Potito Starace

Potito Starace (Italian pronunciation: [poˈtiːto staˈraːtʃe];[1][2] born 14 July 1981) is an Italian retired professional tennis player on the ATP Tour. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world no. 27 on October 15, 2007. He was a clay court specialist, and was coached by Umberto Rianna.

Potito Starace

Country (sports)	Italy
Residence	Cervinara, Italy
Born	(1981-07-14) 14 July 1981 Cervinara, Italy
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro	2001
Retired	2015 (banned)
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	US$3,784,550
Singles
Career record	161–193
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 27 (15 October 2007)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	1R (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012)
French Open	3R (2004, 2007)
Wimbledon	2R (2009)
US Open	2R (2004, 2011)
Doubles
Career record	110-114
Career titles	6
Highest ranking	No. 40 (18 June 2012)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	3R (2011, 2012)
French Open	SF (2012)
Wimbledon	2R (2006)
US Open	3R (2011)
Last updated on: 15 March 2016.

Starace at the 2008 Pilot Pen Tennis tournament.

Starace was banned from tennis for life by the Italian Tennis Federation and by the Tennis Integrity Unit for betting offences.

Career

One of the most memorable runs of Starace's career was when he made the men's doubles semifinals of the 2012 French Open, partnering Daniele Bracciali, before succumbing to top seeds Daniel Nestor and Max Mirnyi.

In singles, he made four ATP finals but lost in all of them. On the Challenger tour, he won the San Marino CEPU Open three times, a record for the tournament, and the Tennis Napoli Cup four times, also a record. In doubles, he won six ATP titles.

He represented Italy at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he lost to eventual gold medallist Rafael Nadal in the first round.[3]

Betting scandal

Following Alessio di Mauro's 9-month ban in November 2007, Starace and Daniele Bracciali were each fined and given short suspensions from playing. Starace received a fine of £21,400 and a 6-week ban from January 1, 2008.

Starace's case revolved around his final in Casablanca against the Spaniard Pablo Andújar, which the Italian lost. Starace had led their head-to-head 5-0 going into the match. Bookmaker Massimo Erodiani asked via Skype if Starace had received a certified cheque to lose match and received an affirmative answer, explaining that all bets were safe on a Starace loss.[4]

In 2015, the Italian Tennis Federation banned Bracciali and Starace for life.[5] In 2019, he was banned by the Tennis Integrity Unit for life, subject to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.[6]

ATP career finals

Singles: 4 (0–4)

Winner – Legend Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0) ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0) ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–1) ATP World Tour 250 Series (0–3)

Titles by Surface Hard (0–0) Clay (0–4) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	15 April 2007	Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana, Valencia, Spain	Clay	Nicolás Almagro	6–4, 2–6, 1–6
Runner-up	2.	29 July 2007	Austrian Open, Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Juan Mónaco	7–5, 3–6, 4–6
Runner-up	3.	1 August 2010	ATP Studena Croatia Open Umag, Umag, Croatia	Clay	Juan Carlos Ferrero	4–6, 4–6
Runner-up	4.	10 April 2011	Grand Prix Hassan II, Casablanca, Morocco	Clay	Pablo Andújar	1–6, 2–6

Doubles: 9 (6–3)

Winner – Legend Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0) ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0) ATP World Tour 500 Series (2–2) ATP World Tour 250 Series (4–1)

