Carlos Moya

I'm just watching Carlos Moya, real name Carlos Moya Llompart, from Spain play at Sydney 2006. It reminds me how much of a fan I was of him in his prime. He is now 31 but has won 1 grand slam event: Roland Garros in 1988 and was a finalist at the Australian Open in 1997. He also had a singles ranking of 1 in March 15, 1999, becoming the first Spaniard to rank No. 1 in the history of the ATP rankings (since 1973). He has been voted one of the 50 most beautiful people by People magazine. At the moment 10 Jan 2006, he is playing with jet lag in high humidity, having just lost in the final at Chennai. He is currently ranked 35.

He was born in 1976 at Palma de Mallorca, Spain. He turned pro in 1995. He consistently plays outstanding tennis and is still one of the best players in the world and has maintained a top position. He lives in Switzerland now. Carlos has won at least one title almost every year of his career earning him $11,627,379 in prize money. In the years he didn't win a title he was usually injured. He spent a week of mandatory military reserves duty in July 1997. He has a 20-7 career Davis Cup singles record in 15 ties.

Singles career titles: 18

1995: Buenos Aires;

1996: Umag;

1997: Long Island;

1998: Monte Carlo, Roland Garros;

2000: Estoril; 2001--Umag;

2002: Acapulco, Bastad, Cincinnati TMS, Umag;

2003: Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Umag;

2004: Acapulco, Chennai, Rome AMS;

2005: Chennai

Finalist in

1996: Bucharest, Munich;

1997: Amsterdam, Australian Open, Bournemouth, Indianapolis, Sydney Outdoor;

1998: Mallorca, Singles Championship;

1999: Indian Wells;

2000: Toulouse;

2001: Barcelona;

2002: Hong Kong, Monte Carlo TMS;

2003: Miami TMS, Vienna;

2004: Buenos Aires, Sydney;

2005: Umag;

2006: Chennai

Personal biography

Carlos began playing tennis at the age of six. He likes video games and travels with his Play Station and Minidisc and also enjoys music of U2, Bon Jovi and Queen. He is a big fan of the RCD Mallorca soccer team and friends with Spanish music group 'Cafe’ Quijano', who often watch his matches live. He went on stage with them in Barcelona and sang his favorite song ôLa Lola. He respects NBA star Karl Malone. He is involved in local charity efforts in his hometown of Mallorca and he donated all of his $52,000,000 prize money at Chennai 2006 to the Tsunami disaster. During his back rehabilitation in latter part of 1999, he took French, guitar and scuba diving lessons and got a tattoo of a dolphin on his right bicep. He is friends with pro golfer Sergio Garcia and pro basketball player Pau Gasol of Memphis Grizzlies. He is coached by a Spanish pair : Jofre Porta and Joan Bosch.