Kristina Brandi
Encyclopedia
Kristina Brandi is a Puerto Rican tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

 player.

Early years

Brandi was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

, 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.

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 $75,000 event in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...

 plus, the $50,000 event in Troy, Alabama
Troy, Alabama
Troy is a city in Pike County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 18,003. Troy experienced a growth spurt of over 4,000+ people since 2000. The city is the county seat of Pike County....

 and $25,000 in Peachtree City, Georgia
Peachtree City, Georgia
Peachtree City is a city in Fayette County, Georgia, United States.Census estimates in 2005 indicated a population of 34,524. In 2007, the city announced a plan to formally annex an unincorporated area between Georgia State Route 74 and the border with Coweta County that is commonly referred to as...

.

2004 Olympics

Brandi represented Puerto Rico in the 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...

 in Athens, Greece. She became the first tennis player representing Puerto Rico to win a singles match in an Olympic when she beat Jelena Kostanić
Jelena Kostanic
Jelena Kostanić Tošić is a retired professional female tennis player from Croatia. On July 26, 2004 she reached her career-high singles ranking: World No. 32...

 from Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

 (7–5 and 6–1). She lost in the second round to Russian Anastasia Myskina
Anastasia Myskina
Anastasiya Andreyevna Myskina is a professional tennis player from Russia. She won the 2004 French Open singles title, becoming the first Russian female tennis player to win a Grand Slam main draw singles title. Subsequent to this victory she rose to number 3 on the WTA ranking, becoming the first...

.

Some of Brandi's career highlights are: High rank for singles 27 on January 1, 2001; High rank for doubles on June 19, 1995; Career titles for singles: 1; Career matches won: 79; Career matches lost: 99; Career prize money $845, 170.

Later years

Kristina Brandi resides in Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....

 and continues to be active in the WTA
Women's Tennis Association
The Women's Tennis Association , founded in 1973 by Billie Jean King, is the principal organizing body of Women's Professional Tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women. Its counterpart organization in the men's professional game is the Association of...

 tours.

Most recently Brandi defended her ITF-Surbiton
Surbiton
Surbiton, a suburban area of London in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, is situated next to the River Thames, with a mixture of Art-Deco courts, more recent residential blocks and grand, spacious 19th century townhouses blending into a sea of semi-detached 20th century housing estates...

 title defeating Laura Granville from the USA. Brandi's grass season plans for 2006 include the Main Draw of the Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 Tournament at the WTA Tour level as well as the qualifying tournament at Eastbourne
Eastbourne
Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...

 before heading to compete in the Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...

 main draw.

Titles (1)

No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. June 20, 1999 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

Grass  Croatia Silvija Talaja
Silvija Talaja
Silvija Talaja is a former Croatian professional tennis player.Her most successful year was 2000, when she won two WTA tournaments and received career-high ranking of number 18...

6–0, 3–6, 6–1

See also

  • List of famous Puerto Ricans
  • Corsican immigration to Puerto Rico
    Corsican immigration to Puerto Rico
    Corsican immigration to Puerto Rico came about as a result of various economic and political changes in the mid-19th century Europe; among those factors were the social-economic changes which came about in Europe as a result of the Second Industrial Revolution, political discontent and widespread...



External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK