Marion Maruska
Encyclopedia
Marion Maruska is an Austria
n female professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1992 and reached her career high singles ranking on October 6, 1997, when she became the No. 50 of the world.
1997 was Maruska's best year on the WTA Tour
, highlighted by her first (and only) Tour title and another Tour final amid a wave of inconsistent results. As the world No. 154, she won her debut WTA title at the ASB Classic
held in Auckland
, New Zealand
. En-route she beat Anke Huber
for her first top ten win. At Wimbledon, she won her first ever Grand Slam main draw match when she beat Adriana Gersi
, before falling to recently-crowned French Open champion Iva Majoli
. At the ECM Prague Open
, she made her second Tour final, but this time failed to walk away with the title.
1998 was a poor year for Maruska in comparison. She reached the second round of the French Open but had few other results and fell out of the top 100, consequently never reaching her level of one year ago again.
She played much of her career on the challenger circuit
, where she won four singles titles and three doubles titles.
Maruska represented Austria in Fed Cup
five times: 1997, 1997, and 2000-2002. She earned a 2–6 record in those ties.
In 2001, she played her last professional singles match, at the U.S. Open
, losing to Nathalie Vierin
in the first round of qualifying. Her final career match, however, was a Fed Cup doubles loss to the American team of Lisa Raymond
and Monica Seles
.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n female professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1992 and reached her career high singles ranking on October 6, 1997, when she became the No. 50 of the world.
1997 was Maruska's best year on the WTA Tour
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...
, highlighted by her first (and only) Tour title and another Tour final amid a wave of inconsistent results. As the world No. 154, she won her debut WTA title at the ASB Classic
ASB Classic
The ASB Classic is a tennis tournament held in Auckland, New Zealand. Held since 1986, this WTA Tour event is an International series tournament and is played on outdoor hardcourts during the first week of the year....
held in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. En-route she beat Anke Huber
Anke Huber
Anke Huber is a German retired professional tennis player. She was the runner-up in women's singles at the 1996 Australian Open. Her career-high singles ranking was fourth, also in 1996.-Early life:...
for her first top ten win. At Wimbledon, she won her first ever Grand Slam main draw match when she beat Adriana Gersi
Adriana Gerši
Adriana Gerši is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic.Gerši reached her career high ranking on the WTA Tour on July 23, 1997 as the world No. 48. In her career she won one singles title, beating Marie-Gayanay Mikaelian in the final of a tournament in Basel,...
, before falling to recently-crowned French Open champion Iva Majoli
Iva Majoli
Iva Majoli Marić is a former professional tennis player from Croatia. She upset Martina Hingis to win the women's singles title at the French Open in 1997. Majoli also won eight singles titles and one women's doubles title during her career.-Career:Majoli turned professional in 1991 at the age...
. At the ECM Prague Open
ECM Prague Open
The Strabag Prague Open is a tennis tournament held in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic . Held since 1992 but interrupted between 1999 and 2005, this WTA Tour event is a WTA International Tournaments and is played on outdoor clay courts...
, she made her second Tour final, but this time failed to walk away with the title.
1998 was a poor year for Maruska in comparison. She reached the second round of the French Open but had few other results and fell out of the top 100, consequently never reaching her level of one year ago again.
She played much of her career on the challenger circuit
International Tennis Federation
The International Tennis Federation is the governing body of world tennis, made up of 205 national tennis associations.It was established as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by 12 national associations meeting at a conference in Paris, France on 1 March 1913...
, where she won four singles titles and three doubles titles.
Maruska represented Austria in Fed Cup
Fed Cup
Fed Cup is the premier team competition in women's tennis, launched in 1963 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the International Tennis Federation...
five times: 1997, 1997, and 2000-2002. She earned a 2–6 record in those ties.
In 2001, she played her last professional singles match, at the U.S. Open
U.S. Open (tennis)
The US Open, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships, is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern iteration of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, which for men's singles was first contested in 1881...
, losing to Nathalie Vierin
Nathalie Vierin
Nathalie Vierin is an Italian professional tennis player. Her career high WTA singles ranking is 103, which she reached on May 15, 2006...
in the first round of qualifying. Her final career match, however, was a Fed Cup doubles loss to the American team of Lisa Raymond
Lisa Raymond
Lisa Raymond is an American professional tennis player who has achieved notable success in doubles tennis. On June 12, 2000, she reached the world number one ranking in doubles...
and Monica Seles
Monica Seles
Monica Seles is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player and a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She was born in Novi Sad, Serbia, former Yugoslavia to Hungarian parents. She became a naturalized United States citizen in 1994 and also received Hungarian citizenship in June 2007...
.
Singles
| Legend (Singles) |
| Grand Slam (0) |
| Tour Championships (0) |
| Tier I Event (0) |
| Tier II Event (0) |
| Tier III Event (0) |
| Tier IV-V Event (1) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1. | 5 January 1997 | Auckland Auckland The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world... , New Zealand New Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga... |
Hard (O) |  Judith WiesnerJudith Wiesner Judith Wiesner is a former professional tennis player from Austria. During her career, she won six top-level singles titles and three tour doubles titles. Her career high rankings were World Number 12 in singles , and World Number 29 in doubles... |
6–3, 6–1 |