Maja Murić (born 27 February 1974) is a former professional

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player from

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

who is now active with several non-profit organizations.

Tennis career

During a professional tennis career that spanned 1990–2000, Muric played for both

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

and Croatia. Together with

Nadin Ercegović Nadin Ercegović (born 2 February 1973) is a former tennis player who played for Yugoslavia and Croatia. Together with Gorana Matić, Maja Murić and Maja Palaveršić, she was a member of the original Croatian Fed Cup team in 1992 19 ...

Gorana Matić Gorana Matić (born October 24, 1973) is a former Croatian tennis player that played for Yugoslavia and later for Croatia. Career Matić didn't have much success in her career but she is nevertheless important for the history of Croatian tenni ...

, and

Maja Palaveršić Maja Palaveršić-Coopersmith (born 24 March 1973) is a Croatian former tennis player that played for Yugoslavia and Croatia. Career highlights Significant wins include victories over top 10 players like Daniela Hantuchová, Roberta Vinci and t ...

she was a member of the original Croatian Fed Cup team in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

. In 1993, Murić represented Croatia at the

1993 Mediterranean Games The XII Mediterranean Games, commonly known as the 1993 Mediterranean Games, were the 12th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Languedoc-Roussillon, France, from 16 June to 27 June 1993, where 2,598 athletes (1,994 men and 604 women) fr ...

, where she claimed two gold medals, including one earned with doubles partner

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 s ...

. With doubles partner

Ingelise Driehuis Ingelise Driehuis (born 17 September 1967) is a former professional tennis player from the Netherlands. Biography Driehuis played collegiate tennis in the United States, first at Clemson University, before transferring to the University of Flori ...

, Murić reached the quarterfinals at

1994 Wimbledon Championships The 1994 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 108th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held from ...

. Murić represented Croatia in women's doubles at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, where she and partner

Iva Majoli Iva Majoli (born 12 August 1977) is a Croatian former professional tennis player who played for both Yugoslavia and Croatia. She won three WTA Tier I singles tournaments and upset the world No. 1, Martina Hingis, to win the women's singles title ...

reached the second round before losing to the Spanish team of

Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Aránzazu Isabel María "Arantxa" Sánchez Vicario (; born 18 December 1971) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 12 weeks, as well as ...

and

Conchita Martínez Conchita Martínez Bernat (born 16 April 1972) is a Spanish former professional tennis player and current coach. She was the first Spaniard to win the women's singles title at Wimbledon, doing so in 1994. Martínez also was the runner-up at th ...

, 6–2, 6–1. Murić competed in all of women's doubles Grand Slams from 1991 to 1999.

Non-profit work

Murić's youth in a war-torn nation, combined with the opportunity for international travel provided by her tennis career, motivated her to become involved in charitable activities. She has spent 15 years working with the Little Star Foundation, a non-profit established by fellow former tennis professional

Andrea Jaeger Andrea Jaeger ( ; born June 4, 1965) is an American former professional tennis player. She started her professional tennis career at the age of 14 and went on to win pro tennis tournaments while still competing in other junior tennis events. By th ...

, serving as that organization's

Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

. In 2006, she co-founded Humanitarian Wave,

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

non-profit organization focused on helping children and adults living in poverty, suffering from disease, abuse, and neglect. Murić is now the manager of Galactic Unite, a philanthropic project of

Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. is a British-American spaceflight company founded by Richard Branson and the Virgin Group conglomerate, which retains an 11.9% stake through Virgin Investments Limited. It is headquartered in California, and opera ...

and

Virgin Unite Virgin Unite is the working name of The Virgin Foundation, the independent charitable arm of the Virgin Group. Created by Richard Branson and Virgin employees in September 2004, Virgin Unite pools volunteering efforts from across the Virgin Gro ...

. In that position, she helps develop and manage "programmes that promote education in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, as well as entrepreneurship (STEM+)."

ITF Circuit finals

Singles (1–3)

Doubles (8-4)

Best Grand Slam results details

Doubles

External links

* * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muric, Maja 1974 births Living people Yugoslav female tennis players Croatian female tennis players Olympic tennis players for Croatia Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Tennis players from Zagreb Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Croatia Mediterranean Games medalists in tennis Competitors at the 1993 Mediterranean Games