# Alberto Berasategui

Alberto Berasategui Salazar (born 28 June 1973) is a former top-10 professional tennis player from Spain. He was a Grand Slam finalist at the 1994 French Open, and won a total of 14 ATP singles titles, achieving a career-high singles ranking of world No. 7 in November 1994.

## Tennis career

Berasategui won a total of 14 top-level singles titles and one tour doubles title. All of them, as well as all losses in finals, were on clay. He won at least one singles title for six consecutive years (1993–1998). He began playing tennis at age seven and was the European junior champion in 1991. He turned professional later that year, and won his first top-level singles title in 1993, two years later.
In 1994, Berasategui reached nine finals, winning seven of them. He also reached his first Grand Slam final at the French Open, where he defeated Wayne Ferreira, Cédric Pioline, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Javier Frana, Goran Ivanišević and Magnus Larsson to face fellow Spaniard and defending champion Sergi Bruguera who defeated him in four sets.
Berasategui retired from the professional tour in May 2001, having had persistent wrist injuries since his match with Hernán Gumy at the Bologna tournament in June 1998. The injuries had an adverse effect on his results and form, and had caused his consistency and ranking to decline. He also suffered severe cramps of unknown origin in long matches.

## Playing style

Berasategui was known for his extreme western grip, known as the "Hawaiian grip", where his unusual hold on the racket would allow him to hit both forehands and backhands with the same side of the racket. This helped him on clay, but he did not have much of an impact on other surfaces except for a quarterfinals appearance at the 1998 Australian Open, after having beaten world No. 2, Patrick Rafter in four sets in the third round, and came back from two sets down to beat the 1995 Australian Open champion, former and future world No. 1, Andre Agassi, in the fourth round. He lost in quarterfinals to Marcelo Ríos after winning a tight first-set tiebreak.

## Grand Slam finals
### Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | 1994 | French Open | Clay | Sergi Bruguera | 3–6, 5–7, 6–2, 1–6 |

## ATP career finals
### Singles: 23 (14 titles, 9 runner-ups)

* Legend
* Grand Slam Tournaments (0–1)
* ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
* ATP Masters Series(0–0)
* ATP Championship Series (1–1)
* ATP World Series (13–7)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (0–0)
* Clay (14–9)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
* Finals by setting
* Outdoors (14–9)
* Indoors (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Aug 1993 | Umag, Croatia | World Series | Clay | Thomas Muster | 5–7, 6–3, 3–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Oct 1993 | Athens, Greece | World Series | Clay | Jordi Arrese | 4–6, 6–3, 3–6 |
| Win | 1–2 | Nov 1993 | São Paulo, Brazil | World Series | Clay | Sláva Doseděl | 6–4, 6–3 |
| Loss | 1–3 | Nov 1993 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | World Series | Clay | Carlos Costa | 6–3, 1–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 2–3 | Apr 1994 | Nice, France | World Series | Clay | Jim Courier | 6–4, 6–2 |
| Loss | 2–4 | May 1994 | Bologna, Italy | World Series | Clay | Javier Sánchez | 6–7$^{(3–7)}$, 6–4, 3–6 |
| Loss | 2–5 | Jun 1994 | Paris, France | Grand Slam | Clay | Sergi Bruguera | 3–6, 5–7, 6–2, 1–6 |
| Win | 3–5 | Jul 1994 | Stuttgart, Germany | Championship Series | Clay | Andrea Gaudenzi | 7–5, 6–3, 7–6$^{(7–5)}$ |
| Win | 4–5 | Aug 1994 | Umag, Croatia | World Series | Clay | Karol Kučera | 6–2, 6–4 |
| Win | 5–5 | Oct 1994 | Palermo, Italy | World Series | Clay | Àlex Corretja | 2–6, 7–6$^{(8–6)}$, 6–4 |
| Win | 6–5 | Oct 1994 | Athens, Greece | World Series | Clay | Óscar Martínez | 4–6, 7–6$^{(7–4)}$, 6–3 |
| Win | 7–5 | Oct 1994 | Santiago, Chile | World Series | Clay | Francisco Clavet | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 8–5 | Nov 1994 | Montevideo, Uruguay | World Series | Clay | Francisco Clavet | 6–4, 6–0 |
| Win | 9–5 | Jun 1995 | Porto, Portugal | World Series | Clay | Carlos Costa | 3–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
| Loss | 9–6 | Nov 1995 | Montevideo, Uruguay | World Series | Clay | Bohdan Ulihrach | 2–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 10–6 | Jun 1996 | Bologna, Italy | World Series | Clay | Carlos Costa | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 11–6 | Jul 1996 | Kitzbühel, Austria | World Series | Clay | Àlex Corretja | 6–2, 6–4, 6–4 |
| Win | 12–6 | Sep 1996 | Bucharest, Romania | World Series | Clay | Carlos Moyà | 6–1, 7–6$^{(7–5)}$ |
| Loss | 12–7 | Sep 1997 | Marbella, Spain | World Series | Clay | Albert Costa | 3–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 13–7 | Oct 1997 | Palermo, Italy | World Series | Clay | Dominik Hrbatý | 6–4, 6–2 |
| Win | 14–7 | Apr 1998 | Estoril, Portugal | World Series | Clay | Thomas Muster | 3–6, 6–1, 6–3 |
| Loss | 14–8 | Apr 1998 | Barcelona, Spain | Championship Series | Clay | Todd Martin | 2–6, 6–1, 3–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 14–9 | Oct 1999 | Palermo, Italy | World Series | Clay | Arnaud Di Pasquale | 1–6, 3–6 |

