Nicolas Massu

Chilean tennis player Nicolás Alejandro Massú Fried, born October 10, 1979, started playing tennis at the young age of five after he and his brother were introduced to the sport by Hungarian grandfather Ladislao Fried. Massú started serious training once he reached the age of 12 with the help of coach Leonardo Zuleta and later turned pro in 1997.

The 29-year-old, nicknamed Vampiro (Chilean for ‘vampire’) immediately set out to make a name for himself right after turning pro by winning the Orange Bowl tournament, the prestigious year-end tournament for junior tennis. He went on to bag the doubles title in Wimbledon with partner Luis Horna from Peru. He did the same at the US Open, bagging the doubles title with fellow Chilean Fernando González, effectively making himself the juniors double world champion.

Massu claimed his first Challenger title in Ecuador in 1998, which was followed by the second in 1999, the same year when he landed inside the top 100 for the first time. His first ATP title came in February 2002 after he defeated Agustín Calleri in Buenos Aires. Eager for revenge, Calleri managed to defeat Massú year later which caused his exit from the top 100. Undaunted, Massú managed to claim his second ATP title in 2003 in Amersfoort and a week later finally entered the top 50 for the first time in his career after reaching the finals in Kitzbuhel. He bagged his third ATP title that September in Palermo, Italy. His fourth ATP title he bagged once again in Kitbuhel, after which he went on to win two gold medals in the span of 24 hours at the 2004 Athens Olympics, a feat which gave his country its first ever Olympic gold medal and landed Massú at his career-best ATP singles ranking of number 9.

2005 was a disappointing year for the Chilean player, which was due in part to the groin surgery that he undertook at the later part of 2004. He improved slightly in his performance in 2006, bagging his sixth ATP title in Brazil despite losing to Jose Acasuso in his hometown event at Viña del Mar. He again competed in a match in his hometown in 2007, but this too ended badly for the Chilean player when he was defeated by Luis Horna in the final.

He most recently represented Chile at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.