Marion Maruska

Marion Maruska
Country (sports) Austria
ResidenceHinterbrühl, Austria
Born (1972-12-15) 15 December 1972 (age 51)
Mödling, Austria
Height1.72 m (5 ft 7+12 in)
Turned pro1992
Retired2001
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$342,007
Singles
Career record231-208
Career titles1 WTA, 4 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 50 (6 October 1997)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open1R (1992, 1998)
French Open2R (1998)
Wimbledon2R (1997)
US Open1R (1991, 1997)
Doubles
Career record66–94
Career titles0 WTA, 3 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 123 (24 July 2000)

Marion Maruska (born 15 December 1972) is an Austrian former tennis player. She turned professional in 1992 and reached her career-high singles ranking on October 6, 1997, when she became the No. 50 of the world.

1997 was Maruska's best year on the WTA Tour, highlighted by her first (and only) WTA title and another tour final amid a wave of inconsistent results. As the world No. 154, she won her debut WTA title at the ASB Classic held in Auckland, New Zealand. En route, she beat Anke Huber for her first top-ten win. At Wimbledon, she won her first ever Grand Slam main-draw match when she beat Adriana Gerši, before falling to recently crowned French Open champion Iva Majoli. At the ECM Prague Open, she made her second tour final, but this time failed to walk away with the title.

1998 was a poor year for Maruska in comparison. She reached the second round of the French Open but had few other results and fell out of the top 100, subsequently never reaching her level of one year ago again.

She played much of her career on the ITF circuit, where she won four singles titles and three doubles titles.

Maruska represented Austria in Fed Cup five times: 1997, 1997, and 2000–2002. She earned a 2–6 record in those ties.

In 2001, she played her last professional singles match, at the US Open, losing to Nathalie Viérin in the first round of qualifying. Her final career match, however, was a Fed Cup doubles loss to the American team of Lisa Raymond and Monica Seles.

WTA career finals

Singles (1–1)

Grand Slam
Tier I event
Tier II event
Tier III event
Tier IV-V event (1-1)
Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1. 5 January 1997 Auckland, New Zealand Hard Austria Judith Wiesner 6–3, 6–1
Loss 2. 20 July 1997 Prague, Czech Republic Clay South Africa Joannette Kruger 1–6, 1–6

Doubles (0–1)

Grand Slam
Tier I event
Tier II event
Tier III event
Tier IV-V event (0-1)
Result W/L Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1. 4 May 1997 Bol, Croatia Clay Argentina María José Gaidano Argentina Laura Montalvo
Slovakia Henrieta Nagyová
3–6, 1–6

ITF finals

Singles (4–4)

$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments
Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1. 21 November 1988 Wels, Austria Clay (i) Czech Republic Eva Švíglerová 3–6, 1–6
Win 2. 17 September 1990 Wels, Austria Clay Luxembourg Karin Kschwendt 3–6, 6–1, 4–6
Win 3. 29 June 1992 Ronneby, Sweden Clay Sweden Åsa Carlsson 4–6, 6–1, 6–2
Loss 4. 7 February 1994 Sunderland, England Carpet (i) Netherlands Gaby Coorengel 2–6, 5–7
Loss 5. 20 February 1994 Newcastle, England Carpet (i) Netherlands Linda Niemantsverdriet 6–7, 4–6
Loss 6. 27 March 1995 Reims, France Clay Italy Flora Perfetti 4–6, 6–2, 5–7
Win 7. 17 April 1995 Plovdiv, Bulgaria Clay South Africa Mareze Joubert 6–0, 6–4
Win 8. 1 April 2001 Stone Mountain, United States Hard Australia Alicia Molik 6–3, 6–3

Doubles (3–2)

Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1. 24 October 1988 Linz, Austria Hard (i) Austria Petra Schwarz Switzerland Cristina Casini
Poland Katarzyna Nowak
6–3, 6–4
Win 2. 9 April 1989 Bari, Italy Clay Bulgaria Elena Pampoulova Hungary Andrea Noszály
West Germany Eva-Maria Schürhoff
w/o
Win 3. 16 June 1991 Mantua, Italy Clay Spain Virginia Ruano Pascual Japan Yone Kamio
Japan Hiromi Nagano
3–6, 6–4, 6–3
Loss 4. 11 February 1996 Mar del Plata, Argentina Hard France Noëlle van Lottum Argentina Laura Montalvo
Argentina Paola Suárez
3–6, 1–6
Loss 5. 10 October 1999 Albuquerque, United States Hard India Nirupama Sanjeev United States Debbie Graham
Japan Nana Smith
4–6, 5–7