at the Hamburg Masters losing to Marat Safin. Ríos finished the year No. 37 in the world.

2001-2002: Decline

In 2001 Ríos won the first tournament of the year in Doha. However, his performance in the following tournaments was weaker, weakened by an ankle operation, which resulted him to drop out of the top 50 in the world for the first time since he was a teenager. In September Ríos won another title, this time in Hong Kong, defeating German Rainer Schüttler in the final. Ríos decided to return in October to play a Challenger tournament in Santiago and defeated Argentine Edgardo Massa in the final, in an effort to end his curse of not winning an ATP tournament at his home country.^[1] He also reached a doubles final in Scottsdale. Ríos ended the year as No. 39 in the world.

In early 2002 Ríos had some good results, but a back injury prevented him from continuing the season successfully. It was the same injury that he had had two operations with already, and finally prevented him from returning to a competitive level. His best results were the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, the semifinal at the Miami Masters, and the final in the Stockholm tournament playing the Thai Paradorn Srichaphan. Ríos would finish Top 25 in the world for the first time since 1999 at No. 24, but without managing to recover from injuries that beset him since late 1999.

2003: Long absence from tour and out of Top 100

In Viña del Mar tournament (formerly Santiago tournament) Ríos reached the final, losing to Spaniard David Sánchez. This was the fourth of the four finals he participated and lost in his home country. However, representing Chile together with Fernando González and Nicolás Massú, he won the World Team Cup in Düsseldorf. The same year he also won silver medals in singles and doubles with Adrián García in the 2003 Pan American Games. In May Ríos played his last ATP-level match, losing in the first round at Roland Garros to Mario Ančić after retiring at 1–6 0–1. In 2003 Ríos played very few tournaments, in most of which he had to withdraw. This resulted him ending the year as No. 105 in the world, his worst year-end ranking on the main tour yet.

2004: Retirement from main tour

In 2004, six years after claiming the World No. 1 ranking, and after a long absence from the tour, Ríos returned to competition with a victory at a Challenger Series tournament in Ecuador. He played his last competitive match in early April 2004 at a Challenger in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, where he retired in the round of 16.

Finally, on July 16, 2004, after years of constant injuries—and at just 28 years old—Rios announced his retirement from tennis during a press conference in Santiago. 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 such as Petr Korda and Goran Ivanišević. The tour ended on December 22, 2004, at a soccer stadium in Santiago, where he played his final tennis match of his career on the main tour against Guillermo Coria of Argentina.

ATP Champions Tour

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1998	Australian Open	Hard	Petr Korda	2–6, 2–6, 2–6

Masters Series finals

Singles: 5 (5–2)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1997	Monte Carlo Masters	Clay	Àlex Corretja	6–4, 6–3, 6–3
Runner-up	1997	Italian Open	Clay	Àlex Corretja	5–7, 5–7, 3–6
Winner	1998	Indian Wells Masters	Hard	Greg Rusedski	6–3, 6–7(15–17), 7–6(7–4), 6–4
Winner	1998	Miami Open	Hard	Andre Agassi	7–5, 6–3, 6–4
Winner	1998	Italian Open	Clay	Albert Costa	walkover
Runner-up	1999	Monte-Carlo Masters	Clay	Gustavo Kuerten	4–6, 1–2, ret.
Winner	1999	German Open	Clay	Mariano Zabaleta	6–7(5–7), 7–5, 5–7, 7–6(7–5), 6–2

