Sergi Bruguera

Sergi Bruguera i Torner (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈsɛɾʒi βɾuˈɣeɾə i tuɾˈne]; born 16 January 1971) is a former professional tennis player from Spain. He won consecutive men's singles titles at the French Open in 1993 and 1994, a silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in men's singles and reached a career-high ranking of No. 3 in August 1994.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Bruguera and the second or maternal family name is Torner.
Sergi Bruguera
Country (sports) Spain
ResidenceBarcelona, Spain
Born (1971-01-16) 16 January 1971
Barcelona, Spain
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro1988
Retired2002
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$11,632,199
Singles
Career record447–271
Career titles14
Highest rankingNo. 3 (1 August 1994)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open4R (1993)
French OpenW (1993, 1994)
Wimbledon4R (1994)
US Open4R (1994, 1997)
Other tournaments
Tour FinalsSF (1994)
Grand Slam CupQF (1993, 1994)
Olympic GamesF (1996)
Doubles
Career record49–50
Career titles3
Highest rankingNo. 49 (6 May 1991)
Grand Slam Doubles results
French Open3R (1990)
US OpenQF (1990)

Bruguera is the only player to have a winning record against both Roger Federer and Pete Sampras. He won three of their five matches against Sampras: Bruguera leads 1–0 on hard court, 2–1 on clay, and Sampras leads 1–0 on carpet.[1] At the 2000 Barcelona Open, Bruguera defeated Federer 6–1, 6–1. By number of games won, the match remains Federer's worst ever loss in his entire career. [2]

Bruguera was selected to captain the Spain Davis Cup team in 2018.[3]

Career

Bruguera won a total of 14 top-level singles titles and 3 doubles titles. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 3. He is currently the director of the Bruguera Tennis Academy Top Team.

Early career

Bruguera was Spain's national junior champion in 1987. He turned professional in 1988. In his first full year on the tour, 1989, he won the Cairo Challenger title as a qualifier, defeating Jordi Arrese in the final, and reached the semifinals in Rome. He reached 4th round in the French Open in 1989 and finished the year ranked world No. 26, and was named the ATP's newcomer of the year.

1990–1994: Clay dominance

Bruguera earned a reputation as a top clay court player in the early 1990s, reaching singles finals at Gstaad and Geneva, and capturing doubles titles in Hamburg (his 1st ATP Masters 1000 title in doubles) partnering Jim Courier (whom would play against Bruguera later in 1993 French Open the men's singles final) in Florence, partnering Horacio de la Peña in 1990; reaching singles finals at Barcelona and Gstaad along with titles in Estoril, Monte Carlo (his 1st ATP Masters 1000 title in singles), and Athens, and a doubles title at Geneva, partnering Marc Rosset in 1991; reaching singles finals at Estoril, Bordeaux, and Athens along with titles in Madrid, Gstaad and Palermo in 1992.

Bruguera rose to even further prominence in 1993. During the French Open, Bruguera reached quarterfinals without dropping a set, including a rare triple bagel (6–0, 6–0, 6–0) at the second round against Thierry Champion, this remains the last time a player recorded a triple bagel in a singles match at a grand Slam event. He then defeated Pete Sampras in 4 sets and Andrei Medvedev in straight sets in the semifinals, Bruguera reached his first Grand Slam final at the French Open, where he faced two-time defending champion and then World No. 2 Jim Courier. Courier was overwhelmingly favoured to win his third title, but ultimately Bruguera won a gruelling five-set final that lasted 4 hours, becoming the first Spaniard to win French Open since Andrés Gimeno in 1972. It was also the last time a man won a Grand Slam singles title with wins over both of the top two seeds until Stanislas Wawrinka won the Australian Open in 2014. He continued his top clay court player reputation by reaching finals at Milan (his first final on Carpet), Barcelona, Madrid, and Palermo, while capturing an additional 4 titles at Monte Carlo (his 2nd ATP Masters 1000 title in singles), Gstaad, Prague, and Bordeaux (his 1st hard court title) besides Roland Garros. He finished the year ranked World No. 4.

In 1994 Bruguera maintained his dominance on clay and successfully defended his title at the French Open while only dropping 2 sets in the entire tournament, defeating, once again, Medvedev in straight sets in the quarterfinals and Courier in 4 sets in the semifinals, along with fellow Spaniard Alberto Berasategui in 4 sets in the final. He reached finals at Dubai (his 2nd hard court final), Monte Carlo (his 3rd ATP Masters 1000 final in singles), and Madrid, and captured titles at Gstaad and Prague besides Roland Garros. In August he reached his career-high ranking of World No. 3 and finished the year ranked World No. 4. He was the first Spaniard to finish 2 consecutive years in Top 5. It is also his 4th consecutive year winning at least 3 clay titles in singles.

