Marcelo Ríos facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal family name is Ríos and the second or maternal family name is Mayorga.

Quick facts for kids
Marcelo Ríos

Ríos in 1998

Country (sports)

Chile

Residence

Santiago, Chile

Born

26 December 1975 (age 49)
Santiago, Chile

Height

1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)

Turned pro

1994

Retired

2004

Plays

Left-handed (two-handed backhand)

Prize money

US$9,713,771

Singles

Career record

391–192 (67.07%)

Career titles

Highest ranking

No. 1 (30 March 1998)

Grand Slam singles results

F (1998)

QF (1998, 1999)

4R (1997)

QF (1997)

Other tournaments

Tour Finals

RR (1998)

Grand Slam Cup

W (1998)

Olympic Games

1R (2000)

Doubles

Career record

36–57

Career titles

Highest ranking

No. 141 (7 May 2001)

Grand Slam doubles results

US Open

Q2 (1995)

Medal record

Pan American Games

Silver	2003 Santo Domingo	Men's Singles
Silver	2003 Santo Domingo	Men's Doubles

Marcelo Andrés Ríos Mayorga is a famous Chilean former tennis player. He was born on December 26, 1975. He became the first player from Latin America to reach the top spot in the world tennis rankings in March 1998. He held this amazing position for six weeks!

Marcelo Ríos was also the shortest man to ever be ranked number 1 in men's tennis, standing at 1.75 meters (about 5 feet 9 inches). He was also ranked number 1 as a junior player.

He achieved something special by winning all three major clay-court tournaments in one year: Monte Carlo, Rome, and Hamburg. He was also one of only three players to win both the Indian Wells and Miami tournaments in the same year, which is called the "Sunshine Double."

Even though he won many big tournaments, Marcelo Ríos is the only player to be world No. 1 without ever winning a Grand Slam singles tournament. His best result in a Grand Slam was reaching the final of the 1998 Australian Open. He retired from professional tennis in 2004 because of a back injury.

Tennis Career Highlights

Marcelo Ríos became a professional tennis player in 1994. He finished the years 1997, 1998, and 1999 as one of the top ten players in the world. During his career, he won 18 singles titles and one doubles title.

Starting Tennis Young

Ríos started playing tennis when he was 11 years old. He played at the Sport Francés golf club in Santiago, Chile, which was right next to his house.

Junior Tennis Success

As a junior player, Marcelo Ríos reached the number 1 ranking in singles. He made it to the semifinals of the junior French Open in 1993. He also won the junior US Open in 1993, only losing one set in the whole tournament.

Becoming a Pro in 1994

This was Marcelo Ríos' first year as a professional. He quickly gained attention at the French Open. Even at just 18 years old, he played a tough match against the famous Pete Sampras. Ríos lost, but his unique left-handed style, long hair, and backwards visor made people notice him. That same year, he won his first Challenger tournament in Germany.

Breaking Through in 1995

In May 1995, at 19, Ríos won his first professional tournament in Bologna, Italy. This win helped him get into the world's top 50 players. In June, he won both singles and doubles titles in Amsterdam. He also won a tournament in Kuala Lumpur. By the end of 1995, he was ranked No. 25 in the world.

Top 10 Debut in 1996

In 1996, Ríos played very well in the big Masters Series tournaments. He reached the quarterfinals in Stuttgart and Rome. He also made it to the semifinals in Indian Wells, Monte Carlo, and Canada. He won his fourth career title in Austria. For most of this year, Ríos was ranked in the top 10, which was a first for a Chilean player. He finished the year ranked No. 11.

Getting Closer to the Top in 1997

In 1997, Ríos reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time at the Australian Open. He also did it again at the US Open. He won his first Masters title in Monte Carlo. Two weeks later, he reached the final of the Rome Masters. Ríos was very consistent in 1997, reaching at least the fourth round in all Grand Slams. He reached No. 6 in the world and finished the year in the top ten at No. 10.

World No. 1 and Grand Slam Final in 1998

The year 1998 was the best of Marcelo Ríos' career. He started by winning the tournament in Auckland, New Zealand. Then, he reached the final of the Australian Open, but he lost to Petr Korda.

His biggest achievement came in March at the Key Biscayne tournament in Florida. After winning several matches, Ríos defeated Andre Agassi in the final. This victory made him the world No. 1 player! He was the first Chilean, Latin American, and Spanish-speaking player to reach this top spot. Thousands of people in Chile celebrated his success. He even met the president of Chile.