Titles by Surface Hard (2–0) Clay (4–3) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	15 March 2006	Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Acapulco, Mexico	Clay	Filippo Volandri	František Čermák Leoš Friedl	5–7, 2–6
Winner	1.	4 March 2007	Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Acapulco, Mexico	Clay	Martín Vassallo Argüello	Lukáš Dlouhý Pavel Vízner	6–0, 6–2
Winner	2.	29 July 2007	Austrian Open, Kitzbühel, Austria	Clay	Luis Horna	Tomas Behrend Christopher Kas	7–6^(7–4), 7–6^(7–5)
Winner	3.	6 October 2008	Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Russia	Hard (i)	Sergiy Stakhovsky	Stephen Huss Ross Hutchins	7–6^(7–4), 2–6, [10–6]
Runner-up	2.	7 February 2010	Movistar Open, Santiago, Chile	Clay	Horacio Zeballos	Łukasz Kubot Oliver Marach	4–6, 0–6
Runner-up	3.	27 February 2010	Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Acapulco, Mexico	Clay	Fabio Fognini	Łukasz Kubot Oliver Marach	0–6, 0–6
Winner	4.	31 October 2010	St. Petersburg Open, St. Petersburg, Russia	Hard (i)	Daniele Bracciali	Rohan Bopanna Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi	7–6^(8–6), 7–6^(7–5)
Winner	5.	24 September 2011	BRD Năstase Țiriac Trophy, Bucarest, Romania	Clay	Daniele Bracciali	Julian Knowle David Marrero	3–6, 6–4, [10–8]
Winner	6.	10 February 2013	VTR Open, Viña del Mar, Chile	Clay	Paolo Lorenzi	Juan Mónaco Rafael Nadal	6–2, 6–4

Performance timelines

Singles

Current through 2015 French Open.

Tournament	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	1R	1R	1R	A	1R	1R	1R	1R	Q1	Q3	A	0–7
French Open	3R	A	1R	3R	1R	2R	2R	1R	1R	A	1R	Q1	6–9
Wimbledon	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	2R	1R	1R	1R	A	A		1–9
US Open	2R	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	2R	A	A	A		2–8
Win–Loss	3–3	0–3	0–4	2–4	0–3	2–4	1–4	1–4	0–3	0–0	0–1	0–0	9–33
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	A	Not Held			1R	Not Held			A	Not Held			0–1
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells Masters	A	1R	A	Q1	1R	2R	1R	1R	1R	A	A	A	1–6
Miami Masters	A	1R	A	2R	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	A	A	A	1–7
Monte Carlo Masters	A	1R	2R	A	1R	Q1	A	1R	2R	A	Q2	A	2–5
Rome Masters	A	2R	2R	3R	2R	1R	2R	3R	1R	2R	A	A	9–9
Madrid Masters	A	A	A	1R	A	A	A	1R	Q1	A	A	A	0–2
Canada Masters	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A		0–0
Cincinnati Masters	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A		0–0
Shanghai Masters	Not Masters Series					A	A	A	A	A	A		0–0
Paris Masters	A	A	A	1R	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A		0–2
Hamburg Masters	A	A	A	A	2R	Not Masters Series							1–1
Win–Loss	0–0	1–4	2–2	3–4	2–5	1–3	1–5	2–4	1–4	1–1	0–0	0–0	14–32
Career statistics
Titles–Finals	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–2	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–4
Year End Ranking	76	105	83	31	72	62	47	58	164	152	163

Doubles

Current through 2013 Wimbledon Championships.

Tournament	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	1R	2R		1R	2R	3R	3R	2R	7–7
French Open	QF	1R	1R		3R	QF	SF	2R	13–7
Wimbledon	2R	1R		1R	1R	1R		1R	1–6
US Open	1R	1R	2R	1R	2R	3R			4–6
Win–Loss	4–4	1–4	1–2	0–3	4–4	7–4	6–2	2–3	26–26

Top 10 wins

• Starace has a 2–23 (.080) record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.

Season	2004	2005	Total
Wins	1	1	2

#	Player	Rank	Event	Surface	Rd	Score
2004
1.	Sébastien Grosjean	10	Roland Garros, Paris, France	Clay	2R	7–6^(8–6), 6–3, 6–4
2005
2.	Carlos Moyá	8	Rome, Italy	Clay	1R	6–4, 7–6^(9–7)

References

1. Luciano Canepari. "Potito". DiPI Online (in Italian). Retrieved 21 October 2018.
2. Luciano Canepari. "Starace". DiPI Online (in Italian). Retrieved 21 October 2018.
3. Olympic results
4. http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2014/10/15/scommesse-dopo-il-calcio-tocca-al-tennis-ombre-su-bracciali-e-starace/1155949/
5. Italian tennis players Daniele Bracciali, Potito Starace banned for fixing
6. https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/46296159

External links

• Potito Starace at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Potito Starace at the International Tennis Federation