Corina Morariu

Corina Morariu
	Morariu at the 2009 US Open
Full name	Corina Maria Morariu
Country (sports)	United States
Residence	Boca Raton, Florida, U.S.
Born	January 26, 1978 (age 46); Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Turned pro	1994
Retired	2007
Plays	Right-handed (single handed backhand)
Prize money	$1,733,916
Singles
Career record	160–134 (54.4%)
Career titles	1 WTA, 5 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 29 (24 August 1998)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	2R (1998)
French Open	2R (1998, 2000, 2003)
Wimbledon	3R (1998, 1999)
US Open	2R (1997)
Doubles
Career record	248–158 (61.1%)
Career titles	13 WTA, 9 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 1 (3 April 2000)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	F (2001, 2005)
French Open	SF (2005)
Wimbledon	W (1999)
US Open	QF (1999, 2002, 2005, 2007)
Mixed doubles
Career record	21–22
Career titles	1
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open	W (2001)
French Open	QF (2003, 2005)
Wimbledon	3R (2006)
US Open	SF (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 career finals

Singles: 4 (1–3)

Legend
Tier I (0–0)
Tier II (0–0)
Tier III (0–1)
Tier IV (1–2)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	May 1997	Croatian Bol Ladies Open	Clay	Mirjana Lučić	5–7, 7–6^(9–7), 6–7^(5–7)
Loss	2.	April 1998	Japan Open, Tokyo	Hard	Ai Sugiyama	3–6, 3–6
Loss	3.	May 1998	Croatian Bol Ladies Open	Clay	Mirjana Lučić	2–6, 4–6
Win	1.	May 1999	Croatian Bol Ladies Open	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 Masters, U.S.	Hard	Lindsay Davenport	Anna Kournikova Natasha Zvereva	6–2, 6–3
Win	10.	May 2000	Croatian Bol Ladies Open	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	Generali 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)

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

Doubles (9–4)

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

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

External links

Corina Morariu at the Women's Tennis Association
Corina Morariu at the International Tennis Federation
Corina Morariu at the Billie Jean King Cup

[1] Roberts, John (19 December 2003). "Morariu returns after leukaemia battle". The Independent. Retrieved 17 February 2021.

[espn-2] DeSimone, Bonnie (26 March 2007). "Corina Morariu happy to be on tour". ESPN. Retrieved 19 March 2012.

[sports-3] Banerjee, Sudeshna (28 July 2009). "Corina Morariu: The Braveheart Who Defied Death". Bleacherreport.com. Retrieved 21 April 2012.

[4] DeSimone, Bonnie (26 May 2002). "She won't stay down for long". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 19 March 2012.

[wta-5] "WTA Profile". wtatennis.com. Archived from the original on 13 April 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2012.

[6] Thurmond, Sarah (12 February 2010). "Q&A With Corina Morariu, Cancer Survivor and Former Pro". tennis.com. Retrieved 19 March 2012.

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