Between 1990–1994 he reached 25 top-level clay tournament finals in singles and 3 top-level clay tournament finals in doubles, out of which he captured 13 clay titles in singles and 3 clay titles in doubles.

1995

With Thomas Muster "officially" starting his reign as the new King of Clay, Bruguera was not able to keep up his dominance on clay like he did the previous years, but was still able to play at a decent level. Coming into 1995 French Open as the two-time defending champion, he only dropped one set en route to semifinals, where he was defeated by 1989 French Open champion Michael Chang in tight straight sets (4–6, 6–7, 6–7), ending his 19-match win streak at Roland Garros. He only reached 1 top-level final, which is his 4th Masters 1000 final, his first in Rome (on clay), where he was defeated in 4 sets by Muster. In December, he tore 2 ligaments on his right ankle while training, which put him in an even worse condition and prevented him to make any significant impact during 1996 season.

1996: Ankle injury

He returned to competitive playing in February, having not yet fully recovered from the injury. In 1996 French Open Bruguera was taken out by Sampras in an epic 5-set match in the second round. The highlight of the year was when Bruguera won the men's singles silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. He was defeated in straight sets in the final by Andre Agassi. It was also the only top-level final he reached this year. His Year-End Ranking slipped from previous year's No. 13 to No. 81 much thanks to his injuries.

1997: Comeback

Opening 1997 Bruguera was the first ever opponent of Lleyton Hewitt in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, at the Australian Open. Bruguera defeated him in straight sets.[4]

This year Bruguera returned strongly from injury previous season and reached finals at Milan, Key Biscaine (his 5th Masters final and his 1st on hard), and Umag. Bruguera also played an excellent tournament at the French Open reaching the final for the third time, en route to the final he defeated former champion and 2nd Seed Michael Chang in the fourth round, then rising star and future World No. 1 Patrick Rafter in the semifinals. But an almost unknown Brazilian player ranked No. 66 named Gustavo Kuerten, who defeated two former champions and notable players en route to the final, defeated Bruguera in straight sets without much effort, although Bruguera was heavily favoured to win his 3rd title at Roland Garros.

Bruguera earned the ATP's Comeback Player of Year award in 1997 after returning from an ankle injury the previous year and improving his Year-End Ranking from World No. 81 to World No. 8.

Later career

After 1997, due to injuries, Bruguera was far from his best game. He lost concentration and started to increase his errors during his matches, losing one of his great virtues, his solid style. From 1998 until his retirement only is remarkable the final (1999) and the winning (2000) in the Challenger Open Castilla y León (considered best challenger tournament of the world by this date) and the final in San Marino in 2000.

Outside tennis career

Bruguera is a long-time fan of the Los Angeles Lakers and would often attend their games while playing at tournaments in the United States. During Miami Masters on 28 March 1997, right after the semifinals where he defeated World No. 1 Sampras, Bruguera sank three shots (layup, free throw, top of key) during a time-out of a game between the Lakers and the Miami Heat to earn US$500. This money was given to ATP Charities in his name. Bruguera has also played semi-professional Football in his native Spain.[5]

In a 2006 interview featuring questions from fans by the BBC Sport website, a question was asked about the frequent comparisons between Roger Federer and Sampras. In his reply, Bruguera claimed that Federer is ten times better than Sampras.[6]

Significant finals

Singles: 3 (2–1)
Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Win 1993 French Open Clay Jim Courier 6–4, 2–6, 6–2, 3–6, 6–3
Win 1994 French Open (2) Clay Alberto Berasategui 6–3, 7–5, 2–6, 6–1
Loss 1997 French Open (3) Clay Gustavo Kuerten 3–6, 4–6, 2–6

Singles: 1 (1 silver medal)
Result Year Championship Surface Opponent Score
Silver 1996 Olympic Games Hard Andre Agassi 2–6, 3–6, 1–6

