Iva Majoli

Iva Majoli-Marić (born 12 August 1977) is a former professional tennis player from Croatia who played for both Yugoslavia and Croatia. She upset Martina Hingis to win the women's singles title at the French Open in 1997. Majoli also won seven other singles titles and one doubles title during her career. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4, in February 1996.[1]

Iva Majoli
Country (sports) Yugoslavia (1990–1991)
 Croatia (1992–2015)
ResidenceZagreb, Croatia
Bradenton, Florida
Born (1977-08-12) 12 August 1977
Zagreb, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Turned proAugust 1991
RetiredJune 2004
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$4,405,867
Singles
Career record316–225 (58.4%)
Career titles8
Highest rankingNo. 4 (5 February 1996)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQF (1996)
French OpenW (1997)
WimbledonQF (1997)
US Open4R (1994)
Other tournaments
Tour FinalsQF (1997)
Olympic GamesQF (1996)
Doubles
Career record99–124 (44.4%)
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 24 (21 August 1995)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open3R (1998)
French Open3R (1997, 2002, 2003)
WimbledonQF (2001)
US OpenQF (1997)
Team competitions
Fed CupQF (1999, 1996)
Hopman CupW (1996)

Career

Majoli was born in Zagreb in SR Croatia, Yugoslavia. As a girl, she was trained by Jelena Genčić. Iva turned professional in September 1990 at the age of 13 when she played her first professional match in Makarska, representing Yugoslavia, losing in the first round to Ruxandra Dragomir. Aged 19, she won the 1997 French Open singles title, defeating Sandra Kleinová, Alexandra Fusai, Ann Grossman, Lindsay Davenport, Ruxandra Dragomir and Amanda Coetzer before beating the 16-year-old Martina Hingis in straight sets, 6–4, 6–2. Majoli played aggressively from the baseline to end Hingis's 37-match winning streak and hand her opponent her first defeat in a final of a Grand Slam.

Majoli played her best tennis as a teenager, reaching her career high ranking of world No. 4 in 1996. After a quarterfinal appearance at the 1998 French Open, she failed to reach the fourth round of any subsequent Grand Slam singles tournament. In 2002, ranked world No. 58, Majoli defeated Patty Schnyder, in the final of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina. The victory increased Majoli's ranking to world No. 33, but her game steadily declined thereafter, with her ranking plummeting to No. 131 in 2003. In the final years of her tennis career, Majoli suffered from a series of injuries – most notably a shoulder injury – and struggled to play consistently. On June 12, 2004, she announced her retirement from the game.

In 2006, she announced that she was engaged and pregnant with her first child. She married a local businessman, Stipe Marić, on 9 September 2006, with Jennifer Capriati and Mary Pierce attending the wedding. She gave birth to her daughter Mia on 31 October 2006.

In 2007, Majoli participated in the second season of the Croatian version of Dancing with the Stars. Her partner was Marko Herceg. She was eliminated in the fourth episode.

In 2012, she was selected to be the non-playing captain of the Croatian Fed Cup team.

Majoli made a comeback in professional tennis at the 2015 Kremlin Cup, where she received a wildcard with Anastasia Bukhanko in the doubles draw.

Significant finals

Singles: 1 (title)
Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Win 1997 French Open Clay Martina Hingis 6–4, 6–2

Singles: 3 (3 titles)
Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1995 Zurich Open Carpet (i) Mary Pierce 6–4, 6–4
Win 1996 Pan Pacific Open Carpet (i) Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6–4, 6–1
Win 2002 Charleston Open Clay Patty Schnyder 7–6(7–5), 6–4

