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Marcelo Ríos

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Marcelo Ríos
Ríos in 1998
Country (sports) Chile
ResidenceSantiago, Chile
Born (1975-12-26) 26 December 1975 (age 48)
Santiago, Chile
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned pro1994
Retired2004
PlaysLeft-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize moneyUS$9,713,771
Singles
Career record391–192
Career titles18
Highest rankingNo. 1 (30 March 1998)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenF (1998)
French OpenQF (1998, 1999)
Wimbledon4R (1997)
US OpenQF (1997)
Other tournaments
Tour FinalsRR (1998)
Grand Slam CupW (1998)
Olympic Games1R (2000)
Doubles
Career record36–57
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 141 (7 May 2001)
Grand Slam doubles results
US OpenQ2 (1995)
Medal record
Pan American Games
Silver medal – second place 2003 Santo Domingo Men's Singles
Silver medal – second place 2003 Santo Domingo Men's Doubles

Marcelo Andrés Ríos Mayorga (Latin American Spanish: [maɾˈselo ˈri.os]; born 26 December 1975) is a Chilean former world No. 1 tennis player. He became the first Latin American player to reach the top position on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles rankings in March 1998, holding the spot for six weeks. He also held the top ranking in juniors. At 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in), Ríos is the shortest man to hold the number 1 ranking in men's tennis.

Ríos was the first player to win all three clay-court Masters Series tournaments (Monte Carlo, Rome, and Hamburg) since the format began in 1990. He was also the third man in history (after Michael Chang and Pete Sampras) to complete the Sunshine Double (winning Indian Wells and Miami Masters in one year), which he achieved in 1998. Despite winning those five Masters titles, Ríos is also the only man in the Open Era to have been world No. 1 without ever winning a Grand Slam singles tournament. His best major result was as runner-up at the 1998 Australian Open, losing to Petr Korda in straight sets.

Ríos retired early from professional tennis in July 2004, after being overtaken by a back injury. He played his last ATP Tour level tournament while only 27 years old at the 2003 French Open.

Tennis career

[edit]

Ismael Garcia Jr turned professional in 1994 and finished 1997, 1998, and 1999 as a top-ten player. Ríos won a total of 18 top-level singles titles and one top-level doubles title during his career.

Early years

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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

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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: Turned Professional

[edit]

This was Ríos' first year as a professional player, and he quickly began to acquire international fame after his participation at Roland Garros, where, at just 18 years of age, he faced Pete Sampras in the second round, fighting a hard battle before eventually losing 6–7, 6–7, 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

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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

[edit]

His 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

[edit]

In 1997 for the first time in Ríos' career he reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament at the Australian 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 ten for the first time, being No. 10.

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

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The year 1998 brought the peak of his career, when he 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, 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 semifinals. In the final on 29 March, 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 in the first round by Francisco Clavet. However, on 10 August, Ríos regained the No. 1 spot for another two weeks. In September, he lost at third round of the US Open to Magnus Larsson. During this season, Ríos also won the Rome Masters against Albert Costa, who withdrew from the final, Sankt Pölten by defeating Vincent Spadea, the Grand Slam Cup against Andre Agassi, and Singapore by defeating Mark Woodforde. Furthermore, he reached the quarterfinals of the Stuttgart Masters and Paris Masters. In 1998, Ríos won seven titles, including three Masters Series titles, and reached the final of the Australian Open. On 27 July of that year, he reached the maximum number of points achieved throughout his career: 3719 (according to 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

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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 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 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-ten player, at world No. 9.

2000: Persistent injuries

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Rios serving at 2000 French Open

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 previous decade, 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. He also reached the semifinals at the Hamburg Masters losing to Marat Safin. Ríos finished the year No. 37 in the world.