Ríos was world No. 1 for four weeks. He lost the ranking after an injury. Later that year, he got back to No. 1 for another two weeks. In 1998, Ríos won seven titles, including three Masters Series titles. He finished the year ranked No. 2 in the world.

Injuries Begin in 1999

Marcelo Ríos continued to play well in 1999, but he started having many injuries and needed surgeries. This caused his ranking to drop. He reached the final of the Monte Carlo Masters but had to stop playing because of a new injury. He then won the Hamburg Masters and another tournament in Austria. He also reached the quarterfinals at the French Open. Despite his injuries, Ríos finished 1999 as a top-ten player, at world No. 9.

More Injuries in 2000

Ríos serving at the 2000 French Open

From 2000 onwards, Marcelo Ríos struggled to play at his best because of repeated injuries. He still won a tournament in Croatia. He also reached the semifinals at the Hamburg Masters. Ríos finished the year ranked No. 37.

Decline in 2001–2002

In 2001, Ríos won the first tournament of the year in Doha. However, an ankle operation affected his performance, and he dropped out of the top 50. In September, he won another title in Hong Kong. He also won a Challenger event in Santiago, Chile. Ríos ended 2001 as No. 39 in the world.

In early 2002, Ríos had some good results, but a back injury stopped him from continuing successfully. This was the same injury he had already had two operations on. His best results were reaching the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and the semifinals at the Miami Masters. He finished 2002 at No. 24 in the world.

Long Absence in 2003

In 2003, Ríos reached the final of the Viña del Mar tournament in Chile, but he lost. This was the fourth time he reached a final in his home country but couldn't win. However, he helped Chile win the World Team Cup in Germany. He also won silver medals in singles and doubles at the Pan American Games. In May, Ríos played his last ATP-level match at the French Open. He played very few tournaments in 2003 due to injuries and finished the year at No. 105.

Retirement in 2004

In 2004, Marcelo Ríos returned to play a Challenger tournament in Ecuador and won. He played his very last competitive match in April 2004 in Mexico.

On July 16, 2004, at just 28 years old, Ríos announced he was retiring from tennis. He had been dealing with constant injuries for years. He then went on a farewell tour across Chile, meeting fans and playing friendly matches with other tennis stars. His tour ended on December 22, 2004, with his final tennis match against Guillermo Coria in Santiago.

Playing on the ATP Champions Tour

2006: A New Chapter

On March 29, 2006, Marcelo Ríos, at 30 years old, started playing on the ATP Champions Tour. This tour is for former professional tennis players. In his first tournament in Qatar, he won the title! The next week, he won again in Hong Kong. Ríos won six tournaments in a row and ended the year as the No. 1 player on the Champions Tour. He holds a special record: he is the only player in history to be No. 1 as a junior, a professional, and a veteran.

2008: More Success

In 2008, Ríos returned to the veteran's tour and won tournaments in Barcelona and Algarve. He also played against Pete Sampras in an exhibition match in Chile, celebrating 10 years since he reached the world No. 1 ranking.

Personal Life

Marcelo Ríos was born in Santiago, Chile. His father, Jorge Ríos Jarvis, was an engineer and businessman, and his mother, Alicia Mayorga, was a teacher. He has an older sister named Paula.

Ríos has been married three times and has several children. He has a daughter named Constanza from his first marriage. With his third wife, Paula Pavic, he had five children: two daughters named Isidora and Colomba, and triplets (a son named Marcelo Jr. and two daughters named Antonella and Agustina). Marcelo and Paula divorced in 2023.

In March 2008, a book was published about Ríos's journey to becoming the world No. 1. It was called El extraño del pelo largo (The strange man with long hair).

In 2014, Ríos mentioned in an interview that he might have Asperger's syndrome. He later confirmed in 2016 that he had been diagnosed with it twice.