WTA career finals

Singles: 17 (8 titles, 9 runner-ups)
Legend
Grand Slam (1–0)
Tier I (3–0)
Tier II (4–5)
Tier III, IV & V (0–4)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–1)
Grass (0–0)
Clay (3–3)
Carpet (4–5)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1. 7 February 1994 Osaka Open, Japan Carpet (i) Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere 1–6, 6–4, 5–7
Loss 2. 18 April 1994 Spanish Open Clay Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 0–6, 2–6
Loss 3. 24 October 1994 Essen Grand Prix, Germany Carpet (i) Jana Novotná 2–6, 4–6
Loss 4. 24 April 1995 Spanish Open Clay Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 7–5, 0–6, 2–6
Win 1. 2 October 1995 Zurich Open, Switzerland Carpet (i) Mary Pierce 6–4, 6–4
Win 2. 9 October 1995 Filderstadt, Germany Hard (i) Gabriela Sabatini 6–4, 7–6(7–4)
Win 3. 29 January 1996 Pan Pacific Open, Japan Carpet (i) Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6–4, 6–1
Loss 5. 12 February 1996 Paris Indoors, France Carpet (i) Julie Halard-Decugis 5–7, 6–7(4–7)
Win 4. 19 February 1996 Essen Grand Prix, Germany Carpet (i) Jana Novotná 7–5, 1–6, 7–6(8–6)
Loss 6. 30 September 1996 Leipzig, Germany Carpet (i) Anke Huber 7–5, 3–6, 1–6
Win 5. 17 February 1997 Hanover, Germany Carpet (i) Jana Novotná 4–6, 7–6(7–2), 6–4
Win 6. 28 April 1997 Hamburg, Germany Clay Ruxandra Dragomir 6–3, 6–2
Win 7. 26 May 1997 French Open Clay Martina Hingis 6–4, 6–2
Loss 7. 6 November 2000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Hard Henrieta Nagyová 4–6, 2–6
Loss 8. 17 September 2001 Tournoi de Québec, Canada Carpet (i) Meghann Shaughnessy 1–6, 3–6
Win 8. 15 April 2002 Charleston Open, U.S. Clay Patty Schnyder 7–6(7–5), 6–4
Loss 9. 29 April 2002 Bol Open, Croatia Clay Åsa Svensson 3–6, 6–4, 1–6

Doubles: 5 (1 title, 4 runner-ups)
Legend
Grand Slam (0–0)
Tier I (0–1)
Tier II (1–2)
Tier III, IV & V (0–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–1)
Grass (0–0)
Clay (0–2)
Carpet (1–1)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1 20 February 1995 Linz Open, Austria Carpet (i) Petra Schwarz Meredith McGrath
Nathalie Tauziat		 1–6, 2–6
Loss 2. 24 April 1995 Spanish Open Clay Mariaan de Swardt Larisa Neiland
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario		 5–7, 6–4, 5–7
Loss 3. 14 August 1995 Canadian Open Hard Martina Hingis Gabriela Sabatini
Brenda Schultz-McCarthy		 6–4, 0–6, 3–6
Loss 4. 28 April 1997 Hamburg, Germany Clay Ruxandra Dragomir Anke Huber
Mary Pierce		 6–4, 6–7(1–7), 2–6
Win 1. 5 February 2001 Paris Indoor, France Carpet (i) Virginie Razzano Kimberly Po
Nathalie Tauziat		 6–3, 7–5

ITF finals
$75,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Singles (2–4)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1. 12 January 1992 ITF Woodlands, United States Hard Elena Savoldi 4–6, 4–6
Winner 2. 21 June 1992 ITF Augusta, United States Clay Beverly Bowes 7–6(7), 7–6(5)
Winner 3. 19 July 1992 ITF Evansville, United States Hard Ai Sugiyama 6–3, 6–1
Runner-up 4. 15 October 2000 ITF Poitiers, France Hard (i) Ľudmila Cervanová 6–4, 3–6, 2–6
Runner-up 5. 10 December 2000 ITF Cergy-Pontoise, France Hard (i) Virginie Razzano 6–3, 4–6, 3–6
Runner-up 6. 1 February 2004 ITF Bergamo, Italy Carpet (i) Lucie Šafářová 6–3, 6–7(1), 1–6

Doubles (0–1)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 1. 1 February 2004 ITF Bergamo, Italy Carpet (i) Sanda Mamić Alberta Brianti
Kildine Chevalier		 4–6, 4–6

Grand Slam singles performance timeline
Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
Tournament1992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004Career SRW–L
Australian Open A A A A QF 1R 3R A A 3R 2R 1R A 0 / 6 9–6
French Open A 4R 4R QF QF W QF A 2R 1R 2R 2R A 1 / 10 28–9
Wimbledon A A 1R 1R A QF 2R A A 1R 3R 1R A 0 / 7 7–7
US Open 2R 2R 4R 1R 1R 2R 2R 1R A 3R 3R 1R A 0 / 11 11–11
Win–loss 1–1 4–2 6–3 4–3 8–3 12–3 8–4 0–1 1–1 4–4 6–4 1–4 0–0 1 / 34 55–33
Year-end ranking 50 46 13 9 8 6 25 163 73 42 32 131 315

References
  1. "Iva Majoli, 1997 French Open champ, calls it quits". Sports Illustrated. June 29, 2004. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
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