### Doubles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-ups)

* Legend
* Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
* ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
* ATP Masters Series(0–0)
* ATP Championship Series (1–0)
* ATP World Series (0–3)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (0–0)
* Clay (1–3)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
* Finals by setting
* Outdoors (1–3)
* Indoors (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Apr 1997 | Barcelona, Spain | Championship Series | Clay | Jordi Burillo | Pablo Albano Àlex Corretja | 6–3, 7–5 |
| Loss | 1–1 | Sep 1997 | Marbella, Spain | World Series | Clay | Jordi Burillo | Karim Alami Julian Alonso | 6–4, 3–6, 0–6 |
| Loss | 1–2 | Sep 1998 | Bournemouth, United Kingdom | World Series | Clay | Wayne Arthurs | Neil Broad Kevin Ullyett | 6–7, 3–6 |
| Loss | 1–3 | Sep 1999 | Mallorca, Spain | World Series | Clay | Francisco Roig | Lucas Arnold Ker Tomas Carbonell | 1–6, 4–6 |

## ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
### Singles: 10 (7–3)

* Legend
* ATP Challenger (7–3)
* ITF Futures (0–0)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (0–0)
* Clay (7–3)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Oct 1992 | Reggio Calabria, Italy | Challenger | Clay | Roberto Azar | 4–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | Feb 1993 | Mar del Plata, Argentina | Challenger | Clay | Martin Stringari | 6–2, 7–5 |
| Win | 2–1 | Aug 1993 | Graz, Austria | Challenger | Clay | Carlos Costa | 6–4, 6–3 |
| Win | 3–1 | Sep 1994 | Barcelona, Spain | Challenger | Clay | Carl-Uwe Steeb | 6–3, 7–5 |
| Win | 4–1 | Jun 1996 | Braunschweig, Germany | Challenger | Clay | Jozsef Krocsko | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Win | 5–1 | Jul 1996 | Venice, Italy | Challenger | Clay | Javier Sánchez | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Loss | 5–2 | Oct 1996 | Cairo, Egypt | Challenger | Clay | Fernando Meligeni | 6–3, 1–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 6–2 | Jun 1997 | Zagreb, Croatia | Challenger | Clay | Ivan Ljubicic | 6–1, 6–2 |
| Win | 7–2 | Oct 1997 | Cairo, Egypt | Challenger | Clay | Karim Alami | 7–5, 6–3 |
| Loss | 7–3 | Nov 2000 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Challenger | Clay | Guillermo Coria | 1–6, 6–4, 4–6 |

### Doubles: 1 (1–0)

* Legend
* ATP Challenger (1–0)
* ITF Futures (0–0)
* Finals by surface
* Hard (0–0)
* Clay (1–0)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Oct 1996 | Cairo, Egypt | Challenger | Clay | German Puentes-Alcaniz | Branislav Galik Borut Urh | 6–0, 6–0 |

## Performance timeline

Key :
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |

### Singles

| Tournament | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | SR | W–L | Win % |
| Grand Slam tournaments |||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | 3R | QF | 1R | 1R | 0 / 4 | 6–4 | 60% |
| French Open | 1R | 2R | F | 3R | 3R | 1R | 4R | 4R | 1R | 0 / 9 | 17–9 | 65% |
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| US Open | A | 2R | 1R | A | 2R | 1R | 1R | A | A | 0 / 5 | 2–5 | 29% |
| Win–loss | 0–1 | 2–2 | 6–2 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 7–3 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 0 / 19 | 25–19 | 46% |
| Year-end Championships |||||||||||||
| Tennis Masters Cup | DNQ | DNQ | RR | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 0 / 1 | 0–3 | 0% |
| ATP Masters Series |||||||||||||
| Indian Wells | A | A | 1R | 3R | 1R | QF | 1R | 1R | A | 0 / 6 | 4–6 | 40% |
| Miami | A | A | 3R | 3R | A | 2R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 0 / 6 | 2–6 | 100% |
| Monte Carlo | A | A | 3R | 3R | 1R | 2R | SF | 1R | 1R | 0 / 7 | 8–7 | 53% |
| Rome | A | A | 2R | 2R | 2R | SF | SF | 2R | Q1 | 0 / 6 | 11–6 | 65% |
| Hamburg | 2R | A | 1R | 2R | 2R | QF | 3R | 3R | A | 0 / 7 | 8–7 | 53% |
| Canada | A | A | A | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50% |
| Cincinnati | A | A | A | 3R | A | A | 1R | A | A | 0 / 2 | 2–2 | 50% |
| Stuttgart | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | A | A | A | 0 / 3 | 1–3 | 25% |
| Paris | A | A | A | A | 3R | 1R | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 2–2 | 50% |
| Win–loss | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–5 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 11–7 | 9–6 | 3–5 | 0–2 | 0 / 40 | 39–40 | 49% |
| Year-end Ranking | 115 | 36 | 8 | 32 | 19 | 23 | 21 | 60 | 153 | Career Earnings: $4,676,187 | Career Earnings: $4,676,187 | Career Earnings: $4,676,187 |

### Doubles

| Tournament | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | SR | W–L | Win % |
| Grand Slam tournaments |||||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | 1R | A | 1R | 0 / 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| French Open | A | A | A | 1R | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| US Open | A | 3R | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 2–1 | 67% |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0 / 4 | 2–4 | 33% |
| ATP Masters Series |||||||||
| Miami | A | A | 1R | A | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Monte Carlo | A | A | A | 1R | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Hamburg | A | QF | 2R | A | A | 0 / 2 | 3–2 | 60% |
| Rome | Q2 | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Canada | Q2 | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0 / 2 | 3–4 | 43% |