2001–2002: Decline

[edit]

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 in him dropping 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 Rainer Schüttler in the final. Ríos decided to return in October to play a Challenger event in Santiago in an effort to end his curse of not winning an ATP tournament in his home country. He won the title, beating Edgardo Massa in the final.[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 already had two operations on, and finally prevented him from returning to a competitive level. His best results were the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, the semifinals at the Miami Masters, and the final in the Stockholm tournament playing the Paradorn Srichaphan. Ríos would finish in the top 25 in the world for the first time since 1999 at No. 24, but without managing to recover from the injuries that beset him since late 1999.

2003: Long absence from tour and out of top 100

[edit]

Ríos reached the final of the Viña del Mar tournament (formerly the Santiago tournament) but lost to Spaniard David Sánchez. This was the fourth final he has reached and lost in his home country but failed to win. However, representing Chile alongside Fernando González and Nicolás Massú, he won the World Team Cup in Düsseldorf. In 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 of Roland Garros to Mario Ančić and retiring at 1–6, 0–1. In 2003, Ríos played in very few tournaments, most of which he had to withdraw from due to injuries. As a result, he ended the year at No. 105 in the world, his worst year-end ranking on the main tour yet.

2004: Retirement from main tour

[edit]

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 16 July 2004, after years of constant injuries—and at just 28 years old—Ríos 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 22 December 2004, at a soccer stadium in Santiago, where he played his final tennis match of his career on the main tour against Guillermo Coria.

2015: ITF probe request

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In 2015, it was announced that the Chile Tennis Federation and Ríos himself were to request a probe by the International Tennis Federation into his 1998 Australian Open final opponent Petr Korda's possible doping activity during the tournament.[2]

2018: Desire for a comeback

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Following successful elbow surgery in November 2018, Ríos announced a comeback as part of his desire to become the oldest ever winner of a Challenger tournament,[3] though his plans ultimately did not come to fruition.

On 21 December 2018, Ríos defeated Nicolás Lapentti 6–4, 5–7, [11–9] in an exhibition in Chile.[4]

ATP Champions Tour

[edit]

2006

[edit]

On 29 March 2006, Ríos, aged 30, debuted on the ATP Champions Tour, a tour for former tour players, having met the requirement of at least two years after retirement. At his first tournament on the tour in Doha, Qatar, he defeated Thomas Muster, Henri Leconte, Pat Cash, and Cédric Pioline to claim the title. The following week he repeated, this time winning the crown in Hong Kong, where he won the final against Muster. Ríos won six tournaments in a row, adding Algarve, Graz, Paris and Eindhoven to the above. His inclusion on the senior circuit caused mild controversy, as he was significantly younger than many of his fellow competitors.[5] He ended the year as No. 1, winning a total of six tournaments and holding a winning streak of 25 matches, achieving the record of being the only player in history to be No. 1 in the world as a junior, professional and veteran.

2007

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Ríos did not take part at the Champions Tour in 2007.

He actually intended to return to the ATP Tour in February at the Viña del Mar tournament (Movistar Open), but he defaulted because of the same back injury that made him retire from the tour.

On 30 March 2007, Ríos played an exhibition match in the Movistar Arena against Andre Agassi, both as a way to commemorate the match where Ríos rose to world No. 1 and as a way of having the American play in Chile.

2008

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In 2008, Ríos came back to veteran's tour where he won the tournaments in Barcelona and Algarve. On 22 June 2008, he was defeated by Pete Sampras in the final of a seniors tournament in São Paulo, Brazil. Ríos ended the year as No. 3 in the veteran's world rankings.

On 24 June 2008, Ríos defeated Sampras in an exhibition match that commemorated the 10-year anniversary of having reached the No. 1 ranking in the world.

Personal life

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

Ríos met the 14-year-old Costa Rican Giuliana Sotela in September 1998 while he was training at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida. Ríos and Sotela got married in December 2000 in Santiago. They have a daughter, Constanza, who was born in June 2001. In March 2004, the marriage ended in divorce, which legally took place in Costa Rica, as Chile did not allow married couples the right of divorce until November 2004. During 2004, Ríos worked as a sports commentator for a radio station in Chile.

