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Mariano Puerta (b. September 9, 1978 in Belgrano, Buenos Aires), is an Argentine professional male tennis player. Puerta made his debut on the ATP Tour in 1997 and won his first ATP title the following year in Palermo, Italy. In 2000 he reached five finals, winning one of them (Bogota).
In 2003 Puerta received a two-year doping suspension after testing postive for clenbuterol at Vina del Mar. In his defence he argued that the substance had beeen administered to him by his doctor to combat asthma and that it had no performance-enhancing effect.
The suspension was subsequently reduced to nine months. Owing to the suspension he missed most of the 2004 season, and by August 2004 his world ranking had dropped to 440. He was reduced to playing Challenger-level tournaments for a while until he had earned enough points to return to the ATP Tour.
In 2005 Puerta made an eye-opening comeback on the Tour by winning the title in Casablanca and then making it to the final of the world’s most prestigious clay court tournament, the French Open, where he eventually succumbed to Rafael Nadal in a close match (7-6(6), 1-6, 3-6, 5-7). By August 2005 he had climbed to a career-best 9th place in the ATP entry rankings, an advancement of 431 places in one year.
Puerta is left-handed and uses a one-handed backhand. He is a clay court specialist with a game that revolves around groundstrokes with heavy topspin. On fast surfaces his game is compromised by his comparatively weak serve and slow court speed. His three ATP titles so far were all won on clay.
Contents
1 Titles (6)
1.1 Singles (3)
1.2 Singles Finalist (7)
1.3 Doubles (3)
1.4 Performance timeline
Titles (6)
Singles (3)
1998: Palermo
2000: Bogota
2005: Casablanca
Singles Finalist (7)
1998: San Marino
2000: Gstaad
2000: Mexico City
2000: Santiago
2000: Umag
2005: Buenos Aires (lost to Gaston Gaudio)
2005: French Open (lost to Rafael Nadal)
Doubles (3)
1998: Bogota (with Diego Del Rio)
1999: Munich (with Daniel Orsanic)
1999: Umag (with Javier Sanchez)
Performance timeline
Tournament 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 Career
Australian Open – - 1r – - 1r 2r – 0
French Open F – 2r 2r 2r 3r 2r – 0
Wimbledon 1r – 1r – 1r – - 1r 0
US Open 2r – 1r – - 1r 2r 1r 0
Tennis Masters Cup – - – - – - – 0
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