Singles: 5 (2–3)
Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1991 Monte Carlo Clay Boris Becker 5–7, 6–4, 7–6(6), 7–6(4)
Win 1993 Monte Carlo (2) Clay Cédric Pioline 7–6(2), 6–0
Loss 1994 Monte Carlo (3) Clay Andrei Medvedev 5–7, 1–6, 3–6
Loss 1995 Rome Clay Thomas Muster 6–3, 6–7(5), 2–6, 3–6
Loss 1997 Miami Hard Thomas Muster 6–7(6), 3–6, 1–6

Doubles: 1 (1–0)
Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1990 Hamburg, Germany Clay Jim Courier Udo Riglewski

Michael Stich

 7–6, 6–2

ATP career finals

Singles: 35 (14 titles, 21 runner-ups)
Legend
Grand Slam (2–1)
Olympic (0–1)
Tennis Masters Cup (0–0)
ATP Masters Series (2–3)
ATP Championship Series (0–4)
ATP Tour (10–12)
Titles by surface
Hard (1–3)
Grass (0–0)
Clay (13–16)
Carpet (0–2)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1. Jul 1990 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Martín Jaite 3–6, 7–6(7–5), 2–6, 2–6
Loss 2. Sep 1990 Geneva, Switzerland Clay Horst Skoff 6–7(8–10), 6–7(4–7)
Win 1. Apr 1991 Estoril, Portugal Clay Karel Nováček 7–6(9–7), 6–1
Loss 3. Apr 1991 Barcelona, Spain Clay Emilio Sánchez 4–6, 6–7(7–9), 2–6
Win 2. Apr 1991 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Boris Becker 5–7, 6–4, 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–4)
Loss 4. Jul 1991 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Emilio Sánchez 1–6, 4–6, 4–6
Win 3. Oct 1991 Athens, Greece Clay Jordi Arrese 7–5, 6–3
Loss 5. Apr 1992 Estoril, Portugal Clay Carlos Costa 6–4, 2–6, 2–6
Win 4. May 1992 Madrid, Spain Clay Carlos Costa 7–6(8–6), 6–2, 6–2
Win 5. Jul 1992 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Francisco Clavet 6–1, 6–4
Loss 6. Sep 1992 Bordeaux, France Clay Andrei Medvedev 3–6, 6–1, 2–6
Win 6. Oct 1992 Palermo, Italy Clay Emilio Sánchez 6–1, 6–3
Loss 7. Oct 1992 Athens, Greece Clay Jordi Arrese 5–7, 0–3 retired
Loss 8. Feb 1993 Milan, Italy Carpet (I) Boris Becker 3–6, 3–6
Loss 9. Apr 1993 Barcelona, Spain Clay Andrei Medvedev 7–6(9–7), 3–6, 5–7, 4–6
Win 7. Apr 1993 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Cédric Pioline 7–6(7–2), 6–0
Loss 10. May 1993 Madrid, Spain Clay Stefan Edberg 3–6, 3–6, 2–6
Win 8. Jun 1993 Roland Garros, Paris, France Clay Jim Courier 6–4, 2–6, 6–2, 3–6, 6–3
Win 9. Jul 1993 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Karel Nováček 6–3, 6–4
Win 10. Aug 1993 Prague, Czech Republic Clay Andrei Chesnokov 7–5, 6–4
Win 11. Sep 1993 Bordeaux, France Hard Diego Nargiso 7–5, 6–2
Loss 11. Oct 1993 Palermo, Italy Clay Thomas Muster 6–7(2–7), 5–7
Loss 12. Feb 1994 Dubai, United Arab Emirates Hard Magnus Gustafsson 4–6, 2–6
Loss 13. Apr 1994 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Andrei Medvedev 5–7, 1–6, 3–6
Loss 14. May 1994 Madrid, Spain Clay Thomas Muster 2–6, 6–3, 4–6, 5–7
Win 12. Jun 1994 Roland Garros, Paris, France Clay Alberto Berasategui 6–3, 7–5, 2–6, 6–1
Win 13. Jul 1994 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Guy Forget 3–6, 7–5, 6–2, 6–1
Win 14. Aug 1994 Prague, Czech Republic Clay Andrei Medvedev 6–3, 6–4
Loss 15. May 1995 Rome, Italy Clay Thomas Muster 6–3, 6–7(5–7), 2–6, 3–6
Loss 16. Jul 1996 Atlanta Olympics, U.S. Hard Andre Agassi 2–6, 3–6, 1–6
Loss 17. Mar 1997 Milan, Italy Carpet (I) Goran Ivanišević 2–6, 2–6
Loss 18. Mar 1997 Miami, U.S. Hard Thomas Muster 6–7(6–8), 3–6, 1–6
Loss 19. Jun 1997 French Open, Paris Clay Gustavo Kuerten 3–6, 4–6, 2–6
Loss 20. Jul 1997 Umag, Croatia Clay Félix Mantilla 3–6, 5–7
Loss 21. Jul 2000 San Marino Clay Álex Calatrava 6–7(7–9), 6–1, 4–6

