Information AboutAlbert Costa |
Álbert Costa Casals (born June 25 1975 , in Lerida , Spain ) is a professional Tennis player from Spain. He is best remembered for winning the men's singles title at the French Open in 2002 . Costa began playing tennis at the age of five. He first came to the tennis world's attention as an outstanding junior player. In 1993 , he reached the French Open Junior final and won the prestigious Orange Bowl. He turned professional later that year, and quickly began establishing a repuatation as a strong Clay Court player. In 1994 , he won two challenger series events was named the ATP 's Newcomer of the Year. Costa won his first top-level singles title in 1995 at Kitzbühel . He won three further titles in 1996 . In 1997 , he won another two singles titles and was part of the Spanish team which won the World Team Cup . He won another two singles titles in 1998 , including the Tennis Masters Series event in Hamburg . Three further titles followed in 1999 . In 2000 , Costa helped Spain win its first-ever Davis Cup . He also captured a Bronze Medal in the men's doubles at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney , partnering Álex Corretja . Going into the French Open in 2002, Costa had not won a tour title since 1999 and was not considered to be among the favourites. In the fourth round, he faced defending-champion Gustavo Kuerten and won in straight sets. He followed this up with a five-set victory over Argentina's Guillermo Canas in the quarter-finals. He then faced fellow-Spaniard and long-time friend Álex Corretja in the semi-finals and won in four sets. In the final, Costa came up against another Spaniard, Juan Carlos Ferrero . Ferrero had been in fine form in the run-up to the event and most observers considered him to be the heavy favourite going into the final. But Costa seized his moment and won in four sets – 6-1, 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 – to claim his first (and only) Grand Slam title. The win propelled him to his career-high singles ranking of World No. 6 in July 2002. Five days after his 2002 French Open triumph, Costa married his long-time girlfriend Cristina Ventura. Corretja was the best man at the wedding. The couple have twin daughters, Claudia and Alma, who were born in April 2001 . Coming into the French Open as defending-champion in 2003 , Costa spent a total of 21 hours and 15 minutes on court, winning four five-setters before eventually being knocked-out in the semi-finals by Ferrero (who would go on to win the title). During his career, Costa has won 12 top-level singles titles. In 2005 , he captured his first tour doubles title (in Doha , partnering Rafael Nadal ). Citing recurring injuries and lack of desire, he officially announced his retirement from competitive professional tennis on April 21, 2006, at the completion of the Open Seat 2006 in his hometown in Barcelona. Costa in his last tournament defeated American Vince Spadea and Slovakian Dominik Hrbatý before losing 6-1 5-7 7-5 to fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero in the third round and he played his last competitive match against the man he arguably achieved his greatest career triumph. Costa has expressed desire to become the Spanish Davis Cup captain as well as to join the fledgling Merrill Lynch Tour of Champions for senior players. SINGLES TITLES (12) EXTERNAL LINKS |
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