Potito Starace (; born 14 July 1981) is an Italian former professional tennis player on the ATP Tour. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world no. 27 on October 15, 2007. Storace was a clay court specialist. He 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. Its also noticed the match at the tennis club Napoli against the well known couple called "cugini di campagna", where potito and his friend Volandri lost and after this retired from the professional career. 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.
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 the match and received an affirmative answer, explaining that all bets were safe on a Starace loss.
In 2015, the Italian Tennis Federation banned Bracciali and Starace for life.Italian tennis players Daniele Bracciali, Potito Starace banned for fixing In 2019, he was banned by the Tennis Integrity Unit for life, subject to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
ATP career finals
Singles: 4 (0–4) Winner – LegendGrand 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 surfaceHard (0–0)Clay (0–4)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)
ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss0–1Apr 2007Valencia, SpainClay Nicolás Almagro6–4, 2–6, 1–6Loss0–2Jul 2007Kitzbühel, AustriaClay Juan Mónaco7–5, 3–6, 4–6Loss0–3Aug 2010Umag, CroatiaClay Juan Carlos Ferrero4–6, 4–6Loss0–4Apr 2011Casablanca, MoroccoClay Pablo Andújar1–6, 2–6
Doubles: 9 (6–3) Winner – LegendGrand 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 surfaceHard (2–0)Clay (4–3)Grass (0–0)Carpet (0–0)
ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss0–1Mar 2006Acapulco, MexicoClay Filippo Volandri František Čermák Leoš Friedl5–7, 2–6Win1–1Mar 2007Acapulco, MexicoClay Martín Vassallo Argüello Lukáš Dlouhý Pavel Vízner6–0, 6–2Win2–1Jul 2007Kitzbühel, AustriaClay Luis Horna Tomas Behrend Christopher Kas7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–5)Win3–1Oct 2008Moscow, RussiaHard (i) Sergiy Stakhovsky Stephen Huss Ross Hutchins7–6(7–4), 2–6, [10–6]Loss3–2Feb 2010Santiago, ChileClay Horacio Zeballos Łukasz Kubot Oliver Marach4–6, 0–6Loss3–3Feb 2010Acapulco, MexicoClay Fabio Fognini Łukasz Kubot Oliver Marach0–6, 0–6Win4–3Oct 2010St. Petersburg, RussiaHard (i) Daniele Bracciali Rohan Bopanna Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–5)Win5–3Sep 2011Bucarest, RomaniaClay Daniele Bracciali Julian Knowle David Marrero3–6, 6–4, [10–8]Win6–3Feb 2013Viña del Mar, ChileClay Paolo Lorenzi Juan Mónaco Rafael Nadal6–2, 6–4
Performance timelines
Singles Current through 2015 French Open. Tournament200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015Grand Slam tournaments Australian OpenA1R1R1RA1R1R1R1RQ1Q3A0–7 French Open3RA1R3R1R2R2R1R1RA1RQ16–9 Wimbledon1R1R1R1R1R2R1R1R1RAAA1–9 US Open2R1R1R1R1R1R1R2RAAAA2–8Win–loss3–30–30–42–40–32–41–41–40–30–00–10–09–33Olympic Games Summer OlympicsANot Held1RNot HeldANot Held0–1ATP Masters Series Indian Wells MastersA1RAQ11R2R1R1R1RAAA1–6 Miami MastersA1RA2R1R1R1R1R1RAAA1–7 Monte Carlo MastersA1R2RA1RQ1A1R2RAQ2A2–5 Rome MastersA2R2R3R2R1R2R3R1R2RAA9–9 Madrid MastersAAA1RAAA1RQ1AAA0–2 Canada MastersAAAAAAAAAAA0–0 Cincinnati MastersAAAAAAAAAAA0–0 Shanghai MastersNot Masters SeriesAAAAAA0–0 Paris MastersAAA1RAA1RAAAA0–2 Hamburg MastersAAAA2RNot Masters Series1–1Win–loss0–01–42–23–42–51–31–52–41–41–10–00–014–32Career statisticsTitles–Finals0–00–00–00–20–00–00–10–10–00–00–00–00–4Year-end ranking76105833172624758164152163
Doubles Current through 2013 Wimbledon Championships. Tournament20062007200820092010201120122013Grand Slam tournaments Australian Open1R2RA1R2R3R3R2R7–7 French OpenQF1R1RA3RQFSF2R13–7 Wimbledon2R1RA1R1R1RA1R1–6 US Open1R1R2R1R2R3RAA4–6Win–loss4–41–41–20–34–47–46–22–326–26
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.
Season20042005TotalWins112
#PlayerRankEventSurfaceRdScore20041. Sébastien Grosjean10Roland Garros, Paris, FranceClay2R7–6(8–6), 6–3, 6–420052. Carlos Moyá8Rome, ItalyClay1R6–4, 7–6(9–7)
References
External links