Cristina Tessi (born 20 July 1972) is a former professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player from Argentina.

Biography

Tessi, who comes from

Ingeniero Maschwitz Ingeniero Maschwitz, known simply as Maschwitz, is a town in the Escobar Partido of the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It forms part of the urban conurbation of Greater Buenos Aires. This is the small town where International evangelist Luis P ...

, began to play tennis at the age of three and as a child was taught by her father Atilio and brother Ricardo.

Tennis career

Excelling as a teenager, she topped the world rankings for juniors in 1988, which led to calls in the press that she would be the next

Gabriela Sabatini Gabriela Beatriz Sabatini (; born 16 May 1970) is an Argentine-Italian former professional tennis player. A former world No. 3 in both singles and doubles, Sabatini was one of the leading players from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, amassing 41 ...

. As a 15 year old she made the quarter-finals of the doubles in her debut WTA Tour tournament, the 1987 Argentine Open, partnering Florencia Labat. Tessi played in a

Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...

tie for Argentina in 1988, against Greece in Melbourne, which they won 3–0, with Tessi and

Mercedes Paz Mercedes María Paz (; born 27 June 1966) is a former professional tennis player from Argentina. She won three singles titles on the WTA Tour and reached a career-high ranking of world No. 28 in April 1991. Her best Grand Slam result was the fou ...

winning a dead rubber doubles match. Over the next few years her ranking steadily improved with her first WTA Tour singles quarter-final coming at Guaruja in 1989 and another at São Paulo in 1990, beating

Mary Pierce Mary Caroline Pierce (born 15 January 1975) is a retired tennis professional who represented France internationally in team competitions and the Olympics. She was born in Canada to an American father and a French mother, and holds citizenship of ...

en route. She ended 1990 by winning three matches to make the quarter-finals at the end of year Danone Open in Brisbane. Her best WTA Tour performance came early in 1991 when she reached the semi-finals at Auckland. At the 1991 Italian Open she had a win over

Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Claudia Kohde-Kilsch (''née'' Kohde; born 11 December 1963) is a former German tennis player and member of the Die Linke. During her tennis career, she won two women's doubles Grand Slam titles. She also won eight singles titles and a total of ...

and lost a close two set match to fellow young talent

Jennifer Capriati Jennifer Maria Capriati (born March 29, 1976) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. A member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, she won three singles Grand Slam titles and was the gold medalist at the 1992 Summer Olympics. C ...

. Later in the 1991 season she made the quarter-finals in Palermo to reach her career best ranking of 56 in the world. She featured in the main draw of all four

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

tournaments in her career and made the second round of both the French Open and Wimbledon in 1992. Her second round loss to

Akiko Kijimuta is a former professional tennis player from Japan. She was born on May 1, 1968, in Japan and played on the WTA tour from 1986 to 1992. She reached the fourth round at Roland Garros in 1992, where she led the world number-one-ranked player Moni ...

at the

1992 Wimbledon Championships The 1992 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 106th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held from ...

went deep into the third set, eventually decided 6–8. Not long after her Wimbledon appearance she injured an abductor and decided to return to school. She didn't her tennis career until she completed her studies and when she came back it was with a limited impact, only featuring in lower level ITF tournaments.

Life after tennis

Tessi is now a clinical doctor in Buenos Aires with endocrinology as a specialty.

ITF finals

Singles (3–0)

Doubles (0–1)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tessi, Cristina 1972 births Living people Argentine female tennis players Sportspeople from Buenos Aires Province