Mariano Zabaleta

Topics: Argentine tennis players, Olympic tennis players of Argentina

Mariano Zabaleta is a professional male tennis player from Argentina. He turned professional in 1996. Zabaleta is known for his unusual service motion which is effective and fighting spirit. His best shot is his forehand and favourite surface is clay.

Zabaleta struggled inititally with the transition from juniors to seniors. In 1996 he won his first Challenger event in Birmingham, Alabama over Bill Behrens 6-4 6-4 and his quarter final performance in Bournemouth was his best showing on the main tour.

In 1997 he made the final of the Guayaquil Challenger losing to Tomas Nydahl. In 1998 Zabaleta reached the third round of the French Open as a qualifier and defeated the number 2 player in the world and reigning Australian Open champion Petr Korda 6-0, 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3 before losing to Hicham Arazi. Later in the year Zabaleta made his first semifinal in Amsterdam losing to Magnus Norman and then in November he won his first ATP title as a senior at Bogota defeating Ramon Delgado 6-4, 6-4 in the final.