In April 2005, Ríos married model María Eugenia "Kenita" Larraín, a former fiancée of football player 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 injured when Ríos allegedly threw her out of his car while he was driving to visit his daughter. Ríos claimed that marrying Larraín was "the biggest mistake of my life." Ríos had previously been in a relationship with Larraín's cousin, Patricia Larraín, from 1995 to 1998.

In May 2008, Ríos married Paula Pavic.[6] They have five children together, daughter Isidora (born December 2008), daughter Colomba (born June 2010), and also triplets, which are a son named Marcelo jr. and two daughters named Antonella and Agustina (all born December 2011).[7][8] Ríos and Pavic divorced in 2023.

In March 2008, on the tenth anniversary of Ríos reaching the No. 1 ranking, journalist Nelson Flores published a book in Spanish titled El extraño del pelo largo (The strange man with long hair), recounting his experiences following the player from his junior days up to his ascent to the top of the ATP singles ranking.

In May 2014, Ríos said in an interview with El Mercurio that he could have Asperger's syndrome.[9] On 17 November 2016, he confirmed in an interview with Chilevisión that he was diagnosed with Asperger's twice in his life, as a child and during a Davis Cup tie, but he did not care that much until the 2014 interview.[10]

He relocated his family to Sarasota, Florida, in late 2018, according to the website tennis-prose.com.[citation needed]

Controversies

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Ríos' career was marked by a number of controversies.

  • In 1998, he fired his coach Larry Stefanki shortly after he became world No. 1, claiming that he wanted to go in a different direction.[11]
  • After achieving number one in singles, an Argentine reporter asked him what it felt like to be at the same status as Guillermo Vilas; he answered, "I've been compared to Vilas for a while now. I do not know him. All I know is that he was No. 2, and I'm No. 1."[12]
  • He was fined US$10,000 for speeding during the 1998 Stuttgart Indoor tournament.[13]
  • In a confusing incident, he ran over his physical trainer, Manuel Astorga, in his jeep, causing serious foot injuries. Astorga was later fired as trainer.[13]
  • After a magazine published some photos of him dancing seductively with a woman at a Paris disco, his girlfriend (later to be his first wife), Giuliana Sotela, broke up with him. During a Davis Cup press conference, Ríos read a letter, asking Sotela for forgiveness. He ended the press conference in tears.[14]
  • He was accused by his second wife, María Eugenia Larraín, of throwing her out of his car while driving to visit his daughter in Costa Rica. Larraín arrived at Santiago's airport in a dramatic fashion, in a wheelchair, and showing multiple bruises on her legs. He claimed that the bruises were not caused by him but were from a skiing accident.[13]
  • 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.[14]
  • He was arrested in Rome in 2001 after he punched a taxi driver on the nose and then had a fight with the policemen arresting him.[14]
  • 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 nude. As a consequence, the Chilean team missed a flight to Ecuador the following day. He later apologized for the incidents.[15][13]
  • 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.[13]
  • In 2018, Rios was fined $2,500 by the ITF after refusing to be interviewed in his then duty as an assistant to the Chilean Davis Cup team, and instead insulting journalists during a Davis Cup tie vs. Ecuador. He responded to the questions with: "As my personal friend Diego Maradona says, I never speak to reporters as you can all suck it."
  • In 2021, during an Instagram livestream, he accused Pamela Jiles, a Chilean deputy, of having tried to rape him as a 14-year-old, claiming that she had attempted to "take a shower" with him after an interview.[16]

Grand Slam finals

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Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

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Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1998 Australian Open Hard Czech Republic Petr Korda 2–6, 2–6, 2–6

Grand Slam Cup finals

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Singles: 1 (1–0)

[edit]
Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Win 1998 Munich Hard (i) United States Andre Agassi 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(7–1), 5–7, 6–3

Masters Series finals

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Singles: 7 (5–2)

[edit]
Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1997 Monte Carlo Masters Clay Spain Àlex Corretja 6–4, 6–3, 6–3
Loss 1997 Italian Open Clay Spain Àlex Corretja 5–7, 5–7, 3–6
Win 1998 Indian Wells Masters Hard United Kingdom Greg Rusedski 6–3, 6–7(15–17), 7–6(7–4), 6–4
Win 1998 Miami Open Hard United States Andre Agassi 7–5, 6–3, 6–4
Win 1998 Italian Open Clay Spain Albert Costa w/o
Loss 1999 Monte-Carlo Masters Clay Brazil Gustavo Kuerten 4–6, 1–2 ret.
Win 1999 German Open Clay Argentina Mariano Zabaleta 6–7(5–7), 7–5, 5–7, 7–6(7–5), 6–2

Career finals

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Singles: 31 (18 titles, 13 runner-ups)

[edit]
Legend
Grand Slam (0–1)
Grand Slam Cup (1–0)
ATP Masters Series (5–2)
ATP International Series Gold (2–1)
ATP International Series (10–9)
Fimals by surface
Hard (8–6)
Clay (9–7)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (1–0)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1. May 1995 Bologna Outdoor, Italy Clay Uruguay Marcelo Filippini 6–2, 6–4
Win 2. Jul 1995 Dutch Open, Netherlands Clay Netherlands Jan Siemerink 6–4, 7–5, 6–4
Win 3. Oct 1995 Kuala Lumpur Open, Malaysia Carpet (i) Australia Mark Philippoussis 7–6(8–6), 6–2
Loss 1. Oct 1995 Chile Open, Santiago Clay Czech Republic Sláva Doseděl 6–7(3–7), 3–6
Loss 2. Mar 1996 Tennis Channel Open, United States Hard South Africa Wayne Ferreira 6–2, 3–6, 3–6
Loss 3. Apr 1996 Barcelona Open, Spain Clay Austria Thomas Muster 3–6, 6–4, 4–6, 1–6
Win 4. May 1996 Sankt Pölten Open, Austria Clay Spain Fèlix Mantilla 6–2, 6–4
Loss 4. Nov 1996 Chile Open, Santiago Clay Argentina Hernán Gumy 4–6, 5–7
Loss 5. Feb 1997 Marseille Open, France Hard (i) Sweden Thomas Enqvist 4–6, 0–1 ret.
Win 5. Apr 1997 Monte Carlo Masters, Monaco Clay Spain Àlex Corretja 6–4, 6–3, 6–3
Loss 6. May 1997 Italian Open, Rome Clay Spain Àlex Corretja 5–7, 5–7, 3–6
Loss 7. Aug 1997 Boston, United States Hard Netherlands Sjeng Schalken 5–7, 3–6
Loss 8. Nov 1997 Chile Open, Santiago Clay Spain Julián Alonso 2–6, 1–6
Win 6. Jan 1998 Auckland Open, New Zealand Hard Australia Richard Fromberg 4–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–3)
Loss 9. Feb 1998 Australian Open, Melbourne Hard Czech Republic Petr Korda 2–6, 2–6, 2–6
Win 7. Mar 1998 Indian Wells Masters, United States Hard United Kingdom Greg Rusedski 6–3, 6–7(15–17), 7–6(7–4), 6–4
Win 8. Mar 1998 Miami Open, United States Hard United States Andre Agassi 7–5, 6–3, 6–4
Win 9. May 1998 Italian Open, Rome Clay Spain Albert Costa w/o
Win 10. May 1998 Sankt Pölten Open, Austria (2) Clay United States Vincent Spadea 6–2, 6–0
Win 11. Oct 1998 Grand Slam Cup, Munich Hard (i) United States Andre Agassi 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(7–1), 5–7, 6–3
Win 12. Oct 1998 Singapore Open Hard Australia Mark Woodforde 6–4, 6–2
Loss 10. Apr 1999 Monte-Carlo Masters, Monaco Clay Brazil Gustavo Kuerten 4–6, 1–2 ret.
Win 13. May 1999 Hamburg Masters, Germany Clay Argentina Mariano Zabaleta 6–7(5–7), 7–5, 5–7, 7–6(7–5), 6–2
Win 14. May 1999 Sankt Pölten Open, Austria (3) Clay Argentina Mariano Zabaleta 4–4 ret.
Loss 11. Oct 1999 Shanghai Open, China Hard Sweden Magnus Norman 6–2, 3–6, 5–7
Win 15. Oct 1999 Singapore Open (2) Hard Sweden Mikael Tillström 6–2, 7–6(7–5)
Win 16. Jul 2000 Croatia Open, Umag Clay Argentina Mariano Puerta 7–6(7–1), 4–6, 6–3
Win 17. Jan 2001 Qatar Open, Doha Hard Czech Republic Bohdan Ulihrach 6–3, 2–6, 6–3
Win 18. Sep 2001 Hong Kong Open, China Hard Germany Rainer Schüttler 7–6(7–3), 6–2
Loss 12. Oct 2002 Stockholm Open, Sweden Hard (i) Thailand Paradorn Srichaphan 7–6(7–2), 0–6, 3–6, 2–6
Loss 13. Feb 2003 Chile Open, Viña del Mar Clay Spain David Sánchez 6–1, 3–6, 3–6

Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

[edit]
Result Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win Jul 1995 Dutch Open, Netherlands Clay Netherlands Sjeng Schalken Australia Wayne Arthurs
Australia Neil Broad
7–6, 6–2
Loss Mar 2001 Tennis Channel Open, United States Hard Netherlands Sjeng Schalken United States Donald Johnson
United Kingdom Jared Palmer
6–7(3–7), 2–6

Team competitions (1 title)

[edit]
Result Date Tournament Surface Partners Opponents Score
Win May 2003 World Team Cup, Düsseldorf Clay Chile Fernando González
Chile Nicolás Massú
Czech Republic Jiří Novák
Czech Republic Radek Štěpánek
2–1
Result Date Championship Surface Opponent Score
Loss Aug 2003 Pan American Games, Santo Domingo Hard Brazil Fernando Meligeni 7–5, 6–7(6–8), 6–7(5–7)
Result Date Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss Aug 2003 Pan American Games, Santo Domingo Hard Chile Adrián García Mexico Santiago González
Mexico Alejandro Hernández
7–6(7–5), 2–6, 3–6

Singles performance timeline

[edit]
Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

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

Tournament 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 SR W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A 1R QF F A A 1R QF A A 0 / 5 14–5
French Open A 2R 2R 4R 4R QF QF 1R 2R A 1R A 0 / 9 17–9
Wimbledon A A 1R A 4R 1R A A A A A A 0 / 3 3–3
US Open A 2R 1R 2R QF 3R 4R 3R 3R 3R A A 0 / 9 17–9
Win–loss 2–2 1–3 4–3 14–4 12–4 7–2 2–2 3–3 6–2 0–1 0–0 0 / 26 51–26
Year-end championships
Tennis Masters Cup Did not qualify RR1 Did not qualify 0 / 1 0–1
Grand Slam Cup Did not qualify QF W A Not Held 1 / 2 4–1
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells Masters A A 3R SF 2R W 3R 2R 1R 3R 2R A 1 / 9 16–8
Miami Open A A 3R 3R 3R W 4R 4R 2R SF 4R A 1 / 9 20–7
Monte-Carlo Masters A A Q2 SF W A F 1R 2R3 3R A A 1 / 6 16–4
Italian Open A A 2R QF F W 1R 1R 2R A A A 1 / 7 15–6
German Open A A A SF 3R 2R W SF 2R A A A 1 / 6 14–5
Canadian Open A A A SF A A A 3R A 3R A A 0 / 3 7–3
Cincinnati Masters A A 1R A 3R 2R A 2R A 2R A A 0 / 5 4–5
Stuttgart Masters[a] A A A QF QF QF2 QF A 3R 2R A A 0 / 7 11–5
Paris Masters A A A 2R 2R QF 2R A A 1R A A 0 / 5 2–5
Win–loss 0–0 5–4 20–8 16–7 20–3 14–6 10–7 5–5 12–7 3–1 0–0 5 / 56 105–48
National Representation
Summer Olympics Not Held A Not Held 1R Not Held A 0 / 1 0–1
Davis Cup Z1 A Z1 Z1 PO Z1 PO PO PO Z1 Z1 A 0 / 10 25–10
Career statistics
Finals 0 0 4 4 5 8 5 1 2 1 1 0 31
Titles 0 0 3 1 1 7 3 1 2 0 0 0 18
Overall win–loss 0–1 12–11 41–21 57–25 60–26 68–17 47–18 29–23 31–19 32–21 14–10 0–0 391–192
Win % 0% 52% 66% 70% 70% 80% 72% 56% 62% 60% 58% 67.07%
Year-end ranking 562 107 25 11 10 2 9 37 39 24 105 842 $9,567,686

