Corina Morariu

Corina Morariu
Morariu at the 2009 US Open
Full nameCorina Maria Morariu
Country (sports) United States
ResidenceBoca Raton, Florida, U.S.
Born (1978-01-26) January 26, 1978
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Turned pro1994
Retired2007
PlaysRight (one-handed backhand)
Prize money$1,733,916
Singles
Career record160–134
Career titles1 WTA, 5 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 29 (August 24, 1998)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (1998)
French Open2R (1998, 2000, 2003)
Wimbledon3R (1998, 1999)
US Open2R (1997)
Doubles
Career record248–158
Career titles13 WTA, 9 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 1 (April 3, 2000)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenF (2001, 2005)
French OpenSF (2005)
WimbledonW (1999)
US OpenQF (1999, 2002, 2005, 2007)
Mixed doubles
Career record21–22
Career titles1
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian OpenW (2001)
French OpenQF (2003, 2005)
Wimbledon3R (2006)
US OpenSF (2002, 2005)

Corina Maria Morariu (born January 26, 1978) is an American former professional tennis player.

Morariu (pronounced: mo-RA-R'ju) was born in Detroit, Michigan and is of Romanian descent.[1] She 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.[2]

In 2001, Morariu was diagnosed with leukemia and began a program of chemotherapy.[3] During this time, Jennifer Capriati dedicated her 2001 French Open victory to Morariu.[4] After recovering from cancer, along with shoulder surgery, Morariu was largely restricted to doubles play.[2] The WTA then created the Corina Comeback Award, which was presented to Morariu by Capriati.[5]

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.[5] Following her retirement, she began working as a commentator for Tennis Channel.[6]

Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)

Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1999 Wimbledon Grass Lindsay Davenport Mariaan de Swardt
Elena Tatarkova
6–4, 6–4
Loss 2001 Australian Open Hard Lindsay Davenport Serena Williams
Venus Williams
2–6, 6–2, 4–6
Loss 2005 Australian Open Hard Lindsay Davenport Svetlana Kuznetsova
Alicia Molik
3–6, 4–6

Mixed doubles: 1 (title)

Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 2001 Australian Open Hard Ellis Ferreira Barbara Schett
Joshua Eagle
6–1, 6–3

WTA Tour finals

Singles: 4 (1–3)

Legend
Tier I (0–0)
Tier II (0–0)
Tier III (0–1)
Tier IV (1–2)
Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 May 1997 Bol Ladies Open, Croatia Clay Mirjana Lučić 5–7, 7–6(9–7), 6–7(5–7)
Loss 0–2 Apr 1998 Japan Open, Tokyo Hard Ai Sugiyama 3–6, 3–6
Loss 0–3 May 1998 Bol Ladies Open, Croatia Clay Mirjana Lučić 2–6, 4–6
Win 1–3 May 1999 Bol Ladies Open, Croatia Clay Julie Halard-Decugis 6–2, 6–0

Doubles: 20 (13–7)

Legend
Grand Slam (1–2)
Tier I (1–2)
Tier II (3–2)
Tier III (7–1)
Tier IV (1–0)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1. Apr 1997 Japan Open, Tokyo Hard Kerry-Anne Guse Alexia Dechaume-Balleret
Rika Hiraki
4–6, 2–6
Win 1. Nov 1997 Pattaya Open, Thailand Hard Kristine Kunce Florencia Labat
Dominique Monami
6–3, 6–4
Win 2. Jan 1999 Brisbane International, Australia Hard Larisa Neiland Kristine Kunce
Irina Spîrlea
6–3, 6–4
Win 3. Apr 1999 Japan Open, Tokyo Hard Kimberly Po Kerry-Anne Guse
Catherine Barclay
6–3, 6–2
Win 4. Jun 1999 Birmingham Classic, UK Grass Larisa Neiland Inés Gorrochategui
Alexandra Fusai
6–4, 6–4
Win 5. Jul 1999 Wimbledon Championships, UK Grass Lindsay Davenport Mariaan de Swardt
Elena Tatarkova
6–4, 6–4
Win 6. Jul 1999 Stanford Classic, U.S. Hard Lindsay Davenport Anna Kournikova
Elena Likhovtseva
6–4, 6–4
Win 7. Aug 1999 San Diego Open, U.S. Hard Lindsay Davenport Venus Williams
Serena Williams
6–4, 6–1
Win 8. Feb 2000 Cellular South Cup, U.S. Hard (i) Kimberly Po Tamarine Tanasugarn
Elena Tatarkova
6–4, 4–6, 6–2
Win 9. Mar 2000 Indian Wells Open, U.S. Hard Lindsay Davenport Anna Kournikova
Natasha Zvereva
6–2, 6–3
Win 10. May 2000 Bol Ladies Open, Croatia Clay Julie Halard-Decugis Katarina Srebotnik
Tina Križan
6–2, 6–2
Loss 2. May 2000 German Open, Berlin Clay Amanda Coetzer Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
Conchita Martínez
6–3, 2–6, 6–7(7–9)
Win 11. Oct 2000 Japan Open, Tokyo Hard Julie Halard-Decugis Tina Križan
Katarina Srebotnik
6–1, 6–2
Loss 3. Jan 2001 Australian Open, Melbourne Hard Lindsay Davenport Serena Williams
Venus Williams
2–6, 6–2, 4–6
Loss 4. Nov 2004 Philadelphia Championships, U.S. Hard (i) Liezel Huber Lisa Raymond
Alicia Molik
5–7, 4–6
Loss 5. Jan 2005 Australian Open, Melbourne Hard Lindsay Davenport Svetlana Kuznetsova
Alicia Molik
3–6, 4–6
Loss 6. Feb 2005 Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo Carpet (i) Lindsay Davenport Janette Husárová
Elena Likhovtseva
4–6, 3–6
Win 12. Jan 2006 Sydney International, Australia Hard Rennae Stubbs Paola Suárez
Virginia Ruano Pascual
6–3, 5–7, 6–2
Win 13. Sep 2006 Bali Classic, Indonesia Hard Lindsay Davenport Natalie Grandin
Trudi Musgrave
6–3, 6–4
Loss 7. Oct 2006 Ladies Linz, Austria Hard (i) Katarina Srebotnik Lisa Raymond
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 (5–0)

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

Doubles (9–4)

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

Doubles 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.
Tournament 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 SR W–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)[5]
  • The 2002 WTA Tour Comeback Player of the Year Award[5]

References

  1. ^ Roberts, John (December 19, 2003). "Morariu returns after leukaemia battle". The Independent. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  2. ^ a b DeSimone, Bonnie (March 26, 2007). "Corina Morariu happy to be on tour". ESPN. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  3. ^ Banerjee, Sudeshna (July 28, 2009). "Corina Morariu: The Braveheart Who Defied Death". Bleacherreport.com. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  4. ^ DeSimone, Bonnie (May 26, 2002). "She won't stay down for long". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  5. ^ a b c d "WTA Profile". wtatennis.com. Archived from the original on April 13, 2012. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  6. ^ Thurmond, Sarah (February 12, 2010). "Q&A With Corina Morariu, Cancer Survivor and Former Pro". tennis.com. Retrieved March 19, 2012.

Publications

  • Morariu, Corina (2010). Living through the Racket: How I Survived Leukemia…and Rediscovered My Self. Hay House Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4019-2649-6.