Gloria Pizzichini (born 24 July 1975) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

former tennis player. On 18 November 1996, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 45. In the same year, she won her only

WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour. WTA Tour tourna ...

title. In the 1996 "M" Electronika Cup final, she defeated domestic player

Silvija Talaja Silvija Talaja (born 14 January 1978) is a Croatian former professional tennis player. Talaja won two singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as one singles title on the ITF Circuit. On 29 May 2000, she reached her best ...

6–2, 6–0 to collect the trophy. In her career, Pizzichini defeated players such as

Julie Halard Julie Halard-Decugis (born 10 September 1970) is a French former professional tennis player. Tennis career Halard-Decugis lived in La Baule, France, during the initial stages of her career and later moved to Pully, Switzerland. She turned profes ...

Iva Majoli Iva Majoli-Marić (born 12 August 1977) is a former professional tennis player from Croatia who played for both Yugoslavia and Croatia. She upset Martina Hingis to win the women's singles title at the French Open in 1997. Majoli also won seven o ...

and

Ruxandra Dragomir Ruxandra Dragomir Ilie (born 24 October 1972) is a retired tennis player from Romania. She won four singles and five doubles titles on the WTA Tour during her career. The right-hander reached her highest individual WTA ranking on 25 August 1997 ...

.Sony Ericsson WTA Tour , Players , Info (Career In Review) , Gloria Pizzichini
/ref> She was the first player to be beaten by

Elena Dementieva Elena Viacheslavovna Dementieva (, ; born 15 October 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She won the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, having previously won the silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. ...

in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, at the

1999 Australian Open The 1999 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. It was the 87th edition of the Australian Open and was held from 18 through 31 January 1999. This was the first Grand Slam o ...

.Elena Dementieva: The Next Super Star of World Tennis
/ref>

Personal life

Born to Enzo and Maria Pizzichini, Gloria began playing tennis aged seven.Sony Ericsson WTA Tour , Players , Info (Biography) , Gloria Pizzichini
/ref> She has a sister, Francesca, and a brother, Paolo. Pizzichini cited

Stefan Edberg Stefan Bengt Edberg (; born 19 January 1966) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. A major proponent of the serve-and-volley style of tennis, he won six Grand Slam singles titles and three Grand Slam men's doubles titles between 1985 ...

as her role model.

WTA career finals

Singles: 1 title

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 12 (6–6)

Doubles: 10 (6–4)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pizzichini, Gloria 1975 births Sportspeople from the Province of Ancona Italian female tennis players Living people