Pedro Braga (born 27 February 1975) 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 Brazil.

Biography

Early life

Braga, the son of a doctor, comes from

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...

. He started playing tennis at the age of eight and competed as a junior at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

and the US Open in 1992. While at the US Open he was recruited to join

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

(LSU) on a tennis scholarship.

College tennis

In his sophomore year at LSU in 1995 he earned

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n selection and was named the Louisiana Player of the Year. At the beginning of the 1996 collegiate season he began struggling with a back injury which by April was bad enough that he was forced to pull out of the competition. An MRI scan revealed that he had suffered a spinal disc herniation and, then aged 21, he was informed he would never play tennis again. After undergoing back surgery he spent almost two-years out of the game before making his comeback in 1998.

Professional tour

Soon after returning from his back injury he began his professional career on the international

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

and

challenger Challenger, Challengers, or The Challengers may refer to: Entertainment Comics and manga * Challenger (character), comic book character * ''Challengers'' (manga), manga by Hinako Takanaga Film and TV * ''The Challengers'' (TV series), a 1979 ...

circuits. He went on to win a total of 11 ITF Futures titles. The closest he came to making a Grand Slam tournament was the Australian Open in 2003 where he made it to the second round of

qualifying Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

. Braga twice featured in the main draw of the

Brasil Open The Brasil Open was a tennis tournament held annually in São Paulo, Brazil. It was part of the ATP Tour 250 series, and was one of the main events in the Brazilian tennis calendar alongside ATP Tour 500 Rio Open. Since 2004, it was a part of th ...

, a tournament on the ATP Tour. In 2003 he partnered

Júlio Silva Júlio Silva (; born 1 July 1979) is a 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 rac ...

in the doubles and in 2004 he was given a wildcard into the singles competition, where he lost in the first round to Peru's

Luis Horna Luis Horna Biscari (; born 14 September 1980, in Lima) is a former tour professional tennis player from Peru, who turned professional in 1998. Known by his nickname "Lucho", he won 2 career singles titles, reached the quarterfinals of the 2004 ...

. In 2004 he was found to have tested positive to stanozolol, a synthetic anabolic androgenic steroid. A tribunal handed down a two-year suspension from tennis, which was the maximum possible penalty. The sample came from when he competed in the qualifying rounds of 2003 Brasil Open.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Braga, Pedro 1975 births Living people Brazilian male tennis players LSU Tigers tennis players Doping cases in tennis Brazilian sportspeople in doping cases Sportspeople from Belo Horizonte Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States