Grand Slam Finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1998	Australian Open	Hard	Petr Korda	2–6, 2–6, 2–6

Grand Slam Cup Finals

Singles: 1 (1–0)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1998	Munich	Hard (i)	Andre Agassi	6–4, 2–6, 7–6^(7–1), 5–7, 6–3

Masters Series Finals

Singles: 7 (5–2)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1997	Monte Carlo Masters	Clay	Àlex Corretja	6–4, 6–3, 6–3
Loss	1997	Italian Open	Clay	Àlex Corretja	5–7, 5–7, 3–6
Win	1998	Indian Wells Masters	Hard	Greg Rusedski	6–3, 6–7^(15–17), 7–6^(7–4), 6–4
Win	1998	Miami Open	Hard	Andre Agassi	7–5, 6–3, 6–4
Win	1998	Italian Open	Clay	Albert Costa	w/o
Loss	1999	Monte-Carlo Masters	Clay	Gustavo Kuerten	4–6, 1–2 ret.
Win	1999	German Open	Clay	Mariano Zabaleta	6–7^(5–7), 7–5, 5–7, 7–6^(7–5), 6–2

Career Finals

Singles: 31 (18 titles, 13 runner-ups)

Legend
Grand Slam (0–1)
Grand Slam Cup (1–0)
ATP Masters Series (5–2)
ATP International Series Gold (2–1)
ATP International Series (10–9)

Fimals by surface
Hard (8–6)
Clay (9–7)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (1–0)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1.	May 1995	Bologna Outdoor, Italy	Clay	Marcelo Filippini	6–2, 6–4
Win	2.	Jul 1995	Dutch Open, Netherlands	Clay	Jan Siemerink	6–4, 7–5, 6–4
Win	3.	Oct 1995	Kuala Lumpur Open, Malaysia	Carpet (i)	Mark Philippoussis	7–6^(8–6), 6–2
Loss	1.	Oct 1995	Chile Open, Santiago	Clay	Sláva Doseděl	6–7^(3–7), 3–6
Loss	2.	Mar 1996	Tennis Channel Open, United States	Hard	Wayne Ferreira	6–2, 3–6, 3–6
Loss	3.	Apr 1996	Barcelona Open, Spain	Clay	Thomas Muster	3–6, 6–4, 4–6, 1–6
Win	4.	May 1996	Sankt Pölten Open, Austria	Clay	Fèlix Mantilla	6–2, 6–4
Loss	4.	Nov 1996	Chile Open, Santiago	Clay	Hernán Gumy	4–6, 5–7
Loss	5.	Feb 1997	Marseille Open, France	Hard (i)	Thomas Enqvist	4–6, 0–1 ret.
Win	5.	Apr 1997	Monte Carlo Masters, Monaco	Clay	Àlex Corretja	6–4, 6–3, 6–3
Loss	6.	May 1997	Italian Open, Rome	Clay	Àlex Corretja	5–7, 5–7, 3–6
Loss	7.	Aug 1997	Boston, United States	Hard	Sjeng Schalken	5–7, 3–6
Loss	8.	Nov 1997	Chile Open, Santiago	Clay	Julián Alonso	2–6, 1–6
Win	6.	Jan 1998	Auckland Open, New Zealand	Hard	Richard Fromberg	4–6, 6–4, 7–6^(7–3)
Loss	9.	Feb 1998	Australian Open, Melbourne	Hard	Petr Korda	2–6, 2–6, 2–6
Win	7.	Mar 1998	Indian Wells Masters, United States	Hard	Greg Rusedski	6–3, 6–7^(15–17), 7–6^(7–4), 6–4
Win	8.	Mar 1998	Miami Open, United States	Hard	Andre Agassi	7–5, 6–3, 6–4
Win	9.	May 1998	Italian Open, Rome	Clay	Albert Costa	w/o
Win	10.	May 1998	Sankt Pölten Open, Austria (2)	Clay	Vincent Spadea	6–2, 6–0
Win	11.	Oct 1998	Grand Slam Cup, Munich	Hard (i)	Andre Agassi	6–4, 2–6, 7–6^(7–1), 5–7, 6–3
Win	12.	Oct 1998	Singapore Open	Hard	Mark Woodforde	6–4, 6–2
Loss	10.	Apr 1999	Monte-Carlo Masters, Monaco	Clay	Gustavo Kuerten	4–6, 1–2 ret.
Win	13.	May 1999	Hamburg Masters, Germany	Clay	Mariano Zabaleta	6–7^(5–7), 7–5, 5–7, 7–6^(7–5), 6–2
Win	14.	May 1999	Sankt Pölten Open, Austria (3)	Clay	Mariano Zabaleta	4–4 ret.
Loss	11.	Oct 1999	Shanghai Open, China	Hard	Magnus Norman	6–2, 3–6, 5–7
Win	15.	Oct 1999	Singapore Open (2)	Hard	Mikael Tillström	6–2, 7–6^(7–5)
Win	16.	Jul 2000	Croatia Open, Umag	Clay	Mariano Puerta	7–6^(7–1), 4–6, 6–3
Win	17.	Jan 2001	Qatar Open, Doha	Hard	Bohdan Ulihrach	6–3, 2–6, 6–3
Win	18.	Sep 2001	Hong Kong Open, China	Hard	Rainer Schüttler	7–6^(7–3), 6–2
Loss	12.	Oct 2002	Stockholm Open, Sweden	Hard (i)	Paradorn Srichaphan	7–6^(7–2), 0–6, 3–6, 2–6
Loss	13.	Feb 2003	Chile Open, Viña del Mar	Clay	David Sánchez	6–1, 3–6, 3–6

Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Result	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	Jul 1995	Dutch Open, Netherlands	Clay	Sjeng Schalken	Wayne Arthurs Neil Broad	7–6, 6–2
Loss	Mar 2001	Tennis Channel Open, United States	Hard	Sjeng Schalken	Donald Johnson Jared Palmer	6–7^(3–7), 2–6

Team Competitions (1 title)

Result	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partners	Opponents	Score
Win	May 2003	World Team Cup, Düsseldorf	Clay	Fernando González Nicolás Massú	Jiří Novák Radek Štěpánek	2–1

Result	Date	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	Aug 2003	Pan American Games, Santo Domingo	Hard	Fernando Meligeni	7–5, 6–7^(6–8), 6–7^(5–7)

Result	Date	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	Aug 2003	Pan American Games, Santo Domingo	Hard	Adrián García	Santiago González Alejandro Hernández	7–6^(7–5), 2–6, 3–6

Singles Performance Timeline

**Key**
W	F	SF	QF	#R	RR	Q#	A	P	Z#	PO	G	F-S	SF-B	NMS	NH

(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (F-S) silver or (SF-B) bronze Olympic medal; a (NMS) downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)

Davis Cup matches are included in the statistics. Walkovers are neither official wins nor official losses.

Tournament	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	SR	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	A	1R	QF	F	A	A	1R	QF	A	A	0 / 5	14–5
French Open	A	2R	2R	4R	4R	QF	QF	1R	2R	A	1R	A	0 / 9	17–9
Wimbledon	A	A	1R	A	4R	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 3	3–3
US Open	A	2R	1R	2R	QF	3R	4R	3R	3R	3R	A	A	0 / 9	17–9
Win–loss		2–2	1–3	4–3	14–4	12–4	7–2	2–2	3–3	6–2	0–1	0–0	0 / 26	51–26
Year-end championships
Tennis Masters Cup	Did not qualify					RR¹	Did not qualify						0 / 1	0–1
Grand Slam Cup	Did not qualify				QF	W	A	Not Held					1 / 2	4–1
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells Masters	A	A	3R	SF	2R	W	3R	2R	1R	3R	2R	A	1 / 9	16–8
Miami Open	A	A	3R	3R	3R	W	4R	4R	2R	SF	4R	A	1 / 9	20–7
Monte-Carlo Masters	A	A	Q2	SF	W	A	F	1R	2R³	3R	A	A	1 / 6	16–4
Italian Open	A	A	2R	QF	F	W	1R	1R	2R	A	A	A	1 / 7	15–6
German Open	A	A	A	SF	3R	2R	W	SF	2R	A	A	A	1 / 6	14–5
Canadian Open	A	A	A	SF	A	A	A	3R	A	3R	A	A	0 / 3	7–3
Cincinnati Masters	A	A	1R	A	3R	2R	A	2R	A	2R	A	A	0 / 5	4–5
Stuttgart Masters	A	A	A	QF	QF	QF²	QF	A	3R	2R	A	A	0 / 7	11–5
Paris Masters	A	A	A	2R	2R	QF	2R	A	A	1R	A	A	0 / 5	2–5
Win–loss		0–0	5–4	20–8	16–7	20–3	14–6	10–7	5–5	12–7	3–1	0–0	5 / 56	105–48
National Representation
Summer Olympics	Not Held			A	Not Held			1R	Not Held			A	0 / 1	0–1
Davis Cup	Z1	A	Z1	Z1	PO	Z1	PO	PO	PO	Z1	Z1	A	0 / 10	25–10
Career statistics
Finals	0	0	4	4	5	8	5	1	2	1	1	0	31
Titles	0	0	3	1	1	7	3	1	2	0	0	0	18
Overall win–loss	0–1	12–11	41–21	57–25	60–26	68–17	47–18	29–23	31–19	32–21	14–10	0–0	391–192
Win %	0%	52%	66%	70%	70%	80%	72%	56%	62%	60%	58%	–	67.07%
Year-end ranking	562	107	25	11	10	2	9	37	39	24	105	842	$9,567,686

¹At the 1998 ATP Tour World Championships (Tennis Masters Cup), Ríos withdrew at round robin stage after playing the first match. He was replaced by then world No. 11 Greg Rusedski.

