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Biography
Maria Elena Camerin was born in Motta
de Livenza (Italy) on the 21st of March 1982. Maria is an only
child who began playing tennis at the age of 10 (which is
surprisingly late) with her father Giuseppe. She has sinced
switched residency to Venezia, but has enough sense to name Inter
as her favourite football club. She labels herself as a
constantly happy person, and enjoys the beach, where she relaxes,
plays beach tennis and beach volleyball. Maria names New York as
her favourite city, commenting on its size, whilst siting The
Horse Whisperer (by Nicholas Evans) as her favourite book.
Jennifer Capriati is her most admired tennis player, and under the
guidance of her coach Omar Urbinati, modestly sets her tennis
goals at breaking the WTA top 50.
Maria's game is based on working hard
and hitting consistent ground strokes. Unsurprisingly, clay is
her favourite surface, but the Italian has shown the capability of
a strong all round, all surface game. Her serve is consistent,
and rarely lets her down on big points, but her backhand is
renowned as her biggest weapon, despite being only slightly
stronger than her forehand. In comparison with her game, Maria's
climbing of the WTA rankings ladder has been rather unspectacular,
but certainly consistent enough for her to reach her goal of
breaking the top 50. She currently stands at #67 in the WTA
rankings (September 2004).
Maria's career highlights are modest,
to say the least, but she is a persistent fighter who continues to
plug away and climb the rankings. Maria has never been beyond the
second round at a Grand Slam event. To date, her biggest
achievements are a handful of Quarter Final appearances at low
tiered tournaments such as Hobart, Casablanca and Stockholm. It
should also be noted that Maria spent most of 2003 on the ITF
circuit where she claimed a title in San Luis Potosi, and made
final appearances in Fukuoka and Troy. By contrast to most of the
other athletes on the tour, Maria is a late starter. She came on
the scene later than most of the other athletes, but at 22 she is
still in a great position to further her accomplishments.
With an electric smile, loveable
on-court mannerisms, impressive groundies, and a passion for the
game which is rarely seen, and barely challenged in today's game,
Maria is a pleasure to watch and will hopefully make a major
breakthrough in the upcoming months.
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