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.

Top 10 wins

[edit]
Season 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Total
Wins 0 0 0 5 5 4 2 0 4 1 1 0 22
# Player Rank Event Surface Rd Score Ríos
Rank
1996
1. Wayne Ferreira 10 Indian Wells, United States Hard QF 7–5, 7–5 20
2. Jim Courier 9 Barcelona, Spain Clay SF 7–6(7–5), 4–6, 7–6(7–5) 16
3. Boris Becker 5 Monte-Carlo, Monaco Clay 3R 6–4, 6–3 13
4. Wayne Ferreira 10 Hamburg, Germany Clay QF 3–6, 6–4, 6–4 11
5. Richard Krajicek 7 Stuttgart, Germany Carpet (i) 3R 6–4, 6–4 10
1997
6. Thomas Enqvist 9 Australian Open, Melbourne Hard 4R 4–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–4), 6–7(5–7), 6–3 11
7. Albert Costa 9 Monte-Carlo, Monaco Clay 3R 7–6(7–3), 6–4 10
8. Carlos Moyà 8 Monte-Carlo, Monaco Clay QF 6–4, 7–6(7–5) 10
9. Sergi Bruguera 8 US Open, New York Hard 4R 7–5, 6–2, 6–4 10
10. Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6 Stuttgart, Germany Carpet (i) 3R 7–6(8–6), 6–3 10
1998
11. Petr Korda 2 Indian Wells, United States Hard QF 6–4, 6–2 7
12. Greg Rusedski 6 Indian Wells, United States Hard F 6–3, 6–7(15–17), 7–6(7–4), 6–4 7
13. Gustavo Kuerten 9 Rome, Italy Clay SF 6–0, 7–5 3
14. Andre Agassi 8 Grand Slam Cup, Munich Hard (i) F 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(7–1), 5–7, 6–3 3
1999
15. Mark Philippoussis 8 Monte-Carlo, Monaco Clay QF 6–2, 6–7(2–7), 6–4 13
16. Carlos Moyà 6 Hamburg, Germany Clay SF 6–4, 7–6(7–4) 8
2001
17. Àlex Corretja 10 Washington D.C., United States Hard 3R 7–6(7–2), 6–3 64
18. Sébastien Grosjean 9 Hong Kong, China (S.A.R.) Hard QF 6–2, 6–3 58
19. Marat Safin 7 Stuttgart, Germany Hard (i) 2R 7–6(7–4), 6–3 46
20. Sébastien Grosjean 8 Stockholm, Sweden Hard (i) 2R 6–3, 6–4 44
2002
21. Yevgeny Kafelnikov 4 Miami, United States Hard 3R 6–4, 7–6(7–4) 33
2003
22. Juan Carlos Ferrero 3 Miami, United States Hard 3R 6–3, 7–6(7–2) 31

ATP Tour career earnings

[edit]
Year Majors ATP wins Total wins Earnings ($) Money list rank
1994 0 0 0
1995 0 3 3
1996 0 1 1
1997 0 1 1 $1,397,445 12
1998 0 6 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
2004 0 0 0
Career 0 17 18 $9,713,771