²At the 1998 Eurocard Open (Stuttgart Masters), Ríos withdrew prior to quarterfinals.

³At the 2001 Monte Carlo Masters, Ríos withdrew prior to second round.

Top 10 Wins

Season	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	Total
Wins	0	0	0	5	5	4	2	0	4	1	1	0	22

#	Player	Rank	Event	Surface	Rd	Score	Ríos Rank
1996
1.	Wayne Ferreira	10	Indian Wells, United States	Hard	QF	7–5, 7–5	20
2.	Jim Courier	9	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	SF	7–6^(7–5), 4–6, 7–6^(7–5)	16
3.	Boris Becker	5	Monte-Carlo, Monaco	Clay	3R	6–4, 6–3	13
4.	Wayne Ferreira	10	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	QF	3–6, 6–4, 6–4	11
5.	Richard Krajicek	7	Stuttgart, Germany	Carpet (i)	3R	6–4, 6–4	10
1997
6.	Thomas Enqvist	9	Australian Open, Melbourne	Hard	4R	4–6, 6–4, 7–6^(7–4), 6–7^(5–7), 6–3	11
7.	Albert Costa	9	Monte-Carlo, Monaco	Clay	3R	7–6^(7–3), 6–4	10
8.	Carlos Moyà	8	Monte-Carlo, Monaco	Clay	QF	6–4, 7–6^(7–5)	10
9.	Sergi Bruguera	8	US Open, New York	Hard	4R	7–5, 6–2, 6–4	10
10.	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	6	Stuttgart, Germany	Carpet (i)	3R	7–6^(8–6), 6–3	10
1998
11.	Petr Korda	2	Indian Wells, United States	Hard	QF	6–4, 6–2	7
12.	Greg Rusedski	6	Indian Wells, United States	Hard	F	6–3, 6–7^(15–17), 7–6^(7–4), 6–4	7
13.	Gustavo Kuerten	9	Rome, Italy	Clay	SF	6–0, 7–5	3
14.	Andre Agassi	8	Grand Slam Cup, Munich	Hard (i)	F	6–4, 2–6, 7–6^(7–1), 5–7, 6–3	3
1999
15.	Mark Philippoussis	8	Monte-Carlo, Monaco	Clay	QF	6–2, 6–7^(2–7), 6–4	13
16.	Carlos Moyà	6	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	SF	6–4, 7–6^(7–4)	8
2001
17.	Àlex Corretja	10	Washington D.C., United States	Hard	3R	7–6^(7–2), 6–3	64
18.	Sébastien Grosjean	9	Hong Kong, China (S.A.R.)	Hard	QF	6–2, 6–3	58
19.	Marat Safin	7	Stuttgart, Germany	Hard (i)	2R	7–6^(7–4), 6–3	46
20.	Sébastien Grosjean	8	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard (i)	2R	6–3, 6–4	44
2002
21.	Yevgeny Kafelnikov	4	Miami, United States	Hard	3R	6–4, 7–6^(7–4)	33
2003
22.	Juan Carlos Ferrero	3	Miami, United States	Hard	3R	6–3, 7–6^(7–2)	31

ATP Tour Career Earnings

Year	ATP wins	Total wins	Earnings ($)	Money list rank
1994	0	0
1995	3	3
1996	1	1
1997	1	1	$1,397,445	12
1998	6	7	$3,420,054	2
1999	3	3	$1,794,244	5
2000	1	1	$493,816	40
2001	2	2	$466,025	43
2002	0	0	$506,160	39
2003	0	0	$308,140	73
2004	0	0
Career	17	18	$9,713,771

Records

Ríos holds the record for being the only player in history to have been world No. 1 as a junior, as a professional, and as a senior.
He was the first Latin American player to reach the world No. 1 ranking, which he first achieved on March 30, 1998.
He was the first player to win all three clay-court ATP Masters Series tournaments since this format began in 1990.
He is the only ATP-ranked No. 1 player who never won a Grand Slam singles title.

Images for kids

Ríos serving at the 2000 French Open