Santangelo retires

Mara Santangelo, who was born with a deformed foot but went on to achieve honors in professional tennis, retired today. Santangelo has played in only one tournament since the summer of 2009, and her foot pain has finally caused her to end her career. The Italian player always kept a low profile, despite the fact that her sports biography is another of those "the doctors said I'd never...." stories.

Santangelo was told she would never be able to play tennis at a high level. She won the Bangalore singles title in 2006, but she is much better known for her doubles play. She was the winner of nine doubles championships, including the 2007 French Open, which she won with partner Alicia Molik. Santangelo was also, at one time, a member of the Italian Fed Cup team. She reached the fourth round of the Australian Open in 2004 (losing to Justine Henin), and she won the 2009 European Beach Tennis Championships with Laura Olivieri.

Santangelo is currently managing Prince Le Restaurant in Porto Cervo, on Sardegna Island. The restaurant is part of Piazza del Principe, a commercial complex which Santangelo owns. She also works for the Italian Tennis Federation's television channel.

Mara Santangelo to play doubles only

Mara Santangelo has ended her singles career. As most fans know, she has had to deal with a serious foot problem since she was quite young, and she has decided that it will be better for her to play doubles only from now on.

Santangelo, known for her stylish shot-making, won the Bangalore Open in 2006, and was a finalist in 2007. With various partners, she has won nine doubles titles, including the 2007 French Open (with Alicia Molik). Santangelo was on the Italian Fed Cup team for three years, and she was on the Italian Olympic team in 2008.

Doubles results

I never thought I would see a 6-1, 6-1 scoreline against Yan Zi and Zheng Jie, but the former top five players have had their work cut out for them, getting match-tough again after injury problems. The 2nd seeds were defeated today in the final of the Warsaw Open by 3rd seeds Raquel Kops-Jones and Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

In Strasbourg, 2nd seeds Nathalie Dechy and Mara Santangelo took the title, defeating Claire Feuerstein and Stephanie Foretz, 6-0, 6-1.

Bartoli wins in Monterrey

Taking advantage of Li Na's problems with her second serve, 2nd seed Marion Bartoli won the Monterrey Open in straight sets today. Breaking Li six times, Bartoli took the match, 6-4, 6-3.

In doubles, the victorious team was that of number 4 seeds Nathalie Dechy and Mara Santangelo, who defeated Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-3, 6-4.

Australian Open doubles--the thrills keep coming

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the quarterfinal that Nathalie Dechy and Mara Santangelo played against 11th seeds Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, but I saw the scoreboard, and that was enough to tell me there was a second three-hour thriller today. Dechy and Santangelo saved a match point and won the match, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6.

The return of Mara Santangelo

Mara Santangelo, who has been off the tour since she injured her foot last September in the Fed Cup final, will make her return in her home country this week. Santangelo has a wild card into the main draw of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. Before she was injured, Santangelo had entered the top 30. She holds one tour singles titles and six doubles titles. The doubles titles include both Rome and Roland Garros.

Mirza and Santangelo run over Black and Huber

Photo courtesy of After Atalanta

Mara Santangelo usually plays doubles with Alicia Molik, but this week, at Pilot Pen Tennis, she played with Sania Mirza, and they won the tournament tonight with a stunning victory over world number one team Cara Black and Liezel Huber, 6-1, 6-2. Santangelo and Mirza served for the match at 5-1, but were broken, so they had to break back to win.

Alicia Molik & Mara Santangelo--new French Open champions!

Molik (left) consults with Santangelo

Tonight in Paris, the 17th-seeded team in women's doubles, Alicia Molik and Mara Santangelo, won the French Open by defeating Katarina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama, 7-6, 6-4. In the semifinals, Srebotnik and Sugiyama had taken out number one seeds and defending champions Lisa Raymond and Sam Stosur, and Molik and Santangelo had beaten number two seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber. Along the way, Molik and Santangelo had also taken out the hot team of Chan Yung-Jan and Chuang Chia-Jung. The number 3 seeds--winner of two Grand Slam titles--Yan Yi and Zheng Jie, went out in the first round.

Alicia Molik was a top-10 singles player until she had to drop out of the tour because of an inner ear infection. She has not since regained her singles status.

For many years, Ai Sugiyama was half of a very successful doubles team that included now-retired Kim Clijsters. Clijsters stopped playing doubles some time ago, however, and Sugiyama paired with Daniela Hantuchova. Her pairing with Srebotnik is new.