Doubles: 3 (3–0)
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1. May 1990 Hamburg, Germany Clay Jim Courier Udo Riglewski

Michael Stich

 7–6, 6–2
Win 2. Jun 1990 Florence, Italy Clay Horacio de la Peña Luiz Mattar
Diego Pérez		 3–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win 3. Sep 1991 Geneva, Switzerland Clay Marc Rosset Per Henricsson

Ola Jonsson

 3–6, 6–3, 6–2

Singles performance timeline
Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# A NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)
Tournament 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 SR W–L
Grand Slams
Australian Open A A 2R 1R A 4R A A A 3R 1R A A 1R A 0 / 6 6–6
French Open A 4R 2R 2R 1R W W SF 2R F 1R A 1R 2R A 2 / 12 32–10
Wimbledon A 1R 2R A A A 4R A A A A A A 1R A 0 / 4 4–4
US Open A 1R 2R 2R 2R 1R 4R 2R 3R 4R 2R A A 1R A 0 / 11 13–11
Win-Loss 0–0 3–3 4–4 2–3 1–2 10–2 13–2 6–2 3–2 11–3 1–3 0–0 0–1 1–4 0–0 2 / 33 55–31
Year-End Championship
ATP Tour World Championships Did Not Qualify RR SF Did Not Qualify RR1 Did Not Qualify 0 / 3 2–6
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells NME 3R 2R QF 1R 2R A A 1R 2R A A A A 0 / 7 7–7
Miami NME 2R 4R 3R A 3R A 3R F 2R A A 1R A 0 / 8 10–8
Monte Carlo NME 2R W 2R W F QF 2R 3R 2R A A 1R A 2 / 10 25–8
Rome NME 2R SF 3R QF A F 1R 3R 1R A A 2R A 0 / 9 18–9
Hamburg NME 1R 3R 1R A A SF QF QF 3R A A 1R A 0 / 8 11–8
Canada NME A A A A QF 3R A A A A A A A 0 / 2 4–2
Cincinnati NME A A A A 3R 2R 1R QF A A A A A 0 / 4 4–4
Stuttgart (Stockholm) NME 1R 2R A 3R QF QF 1R 2R A A A A A 0 / 7 5–6
Paris NME SF 3R 2R 2R SF 3R 1R 3R A A A A A 0 / 8 10–8
Win-Loss 0–0 0–0 8–7 15–6 7–6 10–4 14–7 16–7 4–7 15–8 4–5 0–0 0–0 1–4 0–0 2 / 63 94–60
Career statistics
Titles 0 0 0 3 3 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14
Finals 0 0 2 5 6 9 6 1 1 4 0 0 1 0 0 35
Hardcourt Win–Loss 0–0 0–1 11–8 8–9 5–5 15–9 16–9 11–7 14–9 23–14 4–10 0–0 3–2 0–4 0–0 110–87
Grass Win–Loss 0–0 0–1 1–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 4–2 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 5–5
Clay Win–Loss 0–1 23–11 23–17 38–9 39–10 44–9 35–6 26–8 12–9 20–8 7–15 0–1 14–13 14–15 1–3 296–135
Carpet Win–Loss 0–0 0–0 1–2 5–4 2–7 6–7 11–8 3–4 0–3 6–6 1–2 0–0 0–0 1–1 0–0 36–44
Overall Win–Loss 0–1 23–13 36–28 51–22 46–22 65–25 66–25 40–19 26–21 49–28 12–27 0–1 17–15 15–21 1–3 447–271
Win % 0% 64% 56% 70% 68% 72% 73% 68% 55% 64% 31% 0% 53% 42% 25% 62.26%
Year-End Ranking 333 26 28 11 16 4 4 13 82 8 132 378 85 108 290 $11,632,199

1. Bruguera withdrew due to a lower back injury at Round Robin Stage after playing the first 2 matches, and was replaced by then World No. 10 Tim Henman.

