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Juan Ignacio Chela (1979)

Tennis is an outdoor sport which can be played between two players or four players. Players utilize a stringed racquet to hit a rubber ball, hollow inside covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. In some places tennis is referred to as lawn tennis. This game started in England and was the most popular amongst the upper class of society. Presently tennis is an Olympic sport, as well as, it is played in various tournaments including the four Grand Slams in many countries, by people of all ages and classes.

Chela had a tough battle to get back among the world's best players after he was banned from the game for three months and thrown out of the top 500 for failing a drugs test. He has come back to the fore on his return this season and is part of a new breed of talent that Argentina has produced in recent years. His favorite surface is undoubtedly clay although he lost out to Tim Henman in the Tennis Masters Series earlier this season.

He reached first Challenger final in Lima in 1998. In 1999 he won challenger titles in Salinas and Lima and compiled a 26-16 record on challenger circuit, in 2000 he finished in Top 100 for first time highlighted by first career ATP, Association of Tennis Professioanls title in Mexico City. In 2001, he completed an incredible comeback after three-month suspension, winning six challenger titles and moving over 700 places in Indesit ATP Entry Rankings. He compiled a circuit-best 38-5 record in challengers and reached second ATP final in Bogota, returned to action in July ranked number 810, in 2002 he finished in Top 25 for first time with finals in Sydney and Long Island. In 2003 he finished in Top 40 for second straight year with semifinal in Chennai his best result, on clay, reached four quarterfinals on hard courts, advanced to QF, quarterfinals in Long Island and reached his third career ATP Masters QF in Madrid.

The veteran Argentine compiled a 26-21 match record going into the US Open, highlighted by two ATP finals. In January, he advanced to a personal-best 4th round at Australian Open, posting wins over Murray, number 6 Hewitt and Vliegen before falling to Kiefer. He went 7-3 during Latin American clay court circuit with QF in Costa do Sauipe and final in Acapulco. In March, he reached 4th round at ATP Masters Series Miami.

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