Records

[edit]
  • Ríos has the record for being the only player in history to have been world No. 1 as a junior, as a professional and as a senior
  • He was the first Latin American to reach the world No. 1 ranking, first achieved on 30 March 1998
  • He was the first player to win all three clay-court ATP Masters Series since the format started in 1990
  • He is the only ATP-ranked No. 1 player not to win a Grand Slam title

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Held as Stuttgart Masters from 1996 to 2001, held as Madrid Masters from 2002 onwards.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Rivera, José Luis (29 March 2016). "Marcelo Ríos y el ATP de Chile: La frustración del 'Chino' estuvo en casa" [Marcelo Ríos and the Chile Open: frustration of El Chino was at home] (in Spanish). Radio Bío-Bío. Retrieved 19 August 2018. For the record, it will stand that Ríos did obtain a title within our borderlands, if we consider his win at the Santiago Challenger in 2001 to argentine Edgardo Massa.
  2. ^ "Ex-No.1 Rios seeks '98 doping test for Korda". 5 March 2015.
  3. ^ "Former World No.1 Marcelo Rios Announces Comeback at the Age of 43". 21 December 2018.
  4. ^ "El Chino vence a Lapentti en una emotiva exhibición". 22 December 2018.
  5. ^ "McEnroe angry over young seniors". BBC Sport. 7 December 2006.
  6. ^ "Marcelo Ríos se casó en ceremonia íntima y bajo estricto secreto" (in Spanish). La Tercera. 9 May 2009.
  7. ^ "Marcelo Ríos será padre por tercera vez: su esposa tiene tres meses de embarazo" (in Spanish). Globedia. 6 September 2009. Archived from the original on 13 August 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  8. ^ Mario Brisso; Eduardo Urtubia (1 August 2010). "Marcelo Ríos: "Los González quieren hacer millonadas con la Davis"" (in Spanish). La Tercera.
  9. ^ Chernin, Andrew; Alvújar, José (10 May 2014). "Creo que soy Asperger" [I think I'm an Asperger]. Sábado (in Spanish). No. 816. Santiago de Chile. El Mercurio. pp. 4–9. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  10. ^ Massis, Diana (17 November 2016). "El Cubo – Marcelo Ríos". Chilevisión (in Spanish). Archived from the original (video) on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2017. I've been diagnosed with this when I was a kid, but I let it pass. I remember that at the Davis Cup we had a psychologist who made us some exams and she told me that I had Asperger. I didn't know what it meant and didn't care. But now I've researched about it, and I realized that out of 50 things, I had 60.
  11. ^ Christopher Clarey (7 September 1998). "U.S. Open; Rios, Once No. 1, Continues in His Slump". The New York Times.
  12. ^ "Ríos versus Vilas: Las polémicas que han dividido a los dos grandes tenistas latinoamericanos" (in Spanish). El Mercurio. 26 May 2015. Hace rato que me vienen comparando con Guillermo Vilas y para ser sincero no lo conozco mucho (...) lo único que sé es que él fue número dos y yo soy el uno del mundo
  13. ^ a b c d e El escándalo tras regreso de Kenita
  14. ^ a b c "¿Cuánto sabe del lado B del Chino?". La Nación (in Spanish). 11 February 2007. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
  15. ^ "Marcelo Ríos pidió disculpas al equipo y a su familia" (in Spanish). terra. 30 January 2002.
  16. ^ Ovalle, Christian (26 March 2021). "'Chino' Ríos y polémica con Pamela Jiles: confirma invitación a tina pero niega "violación"". Radio Bío-Bío (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 August 2021.
[edit]
Preceded by
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras
World No. 1
30 March 1998 – 26 April 1998
10 August 1998 – 23 August 1998
Succeeded by
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras
Preceded by ATP Champions Tour
Year-End No.1

2006
Succeeded by