Top 10 wins
Season198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002Total
Wins00242684151000033
# Player Rank Event Surface Rd Score BR
1990
1. Stefan Edberg 2 French Open, Paris, France Clay 1R 6–4, 6–2, 6–1 46
2. Andrés Gómez 6 Paris, France Carpet (i) 2R 7–6, 4–6, 6–1 39
1991
3. Thomas Muster 9 Stuttgart, Germany Carpet (i) 1R 6–2, 6–3 28
4. Boris Becker 2 Barcelona, Spain Clay 3R 6–2, 6–4 21
5. Andrei Chesnokov 9 Barcelona, Spain Clay QF 6–2, 7–5 21
6. Boris Becker 2 Monte-Carlo, Monaco Clay F 5–7, 6–4, 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–4) 15
1992
7. Petr Korda 9 Indian Wells, United States Hard 3R 7–5, 4–6, 6–0 14
8. Goran Ivanišević 4 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay QF 6–3, 6–2 20
1993
9. Petr Korda 6 Milan, Italy Carpet (i) SF 6–4, 0–6, 7–5 17
10. Andre Agassi 7 Barcelona, Spain Clay QF 6–3, 6–1 17
11. Ivan Lendl 8 Monte-Carlo, Monaco Clay 3R 6–1, 6–2 16
12. Pete Sampras 1 World Team Cup, Düsseldorf, Germany Clay RR 6–3, 6–1 11
13. Pete Sampras 1 French Open, Paris, France Clay QF 6–3, 4–6, 6–1, 6–4 11
14. Jim Courier 2 French Open, Paris, France Clay F 6–4, 2–6, 6–2, 3–6, 6–3 11
1994
15. Goran Ivanišević 5 Monte-Carlo, Monaco Clay QF 6–0, 6–3 6
16. Stefan Edberg 3 Monte-Carlo, Monaco Clay SF 6–2, 7–6(7–3) 6
17. Stefan Edberg 3 World Team Cup, Düsseldorf, Germany Clay RR 7–6(8–6), 5–7, 6–3 6
18. Andriy Medvedev 4 French Open, Paris, France Clay QF 6–3, 6–2, 7–5 6
19. Jim Courier 7 French Open, Paris, France Clay SF 6–3, 5–7, 6–3, 6–3 6
20. Andriy Medvedev 7 Prague, Czech Republic Clay F 6–3, 6–4 3
21. Michael Chang 6 ATP Tour World Championships, Frankfurt, Germany Carpet (i) RR 7–6(7–1), 7–5 3
22. Alberto Berasategui 7 ATP Tour World Championships, Frankfurt, Germany Carpet (i) RR 6–3, 6–2 3
1995
23. Andre Agassi 1 Hamburg, Germany Clay QF 6–3, 6–1 12
24. Goran Ivanišević 4 Rome, Italy Clay SF 6–4, 6–4 7
25. Yevgeny Kafelnikov 9 World Team Cup, Düsseldorf, Germany Clay RR 6–3, 6–2 7
26. Magnus Larsson 10 French Open, Paris, France Clay 4R 6–1, 2–6, 7–5, 7–6(7–4) 7
1996
27. Thomas Enqvist 9 World Team Cup, Düsseldorf, Germany Clay RR 1–6, 6–4, 6–4 23
1997
28. Richard Krajicek 7 Milan, Italy Carpet (i) 1R 4–6, 7–6(7–3), 7–6(15–13) 47
29. Michael Chang 3 Miami, United States Hard 3R 6–4, 6–3 35
30. Pete Sampras 1 Miami, United States Hard SF 5–7, 7–6(7–2), 6–4 35
31. Wayne Ferreira 10 Hamburg, Germany Clay 3R 6–1, 6–3 21
32. Michael Chang 2 French Open, Paris, France Clay 4R 3–6, 6–4, 6–3, 6–4 19
1998
33. Àlex Corretja 7 Majorca, Spain Clay 2R 7–6(7–5), 6–3 126

References
  1. Head-to-head: Sampras versus Bruguera
  2. http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/players/roger-federer/f324/player-activity?year=2000
  3. "Bruguera Named Spanish Davis Cup Captain". daviscup.com. International Tennis Federation (ITF). 9 October 2017.
  4. Hewitt ready to rumble – Articles – News and Photos – Australian Open Tennis Championships 2013 – Official Site by IBM
  5. Sergi Bruguera Biography
  6. Quiz Sergi Bruguera
Preceded by
Marcelo Ríos		 ATP Champions Tour
Year-End No.1
2007		 Succeeded by
Goran Ivanišević
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