Corina Morariu (born January 26, 1978) is a retired Romanian American professional tennis player.
Morariu (pronounced: mo-RA-R'ju) was born in Detroit, Michigan, and 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.
In 2001, Morariu was diagnosed with leukemia and began a program of chemotherapy. During this time, Jennifer Capriati dedicated her 2001 French Open victory to Morariu. She also received an inspirational letter from Lance Armstrong, a cancer survivor. After recovering from cancer, along with shoulder surgery, Morariu was largely restricted to doubles play. The WTA then created the Corina Comeback Award, which was presented to Morariu by Capriati.
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. Following her retirement, she began working as a commentator for Tennis Channel.
Major finals
Grand Slam finals
Doubles: 3 (1–2)
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents in final | Score in final |
Winner | 1999 | Wimbledon | Grass | Lindsay Davenport | Mariaan de Swardt
Elena Tatarkova | 6–4, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 2001 | Australian Open | Hard | Lindsay Davenport | Serena Williams
Venus Williams | 6–2, 2–6, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 2005 | Australian Open | Hard | Lindsay Davenport | Svetlana Kuznetsova
Alicia Molik | 6–3, 6–4 |
Mixed Doubles: 1 (1–0)
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents in final | Score in final |
Winner | 2001 | Australian Open | Hard | Ellis Ferreira | Barbara Schett
Joshua Eagle | 6–1, 6–3 |
WTA Tour finals
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Corina_Morariu_Acura_Classic_2007.jpg/220px-Corina_Morariu_Acura_Classic_2007.jpg)
Corina Morariu hitting a forehand
Singles 4 (1–3)
Legend (Singles) |
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Grand Slam Title (0/0) |
WTA Championship (0/0) |
Tier I (0/0) |
Tier II (0/0) |
Tier III (0/1) |
Tier IV (1/2) |
Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
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Runner-up | 1. | April 28, 1997 | Bol | Clay | Mirjana Lučić | 7–5, 6–7(7–9), 7–6(7–5) |
Runner-up | 2. | April 19, 1998 | Tokyo (Japan Open) | Hard | Ai Sugiyama | 6–3, 6–3 |
Runner-up | 3. | April 27, 1998 | Bol | Clay | Mirjana Lučić | 6–2, 6–4 |
Winner | 1. | April 26, 1999 | Bol | Clay | Julie Halard-Decugis | 6–2, 6–0 |
Doubles 20 (13–7)
Legend (Singles) |
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Grand Slam Title (1/2) |
WTA Championship (0/0) |
Tier I (1/2) |
Tier II (3/2) |
Tier III (7/1) |
Tier IV (1/0) |
Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
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Runner-up | 1. | April 20, 1997 | Tokyo (Japan Open) | Hard | Kerry-Anne Guse | Alexia Dechaume-Balleret
Rika Hiraki | 6–4, 6–2 |
Winner | 1. | November 23, 1997 | Pattaya City | Hard | Kristine Kunce | Florencia Labat
Dominique Monami | 6–3, 6–4 |
Winner | 2. | January 9, 1999 | Gold Coast | Hard | Larisa Neiland | Kristine Kunce
Irina Spîrlea | 6–3, 6–4 |
Winner | 3. | April 18, 1999 | Tokyo (Japan Open) | Hard | Kimberly Po | Kerry-Anne Guse
Catherine Barclay | 6–3, 6–2 |
Winner | 4. | June 14, 1999 | Birmingham | Grass | Larisa Neiland | Inés Gorrochategui
Alexandra Fusai | 6–4, 6–4 |
Winner | 5. | July 4, 1999 | Wimbledon | Grass | Lindsay Davenport | Mariaan de Swardt
Elena Tatarkova | 6–4, 6–4 |
Winner | 6. | August 1, 1999 | Stanford | Hard | Lindsay Davenport | Anna Kournikova
Elena Likhovtseva | 6–4, 6–4 |
Winner | 7. | August 8, 1999 | San Diego | Hard | Lindsay Davenport | Venus Williams
Serena Williams | 6–4, 6–1 |
Winner | 8. | February 27, 2000 | Oklahoma City | Hard (i) | Kimberly Po | Tamarine Tanasugarn
Elena Tatarkova | 6–4, 4–6, 6–2 |
Winner | 9. | March 19, 2000 | Indian Wells | Hard | Lindsay Davenport | Anna Kournikova
Natasha Zvereva | 6–2, 6–3 |
Winner | 10. | May 7, 2000 | Bol | Clay | Julie Halard-Decugis | Katarina Srebotnik
Tina Križan | 6–2, 6–2 |
Runner-up | 2. | May 14, 2000 | Berlin | Clay | Amanda Coetzer | Aranxta Sánchez Vicario
Conchita Martínez | 3–6, 6–2, 7–6(9–7) |
Winner | 11. | October 9, 2000 | Tokyo (Japan Open) | Hard | Julie Halard-Decugis | Tina Križan
Katarina Srebotnik | 6–1, 6–2 |
Runner-up | 3. | January 15, 2001 | Australian Open | Hard | Lindsay Davenport | Serena Williams
Venus Williams | 6–2, 2–6, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 4. | November 7, 2004 | Phildaelphia | Hard (i) | Liezel Huber | Lisa Raymond
Alicia Molik | 7–5, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 5. | January 17, 2005 | Australian Open | Hard | Lindsay Davenport | Svetlana Kuznetsova
Alicia Molik | 6–3, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 6. | February 1, 2005 | Tokyo (Pan Pacific) | Carpet (i) | Lindsay Davenport | Janette Husárová
Elena Likhovtseva | 6–4, 6–3 |
Winner | 12. | January 17, 2006 | Sydney | Hard | Rennae Stubbs | Paola Suárez
Virginia Ruano Pascual | 6–3, 5–7, 6–2 |
Winner | 13. | September 17, 2006 | Bali | Hard | Lindsay Davenport | Natalie Grandin
Trudi Musgrave | 6–3, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 7. | October 29, 2006 | Linz | Hard (i) | Katarina Srebotnik | Lisa Raymond
Samantha Stosur | 6–3, 6–0 |
Women's doubles performance timeline
Tournament | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | SR | W–L |
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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 |
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Year-End Championship |
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)
- The 2002 WTA Tour Comeback Player of the Year Award