Kristina Brandi (born March 29, 1977) is a former Puerto Rican tennis player. She was the first tennis player representing Puerto Rico to win a singles match in an Olympic tennis tournament. Some of Brandi's career highlights: She achieved her best ranking in singles of 27 on 4 December 2000, and her high rank for doubles of 246 in June 1995. Brandi won one career singles title, in 1999 on grass at 's Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands.

Career

Early years

Brandi was born and raised in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the ju ...

, where she became interested in the sport of tennis at an early age. She made her professional debut in 1995 when she was 17 years old. Her father is Joe Brandi, who coached Pete Sampras.

USTA Circuit

In 2003, Brandi won the most titles of any woman on the "USTA Circuit". She took home trophies from six events. Brandi was a member of the 2003 Puerto Rican Fed Cup team where she captured the singles championship at the $75k event in Albuquerque, New Mexico plus, the $50k event in Troy, Alabama and $25k in Peachtree City, Georgia.

2004 Olympics

Brandi represented Puerto Rico in the 2004 Summer Olympics in

Athens, Greece Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

. She became the first tennis player representing Puerto Rico to win a singles match in an Olympic tournament when she beat

Jelena Kostanić Jelena, also written Yelena and Elena, is a Slavic given name. It is a Slavicized form of the Greek name Helen, which is of uncertain origin. Diminutives of the name include Jelica, Jelka, Jele, Jela, Lena, Lenotschka, Jeca, Lenka, and Alena. N ...

from Croatia (7–5, 6–1). She lost in the second round to Russian Anastasia Myskina.

Later years

Kristina Brandi resides in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough C ...

and continued to be active on the

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 tou ...

for many years after the 2004 Olympic Games. Brandi defended her ITF-Surbiton title defeating Laura Granville from the U.S. Brandi's grass-court season plans for 2006 at the WTA Tour-level included the main draw of the Birmingham tournament as well as the qualifying tournament at

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the l ...

before heading to compete in the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pl ...

main draw. Brandi, who has since retired, is the niece of Andy Brandi who played for the

Trinity Tigers The Trinity Tigers is the nickname for the sports teams of Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. They participate in the NCAA's Division III and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC). The school mascot is LeeRoy, a Bengal tiger ...

men's tennis team in NCAA Division I competition.Paul Jenkins,
Gators hire new women's tennis coach
" ''The Gainesville Sun'', pp. 1D & 4D (August 22, 1984). Retrieved June 16, 2011.

WTA career finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 25 (16 titles, 9 runner-ups)

Doubles: 6 (1 title, 5 runner-ups)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brandi, Kristina 1977 births Living people Olympic tennis players of Puerto Rico Puerto Rican people of Corsican descent Puerto Rican female tennis players Sportspeople from San Juan, Puerto Rico Tennis players at the 2003 Pan American Games Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2007 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for Puerto Rico Pan American Games bronze medalists for Puerto Rico Pan American Games medalists in tennis Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in tennis Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Puerto Rico Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalists for Puerto Rico Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games