Fernando Meligeni

Fernando Ariel Meligeni (born 12 April 1971), nicknamed Fininho (Portuguese for little thin), is an Argentine-born Brazilian former professional tennis player of Italian descent. He won 3 singles titles and reached the semi-finals of both the 1999 French Open and the 1996 Summer Olympics. He was well-known because of his capacity of fighting at the court, taking matches to the limit (tiebreaks and five sets). His favorite surface was clay.

Meligeni was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but moved with his family to São Paulo, Brazil, when he was four years old.

Juniors

As a junior, he won the traditional Orange Bowl in 1989, finishing No. 3 in the world junior rankings in the same year.

Pro tour

Meligeni turned professional in 1990, opting for the Brazilian nationality.

He won his first ATP Tour singles title in 1995, at the Swedish Open in Båstad, Sweden. In 1996, Meligeni won his second ATP Tour singles title in Pinehurst, North Carolina, defeating veteran Swede Mats Wilander in the final.

In 1996, ranked 93rd of the ATP Rankings, Meligeni was one off the 64 competitors that would directly enter the upcoming tennis tournament of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Withdrawals due to injuries and personal decisions gave him an alternate spot. With four wins over higher ranked players, Meligeni reached the semi finals, where he was defeated by Spain's Sergi Bruguera. In the Bronze medal game, he lost to Leander Paes of India.

In 1998, Meligeni won his third and last ATP Tour singles title in Prague, Czech Republic, beating then World No. 6 Yevgeny Kafelnikov from Russia on the way. This year Meligeni had an excellent performance at the 1998 French Open losing at 4th round but playing an incredible match of five tough sets against "king of clay" Thomas Muster.

Meligeni reached his peak in the following year, with a strong performance at the 1999 French Open in Paris, France. He defeated Justin Gimelstob, Younes El Aynaoui as well as seeds No. 3 Patrick Rafter, from Australia, No. 14 Félix Mantilla, from Spain, and No. 6 Àlex Corretja, also from Spain, only to fall in the semi-finals to Ukrainian Andrei Medvedev. This was his best Grand Slam singles result and led him to a career-high ranking of World No. 25. This year he also destroyed Pete Sampras (current nº2 of the ranking by this date) at Rome Masters Series (6-3, 6-1)

He was also a member of the Brazilian Davis Cup team, with an overall record of 13–16.

In addition to his three singles titles, Meligeni also won 7 doubles titles in the ATP Tour, most of them partnering countryman Gustavo Kuerten.

Meligeni retired from professional tennis in 2003, playing his last match against Marcelo Ríos from Chile in the final of the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, which he won in three sets.

Two years later, he was nominated captain of the Brazilian Davis Cup team, but resigned in January 2007 due to political differences with the Brazilian Tennis Confederation. During his period as a captain, he collected a 5–1 W/L record in ties. Despite the positive record, his popularity as a captain among the local press and fans wasn't always high, due to the easy opposition faced by the Brazilian team in the Americas Group; the controversial decisions he took when selecting the players to represent the squad, insisting in players that were out of shape, like Flávio Saretta and Gustavo Kuerten, and sidelining the then best-ranked Brazilians in the ATP, Marcos Daniel and Thiago Alves; the lack of receptiveness to criticism; and reported difficulty to control the harmony between the players.

Off the court, Meligeni has also been a host for TV show MTV Sports aired by MTV Brasil in the late 1990s and early 2000s (decade), as well as having guest appearances in radio shows and as a commentator for tennis matches. Since 2014, Meligeni has worked as a tennis commentator for ESPN Brazil

Olympic finals

Singles: 1

Bronze medal final

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
4th place	1996	Atlanta	Hard	Leander Paes	6–3, 2–6, 4–6

Singles (3)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	27 February 1995	Mexico City, Mexico	Clay	Thomas Muster	6–7, 5–7
Winner	1.	10 July 1995	Båstad, Sweden	Clay	Christian Ruud	6–4, 6–4
Winner	2.	6 May 1996	Pinehurst, North Carolina, U.S.	Clay	Mats Wilander	6–4, 6–2
Winner	3.	27 April 1998	Prague, Czech Republic	Clay	Sláva Doseděl	6–1, 6–4
Runner-up	2.	10 September 2001	Costa do Sauípe, Brazil	Hard	Jan Vacek	6–2, 6–7(2–7), 3–6
Runner-up	3.	25 February 2002	Acapulco, Mexico	Clay	Carlos Moyà	6–7(4–7), 6–7(4–7)

Doubles (7)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1.	10 November 1996	Santiago, Chile	Clay	Gustavo Kuerten	Dinu Pescariu Albert Portas	6–4, 6–2
Winner	2.	7 April 1997	Estoril, Portugal	Clay	Gustavo Kuerten	Andrea Gaudenzi Filippo Messori	6–2, 6–2
Winner	3.	9 June 1997	Bologna, Italy	Clay	Gustavo Kuerten	Dave Randall Jack Waite	6–2, 7–5
Winner	4.	14 July 1997	Stuttgart, Germany	Clay	Gustavo Kuerten	Donald Johnson Francisco Montana	6–4, 6–4
Winner	5.	27 October 1997	Bogotá, Colombia	Clay	Luis Lobo	Karim Alami Maurice Ruah	6–1, 6–3
Winner	6.	6 July 1998	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Gustavo Kuerten	Daniel Orsanic Cyril Suk	6–4, 7–5
Winner	7.	22 March 1999	Casablanca, Morocco	Clay	Jaime Oncins	Massimo Ardinghi Vincenzo Santopadre	6–2, 6–3