Singles: 32 (18 titles, 14 runners-up)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	28 May 1995	Bologna Outdoor, Italy	Clay	Marcelo Filippini	6–2, 6–4
Winner	2.	30 July 1995	Dutch Open, Netherlands	Clay	Jan Siemerink	6–4, 7–5, 6–4
Winner	3.	8 October 1995	Kuala Lumpur Open, Malaysia	Carpet (i)	Mark Philippoussis	7–6(8–6), 6–2
Runner-up	1.	29 October 1995	Chile Open, Chile	Clay	Sláva Doseděl	6–7(3–7), 3–6
Runner-up	2.	10 March 1996	Tennis Channel Open, USA	Hard	Wayne Ferreira	6–2, 3–6, 3–6
Runner-up	3.	21 April 1996	Barcelona Open, Spain	Clay	Thomas Muster	3–6, 6–4, 4–6, 1–6
Winner	4.	26 May 1996	Sankt Pölten Open, Austria	Clay	Fèlix Mantilla	6–2, 6–4
Runner-up	4.	10 November 1996	Chile Open, Chile	Clay	Hernán Gumy	4–6, 5–7
Runner-up	5.	16 February 1997	Marseille Open, France	Hard (i)	Thomas Enqvist	4–6, 0–1, ret.
Winner	5.	27 April 1997	Monte Carlo Masters, Monaco	Clay	Àlex Corretja	6–4, 6–3, 6–3
Runner-up	6.	18 May 1997	Italian Open, Italy	Clay	Àlex Corretja	5–7, 5–7, 3–6
Runner-up	7.	24 August 1997	U.S. Pro, USA	Hard	Sjeng Schalken	5–7, 3–6
Runner-up	8.	9 November 1997	Chile Open, Chile	Clay	Julián Alonso	2–6, 1–6
Winner	6.	18 January 1998	Auckland Open, New Zealand	Hard	Richard Fromberg	4–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–3)
Runner-up	9.	1 February 1998	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Hard	Petr Korda	2–6, 2–6, 2–6
Winner	7.	15 March 1998	Indian Wells Masters, USA	Hard	Greg Rusedski	6–3, 6–7(15–17), 7–6(7–4), 6–4
Winner	8.	29 March 1998	Miami Open, USA	Hard	Andre Agassi	7–5, 6–3, 6–4
Winner	9.	17 May 1998	Italian Open, Italy	Clay	Albert Costa	walkover
Winner	10.	24 May 1998	Sankt Pölten Open, Austria (2)	Clay	Vincent Spadea	6–2, 6–0
Winner	11.	5 October 1998	Grand Slam Cup, Munich, Germany	Hard (i)	Andre Agassi	6–4, 2–6, 7–6(7–1), 5–7, 6–3
Winner	12.	18 October 1998	Singapore Open, Singapore	Carpet (i)	Mark Woodforde	6–4, 6–2
Runner-up	10.	25 April 1999	Monte-Carlo Masters, Monaco	Clay	Gustavo Kuerten	4–6, 1–2, ret.
Winner	13.	9 May 1999	German Open, Germany	Clay	Mariano Zabaleta	6–7(5–7), 7–5, 5–7, 7–6(7–5), 6–2
Winner	14.	23 May 1999	Sankt Pölten Open, Austria (3)	Clay	Mariano Zabaleta	4–4, ret.
Runner-up	11.	10 October 1999	Shanghai Open, China	Hard	Magnus Norman	6–2, 3–6, 5–7
Winner	15.	17 October 1999	Singapore Open, Singapore (2)	Hard (i)	Mikael Tillström	6–2, 7–6(7–5)
Winner	16.	23 July 2000	Croatia Open, Croatia	Clay	Mariano Puerta	7–6(7–1), 4–6, 6–3
Winner	17.	7 January 2001	Qatar Open, Qatar	Hard	Bohdan Ulihrach	6–3, 2–6, 6–3
Winner	18.	30 September 2001	Hong Kong Open, China	Hard	Rainer Schüttler	7–6(7–3), 6–2
Runner-up	12.	27 October 2002	Stockholm Open, Sweden	Hard (i)	Paradorn Srichaphan	7–6(7–2), 0–6, 3–6, 2–6
Runner-up	13.	16 February 2003	Chile Open, Chile	Clay	David Sánchez	6–1, 3–6, 3–6
Runner-up	14.	10 August 2003	Pan American Games, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	Hard	Fernando Meligeni	7–5, 6–7(6–8), 6–7(5–7)

Doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runners-up)

Win (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponent	Score
1.	30 July 1995	Dutch Open, Netherlands	Clay	Sjeng Schalken	Wayne Arthurs Neil Broad	7–6, 6–2

Runner-up (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponent	Score
1.	11 March 2001	Tennis Channel Open, USA	Hard	Sjeng Schalken	Donald Johnson Jared Palmer	6–7(3–7), 2–6
2.	10 August 2003	Pan American Games, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	Hard	Adrián García	Santiago González Alejandro Hernández	7–6(7–5), 2–6, 3–6

Team competitions (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partners	Opponents	Score
Winner	1.	24 May 2003	World Team Cup, Düsseldorf, Germany	Clay	Fernando González Nicolás Massú	Jiří Novák Radek Štěpánek	2–1

Singles

Davis Cup matches are included in the statistics. Walkovers are neither official wins nor official losses.

¹At the 1998 ATP Tour World Championships (Tennis Masters Cup), Ríos withdrew at round robin stage after playing the first match. He was replaced by then world No. 11 Greg Rusedski.

²At the 1998 Eurocard Open (Stuttgart Masters), Ríos withdrew prior to quarterfinals.

³At the 2001 Monte Carlo Masters, Ríos withdrew prior to second round.