Iva Majoli

Iva Majoli- whose real name is Iva Majoli Marić is a former professional tennis player who hails from Croatia. She was born on August 12, 1977, in Zabreg, Yugoslavia.

She turned pro in 1991 at the early age of 14. It was in the 1997 French Open, at the age 19, when she defeated Martina Hingis, claiming the singles title in straight sets. It was noted that her best years as a tennis player was when she was a teenager, she even reached high ranking as World No. 4 in '96. After a quarterfinal tournament at the 1998 French Open, she has slowly failed to reach any subsequent Grand Slam singles tournament. Her game was declining and her ranking plummeted to World no. 131 in '03.

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. In her final years as a pro tennis player, Majoli suffering from a series of different injuries, most notably was a shoulder injury that caused her to struggle and play consistently in matches. Her jet setting lifestyle, may have also contributed to this decline. Having not reached the high expectations after her French Open title, she was tagged yet another, “One Slam Wonder”.

In the years to come people didn’t expect that she was going to regain her element for playing tennis. In '02 she ranked World 58, after defeating Patty Schynder; the victory increased her ranking to World No. 33. Even though she was climbing back at the rankings, on June 12, 04 she announced her retirement from the game.