Marcos Daniel

Full name is Marcos Diniz Daniel... Began playing at age five and took sport seriously at age 12... Father, Mario, is a retired bank manager; mother, Mauriceia, is a retired bank clerk... Has one older brother, Marcio, who owns a tennis academy and serves as his coach... Has one younger sister, Luciana, who is an attorney... His cousin, Carlos Eugenio Simon is considered best soccer referee in Brazil... Speaks four languages (Portuguese, English, Spanish and Italian)... One of his favorite hobbies is motorcycle racing and also enjoys soccer... Considers himself a Christian faithful in Jesus Christ who he considers his idol... Also involved with his church at home and helps with charity events... Favorite surface is red clay and considers best shot his backhand... Wife, Gizele (married December 7, 2003)...Has a 3-1 career Davis Cup record (2-1 in singles) in three ties...Physical trainer is Marcelo Borges and coached by his older brother Marcio since beginning of his career.

1997 -- Reached SF at Belo Horizonte (l. to Jabali)

1998 -- Reached first Futures final in Peru in August (l. to Horna)...Reached another in November in Brazil (l. to Schiessling)... Was 23-16 in Futures...In doubles, claimed titles at Futures in (w/Monte) and Brazil (w/Simoni)...Also reached two other finals...

1999 -- Won a Futures title in Brazil (d. Tarallo) and reached a final in Uruguay (l. to Mello)...Was 15-6 in Futures...Claimed a Futures doubles title in Argentina (w/Schlachter)...

2000 -- Reached only Futures final of the year in Boca Raton (l. to Labadze)...Was 15-13 in Futures...Also reached doubles final in Boca Raton (w/Jorquera)...

2001 -- Claimed two Futures titles...Also reached first Challenger final, falling to Chela in Lima...Was 18-19 in Challengers and 23-6 in Futures...Reached Sao Paulo Challenger doubles final (w/Mello)...

2002 -- Made ATP debut in February at Vina del Mar (l. to Coutelot)...Reached four Challenger QFs...

2003 -- Made Grand Slam debut in Australian Open (l. to Arthurs)...Reached 2nd RD at Vina del Mar (d. Meligeni, l. to Mantilla)...Won Gramado Challenger title (d. De Armas)...Also won pair of Futures titles...Finished with 17-13 Challenger record...Won doubles titles at Challengers in Belo Horizonte and Gramado (w/Simoni)...

2004 -- Made Davis Cup debut against Paraqual, falling to Rodriguez 11-9 in fifth...Best run came in August-September when he won three straight Futures titles...Reached Challenger SF at Quito...Won doubles title in Manta (w/M. Gonzalez) and finalist at Belo Horizonte (w/Miranda)...Also won a doubles Futures title...

2005 -- Finished in Top 100 (at No. 96) and as his country’s top player for first time after a successful Challenger season... Compiled a 44-16 match record in Challengers and won three titles -- Bogota (twice) and Guayaquil ... Early in year, reached final at Futures at Petropolis (l. to Ferreiro)...Missed much of June and first part of July with a back injury... In September, reached final of Seville Challenger (l. to Mirnegg)... Also finalist at Quito Challenger (l. to Alves)...In doubles, reached first ATP SF at Costa do Sauipe (w/Ferreiro)...Won doubles titles at Bogota and Seville and runner-up at Challengers in Sao Paulo and La Serena (w/Behrend) and Mexico City (w/Saretta)...Compiled a 34-19 record in doubles...

2006 -- Struggled in ATP level play (5-16 record) with his best result a QF in Acapulco (l. to No. 8 Gaudio)...Compiled a 10-9 mark in Challengers with SF at Prostejov and QF at Lugano and Istanbul...

2007 -- Finished in Top 125 for second time in three years (at No. 123) by compiling a 37-18 Challenger match record with one title in four finals...Advanced to SF at La Serena, QF at Santiago and Bogota and runner-up at Salinas (l. to Brzezicki)... Closed season in final five weeks on South American clay with title in Bogota (d. Giraldo), QF in Belo Horizonte, SF in Guayaquil and back-to-back runner-up showings in Buenos Aires (l. to Roitman) and Lima (l. to Cuevas).

2008 -- The top Brazilian finished in Top 100 for second time with maiden ATP QF and three Challenger titles in Colombia...Won a personal-best eight ATP level matches (8-15)...In April, reached QF on clay at Houston (l. to eventual winner Granollers)...Notched first Grand Slam win at Roland Garros by defeating former champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, who retired (l. to Melzer in five sets)...Compiled a 27-7 Challenger record, winning titles in March at Bogota (d. Navarro) and back-to-back in September at Cali (d. Mayer) and Bogota (d. Zeballos)...Afterwards, reached a career-high No. 61 on Sept. 29...69...Also runner-up at Napoli (l. to Starace)...In doubles, reached ATP SF at Costa do Sauipe (w/Bellucci) and Houston (w/Roitman)...Earned a career-high $XXX,XXX.

2009 In Review

The Brazilian reached his first ATP World Tour semi-final at Umag (l. to Beck) at the end of July…He and Thomaz Bellucci both reached the last four – marking the first time since Vina del Mar in 2004 that Brazil had provided two semi-finalists at an ATP World Tour event…Afterwards, rose 15 places to a career-high No. 58 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings.